One thing with the architecture and design there is always someone new to learn about from a particular area or era. I had never heard of Fay Jones before, but looking at his work realized I've seen it before. Reminds me of going to Utrecht, Neatherlands, walking into a random art gallery/museum and finding out about Gerrit Rietveld and seeing his home designs and chairs (and even got the book on how to build his chairs, which I want to some day)! Almost totally different what I saw use to and seeing with his extremely contemporary "machine" forms.
I've been a fan of FLW since the start of my architecture career and while many of his Usonia designs land with me, his bigger projects feel more like art then a place to live. I do admire just how much he didn't care what other people thought though, and had his own clear ideas how things should be done and did them pretty much his entire career. And on top of that going to the extent of even designing the furniture for each house, for better or worse. I've not met many architects that could or would do that.
We have the Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens just around the corner, which I thought you were showing. Turns out the architects are... "Maurice Jennings and David McKee, both alumni of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas." Both chapels are beautiful.
I too grew up as a Frank idolator. Consequence of being an architect's kid I guess.
But then I discovered Fay Jones.
It was years before I realized that I got married in a Jones building: the chapel on University of Florida's campus. When I saw a photograph of Thorncrown I said, hey, that looks familiar.
I agree Fallingwater is a mess. But did you see the three-legged stick chair with the continuous arm? It's in one of the bedrooms in the warren of rooms upstairs. I was bad and took some pics when our tour guide wasn't looking. I'll find them and link them here.
Thanks for the images! Great looking chair! I was in Fallingwater over 10 years ago but wasn't into stick chairs at the time so must of just looked over it (if it was even there at the time).
The funny thing is that this is probably a chair that FLW would of hated in his houses. He would of had his own design they should of been using!
Thorncrown is amazing but it seems derivative of Wayfarers Chapel, the Swedenborgian church designed by Loyd Wright a full 30 years earlier. I have been in Wayfarers Chapel on many occasions and one does get the same indoor/outdoor phenomenon you spoke of. Unfortunately it’s recently been dismantled as the land beneath it has been eroding and moving to a point that the chapel has to be moved.
Frank Lloyd Wright, who once employed Walter Burley Griffin and later dismissed him as “only a draftsman,” watched that same draftsman go on to design Canberra, Australia’s capital, an achievement that curdled mentorship into lifelong resentment.
You don't quite have the hunched shoulders and sinister smile to be truly Snidely. I am always fascinated by lives lived where childhood artifacts are still in possession. I've gone through so many living reincarnations that those early recollections are but tangles, wispy dreams. All hail EF Jones!
Living in Phoenix and being so close to Taliesen we have lots Frank Lloyd Wrong houses in the area. I worked with an Architect doing a landscape design around one of his homes and the new additions in like vein. The new houses are to be lived in and the original as a den of sorts. It was cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. Frank was a victim of his time, he was pushing the envelope of the materials he was working with. Windows, doors, structural components, waterproofing, vapor barriers and roofs were a nemesis for him. They all leaked!
There is a beautiful chapel outside Omaha Nebraska that sits on a hill with glass walls, delicate open frame works that is very inspirational. You enter via a museum underground and walk up the stairs and it becomes visible step by step. Wonderful experience. I’d post a pic but alas that is not allowed here. You can Google Holy Family Shrine.
When I was young I spent a lot of time hiking in Joshua Tree, then a National Monument. One of the places that I found to be particularly magical was a deep canyon with much more water than typical of JT. It had tall trees, lots of shade, and a remarkable vibe. Walking there I was reminded, actually, of some of the great cathedrals I had visited. Subsequently I wondered if the designers of cathedrals were seeking to recreate that feeling of peace and wonder that you sometimes find in a grove of large trees. I know that the ancient Greeks attached religious significance to their 'sacred groves.' Your comments about Thorncrown Chapel bring back my memories of those thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for introducing E. Fay Jones, someone I’d not heard of. I’ve seen images of Thorncrown Chapel, but had no idea of its background. Another eye opening Earlywood.
I’ve never been to the thorncrown chapel, but saw it frequently in lectures in architecture school. One of my favorite architects, Marlon Blackwell, was inspired by Fey Jones and even holds the E Fey Jones Chair in Architecture at the university of Arkansas.
I love buildings that embrace where they are in time, place, materials, and design.
Nothing worse than a building that is a soulless box that could be in phoenix, New York, California, or Arkansas and has no relation to the landscape.
I was (sadly, briefly) an architecture student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1983-84. I never had a class with Fay Jones; I believe he had more-or-less retired from teaching at that point. I do remember a lecture about the then relatively new Thorncrown Chapel; it was held in the student union theatre instead of any of the architecture school's halls and was still packed to the teeth. I remember going to see it almost immediately and was stunned then, and remained stunned on every subsequent visit.
Speaking of building blocks, the mill that makes Lincoln Logs is closing. They apparently are just hired by the toy company to make the logs. They hope they can find someone to buy the mill, or the machinery, and resume production. If not, it's probably moving overseas.
One thing with the architecture and design there is always someone new to learn about from a particular area or era. I had never heard of Fay Jones before, but looking at his work realized I've seen it before. Reminds me of going to Utrecht, Neatherlands, walking into a random art gallery/museum and finding out about Gerrit Rietveld and seeing his home designs and chairs (and even got the book on how to build his chairs, which I want to some day)! Almost totally different what I saw use to and seeing with his extremely contemporary "machine" forms.
I've been a fan of FLW since the start of my architecture career and while many of his Usonia designs land with me, his bigger projects feel more like art then a place to live. I do admire just how much he didn't care what other people thought though, and had his own clear ideas how things should be done and did them pretty much his entire career. And on top of that going to the extent of even designing the furniture for each house, for better or worse. I've not met many architects that could or would do that.
We have the Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens just around the corner, which I thought you were showing. Turns out the architects are... "Maurice Jennings and David McKee, both alumni of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas." Both chapels are beautiful.
I too grew up as a Frank idolator. Consequence of being an architect's kid I guess.
But then I discovered Fay Jones.
It was years before I realized that I got married in a Jones building: the chapel on University of Florida's campus. When I saw a photograph of Thorncrown I said, hey, that looks familiar.
I agree Fallingwater is a mess. But did you see the three-legged stick chair with the continuous arm? It's in one of the bedrooms in the warren of rooms upstairs. I was bad and took some pics when our tour guide wasn't looking. I'll find them and link them here.
Here are the pics: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/74bw1pxap7p0dhfnmpeov/AInWVTjgYb2GAX39xtjgYF0?rlkey=ogjzm136krncpzcd6gp3tu4xc&dl=0
Thanks for the images! Great looking chair! I was in Fallingwater over 10 years ago but wasn't into stick chairs at the time so must of just looked over it (if it was even there at the time).
The funny thing is that this is probably a chair that FLW would of hated in his houses. He would of had his own design they should of been using!
Yup. It might be my favorite part of the tour (aside from starting out in a cave.....)
Thorncrown is amazing but it seems derivative of Wayfarers Chapel, the Swedenborgian church designed by Loyd Wright a full 30 years earlier. I have been in Wayfarers Chapel on many occasions and one does get the same indoor/outdoor phenomenon you spoke of. Unfortunately it’s recently been dismantled as the land beneath it has been eroding and moving to a point that the chapel has to be moved.
My father always said that Wright was a misanthrope and his furniture proof of this. Chairs that hurt to sit on and toppled over when you tried.
A request from a long time reader: do more podcasts! I heard one a few years ago and it was such a treat - you are a great audio rambler
Frank Lloyd Wright, who once employed Walter Burley Griffin and later dismissed him as “only a draftsman,” watched that same draftsman go on to design Canberra, Australia’s capital, an achievement that curdled mentorship into lifelong resentment.
Thorncrown is truly one of the can’t miss places in AR to visit. I could sit there for. Very long time and be perfectly content.
You don't quite have the hunched shoulders and sinister smile to be truly Snidely. I am always fascinated by lives lived where childhood artifacts are still in possession. I've gone through so many living reincarnations that those early recollections are but tangles, wispy dreams. All hail EF Jones!
Living in Phoenix and being so close to Taliesen we have lots Frank Lloyd Wrong houses in the area. I worked with an Architect doing a landscape design around one of his homes and the new additions in like vein. The new houses are to be lived in and the original as a den of sorts. It was cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. Frank was a victim of his time, he was pushing the envelope of the materials he was working with. Windows, doors, structural components, waterproofing, vapor barriers and roofs were a nemesis for him. They all leaked!
There is a beautiful chapel outside Omaha Nebraska that sits on a hill with glass walls, delicate open frame works that is very inspirational. You enter via a museum underground and walk up the stairs and it becomes visible step by step. Wonderful experience. I’d post a pic but alas that is not allowed here. You can Google Holy Family Shrine.
When I was young I spent a lot of time hiking in Joshua Tree, then a National Monument. One of the places that I found to be particularly magical was a deep canyon with much more water than typical of JT. It had tall trees, lots of shade, and a remarkable vibe. Walking there I was reminded, actually, of some of the great cathedrals I had visited. Subsequently I wondered if the designers of cathedrals were seeking to recreate that feeling of peace and wonder that you sometimes find in a grove of large trees. I know that the ancient Greeks attached religious significance to their 'sacred groves.' Your comments about Thorncrown Chapel bring back my memories of those thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for introducing E. Fay Jones, someone I’d not heard of. I’ve seen images of Thorncrown Chapel, but had no idea of its background. Another eye opening Earlywood.
Wow, this makes me wish I had paid more attention to how that beautiful chapel made me feel.
I’ve never been to the thorncrown chapel, but saw it frequently in lectures in architecture school. One of my favorite architects, Marlon Blackwell, was inspired by Fey Jones and even holds the E Fey Jones Chair in Architecture at the university of Arkansas.
I love buildings that embrace where they are in time, place, materials, and design.
Nothing worse than a building that is a soulless box that could be in phoenix, New York, California, or Arkansas and has no relation to the landscape.
I was (sadly, briefly) an architecture student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1983-84. I never had a class with Fay Jones; I believe he had more-or-less retired from teaching at that point. I do remember a lecture about the then relatively new Thorncrown Chapel; it was held in the student union theatre instead of any of the architecture school's halls and was still packed to the teeth. I remember going to see it almost immediately and was stunned then, and remained stunned on every subsequent visit.
Speaking of building blocks, the mill that makes Lincoln Logs is closing. They apparently are just hired by the toy company to make the logs. They hope they can find someone to buy the mill, or the machinery, and resume production. If not, it's probably moving overseas.