Sunday, May 11, 2014

22-Frank Lloyd Wright


Frank Lloyd Wright was the most important American architect of the 20th Century. His winter headquarters in Phoenix is Taliesin West, His architecture gave structure to the concept of 'compress and release'. If you go to a pro ball game, you are compressed in the tunnel before being released with a view of a manicured, green lawn. He was the first to use indirect lighting. He 'unstacked' the boxes of European class-conscious living. The democratic American spirit required a more open, free-flowing domesticate floor plan.
Late in his career he was required to give testimony in court. When asked his name and profession he replied, "I am Frank Lloyd Wright. I am the greatest architect in America". That night his wife scolded him, "Why do you say those things?" "Dear," he replied, "I couldn't help it. They put me under oath".







Friday, May 9, 2014

21-Rough Riders Statue, Prescott AZ


Rough Rider statue outside Prescott, AZ, courthouse.  Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders fought in Cuba, that "splendid little war".  The territorial gains were fleeting.  The real gains, for good and evil, involved increasing American prestige among existing world powers.  The Rough Riders were a combination of polo playing Harvard grads and western cowboys, led by a person who understood the character of both!