Why did Russell Barr Williamson destroy his early work?

Posted on by Nick Hayes
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives: architectural drawings, ca. 1885–1959. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York).

In the 1920s, Russell Barr Williamson saw more opportunity than just design: he could finance, he could invest, he could speculate, and he did it well. In less than 10 years, he complete over 54 sometimes opulent projects, including his own in Whitefish Bay. Things began to unravel in July of 1927.

What We Can Learn About Historic Preservation from Frank Lloyd Wright

Posted on by Nick Hayes

Though Wright designed over a hundred modest American System-Built Homes he quickly cancelled the program with only twenty or so built and filed away the drawings forever when he realized that his art would not be preserved if its occupants didn't themselves participate in the preservation.