What do you do when in Scottsdale on a warm April afternoon? If you're a couple of hipsters like Paul and I you check out Frank Lloyd Wright's compound out in the sticks. There are a few different tours of the place, we decided on the 'living space' one which consists of the common rooms and Mr and Mrs Wright's seperate bedrooms.
Now, Mr Wright was a genious architect but was also famous for being a total controlling jerk. It was his way or no way, no exceptions. The best part of the tour was by far them regaling us with stories of his dominating ways. His tricks to get you to do what he wanted without even knowing it were impressive. He is the ultimate selfish rogue. He was most disliked for taking on a contract, cashing their checks then doing what he wanted with the place - no matter if it was what they wanted or not. Most of the time this worked out because he in fact was impossibly hard to beat in his area of expertise, but sometimes it did not fare so well. I believe they told a story about how when he died - despite being the most famous architect of all time - he was practically pennyless because he owed so many people money from lost lawsuits and such.
We were told his inspiration for this compound came from the area surrounding it. We are in the desert, and what is most previlant in the desert? What is necessary for survival? Pointy things. So he decided to make everything possible into triangles, sharp points and acute edges.
The front lawn. He thought it important to have one soft spot in the compound for the children to play on the grass. What a nice fellow...
Showing his utter excitement for the tour guide.
The common living room. This was pretty interesting because first he made the doorways so short you had to hunch over while going through them. He was going for intentional discomfort. Know why? Because he wanted to force people to hurry up. He hated lingerers and wanted people to come in and sit down upon arrival. Then, when he was done with the visit he was DONE. He wanted to say good-bye and have people promptly leave... not hang around at the doorway and continue to talk. Douchy, but effective.
Then, as you see in this picture (above), this woman is about my size and her head is almost hitting the ceiling. Again, this was his master manipulation at work. He forces you to sit down in order to see what he wants you to see. The beauty of the surroundings can only be witnessed once you sit on these seats by the windows. Also, these funny looking angled chairs??? They are just comfortable enough that you can sit for a quick conversation, but not so inviting that you would want to stay a while. Again, douchy - yet effective. This guy would have been interesting to pick his brain!
We were the youngest people there by far, and we were obviously surrounded by avid fans of his work.There were quite a few people that must have either been architects themselves or something. Everyone else was taking pictures standing in front of buildings, putting their arms around and comparing themselves to statues of Frank Lloyd Wright, etc. Naturally I was making fun of them in such a way that they (hopefully) wouldn't catch on to, when one woman came up to me and said, "Honey, should I take a picture of you guys?" (Snicker inserted here.)
True dat.
This was, again, a pretty interesting room. He wanted a theater to entertain. He built this crooked
8-sided room so there were no echoes. The acoustics were astounding as well. Somehow he was able to make it to where you could be all the way in the back row and hear a person whispering all the way in the front, even with their back turned towards you. Some say he did this so he could hear all the nasty things said about him. :)
Also, it is hard to tell from this shot, but all the rows were tilted ever so slightly. He did this because he always sat the same way at these things. With his left leg crossed over the right and his right arm around his wife sitting next to him. When the pews/benches/seats were facing straight on this would cause his body to be twisted into an uncomfortable viewing position. So he changed the seats so that everyone else was uncomfortable BUT him. Classic.
One more thing... you can't see it here but it was in this very room that Frank Lloyd Wright invented aisle lighting. Ya know, like the ones on airplanes and movie theaters? They were small triangle shaped lights at the end of the aisle originally just for looks but had quite a lot more function than anticipated.
After a long day in the heat, we went into a small nearby town for dinner at a cute little outside restaurant. I had the bolognese and he had the lamb shank I think. Looks a little like a heart from this angle. Had to be descreet... he is easily embarrassed by my picture-taking.
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