{"product_id":"wright-in-hollywood-visions-of-a-new-architecture-9780262193375","title":"Wright in Hollywood: Visions of a New Architecture","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe textile-block system was a fascinating experiment that Frank Lloyd Wrightconducted from about 1922 to 1932 as part of his quest to find a new system of construction using astandardized building material based on the idea of twentieth-century machine technology. RobertSweeney has meticulously researched the textile block system  providing a case-by-case account ofeach project  commenting on Wrights clients  collaborators  and contractors  and positioningWrights experiment firmly within the larger historical context of concrete block technology.Sweeney traces the forms of several of the early concrete block projects to Wrights own earlierwork  clarifies an array of important technical challenges the architect faced  and notes thenumerous block shapes required for executionThe concrete block experiment was firmly rooted in theconcept of architectural simplification that Wright established at the outset of his career. It wasbegun in Hollywood  where he was living at the time  but was part of a larger vision with globalapplication. Wright pursued the concept with a sense of mission  designing approximately thirtyprojects through the decade. Sweeney shows  however that this technical evolution can be explainedin just three designs: the canonical Millard house of February 1923; and in two unexecuted projects the Community Playhouse  \"Little Dipper \" for Aline Barnsdall  and in designs for a resort hotel forthe Arizona desert.Although Wright began with structure  Sweeney points out that he was primarilyinterested in form: technology of assembly was only a path to architectural creation. As thestructural system matured - a process coinciding with the evolution of the minimalist InternationalStyle in Europe - the buildings became increasingly architectonic; forms were simplified  and theinitial fascination with ornament all but disappeared.Robert L. Sweeney is Executive Director of theR. M. Shindler House in Los Angeles. His comprehensive annotated bibliography on Wright waspublished in 1978.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45652002570293,"sku":"ByrdShop_026219337X","price":96.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780262193375.jpg?v=1781848231","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/wright-in-hollywood-visions-of-a-new-architecture-9780262193375","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}