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I've already mentioned a few times that I grew up around a lot of books. Many of them were my mom's art books - everything from how-to books to collections of works by different artists and a few general art books of the sort you might use in a college intro to art class. I liked flipping through these and became very familiar with a lot of the terms and concepts, as well as the artists. I "read" the spreads of images like a story when I was too young to really grasp the meanings, something that I think may have served me well over time, since I tend to impose my own meaning on media where I don't find any obvious meaning.
One of those books had a significant section on architecture, so I learned about buttresses, vaults, and all the technical, engineering details of architecture. I still enjoy reading and looking at things on how cathedrals were built. This book also covered the interiors, and talked about how spaces flow (or don't) and how people live and go about their business inside them. I was deeply impressed by photos of two places in particular, aside from the soaring European cathedrals - Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin North, and his Falling Water. I used to wonder what it must be like to live in a place where the outside seemed to come inside in a way I hadn't really seen before. Our house had some very large windows, and many of the rooms were full of light during the day, but these places seemed to blur indoors and out in a way that pleased me to no end. I've linked to the preservation websites for both of them and they're on my Bucket List as far as American travel goes.
I know a lot of people deride the Prairie Style as boxy, and there was even a derivative building on my college campus where the fine arts center was located that we referred to as the Cracker Box. Because it looked like one. But I find Wright's work doesn't really fall into that trap of being a square box with some nifty details on it. Maybe I'm simply being sentimental, but I'm extremely fond of FLW's buildings and other works.
While they're not precisely architecture, I'm in love with the Avery Coonley Playhouse windows. I have a spot in my studio where a framed picture could hang, or a window where an art glass could be mounted - just sayin'.
In the course of looking up links for this post I also discovered a FLW tour in Chicago which I obviously now need to do.
One of those books had a significant section on architecture, so I learned about buttresses, vaults, and all the technical, engineering details of architecture. I still enjoy reading and looking at things on how cathedrals were built. This book also covered the interiors, and talked about how spaces flow (or don't) and how people live and go about their business inside them. I was deeply impressed by photos of two places in particular, aside from the soaring European cathedrals - Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin North, and his Falling Water. I used to wonder what it must be like to live in a place where the outside seemed to come inside in a way I hadn't really seen before. Our house had some very large windows, and many of the rooms were full of light during the day, but these places seemed to blur indoors and out in a way that pleased me to no end. I've linked to the preservation websites for both of them and they're on my Bucket List as far as American travel goes.
I know a lot of people deride the Prairie Style as boxy, and there was even a derivative building on my college campus where the fine arts center was located that we referred to as the Cracker Box. Because it looked like one. But I find Wright's work doesn't really fall into that trap of being a square box with some nifty details on it. Maybe I'm simply being sentimental, but I'm extremely fond of FLW's buildings and other works.
While they're not precisely architecture, I'm in love with the Avery Coonley Playhouse windows. I have a spot in my studio where a framed picture could hang, or a window where an art glass could be mounted - just sayin'.
In the course of looking up links for this post I also discovered a FLW tour in Chicago which I obviously now need to do.
