Frank Lloyd Wright

This weekend I got to go tour the Frank Lloyd Wright home + studio in Oak Park, IL!  It was something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm so excited I finally got a chance to go.
Below are some pictures of the outside of the building (no photography allowed inside) and some pictures I pulled from the interior.

Outside of his house in Oak Park

Outside of his studio

I appreciate that he's well known mostly for the home he built instead of giant sky scrapers or other such buildings.  Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style architecture is some of my favorite.  I was actually surprised though that from the outside, his house didn't strike me immediately as being very much in his style. 
Our tour guide talked about how Wright built this home at the time when he was just developing his prairie style of architecture and actually I thought this style was more evident in the interior, especially the interior which he added later.

This dining room is very prairie style to me.  This room (added later) to the house was by far my favorite space.  The way he designed the chairs to be so high and go around the table and create an intimate dining room space is lovely.  The intricate screen he designed to go over the lights and create a serene kind of ambient light, really genius.  I loved this room. Also, you can't tell but the walls are covered in a very light linen fabric. 

Here's the drafting room in Wright's studio.  The shape of the space was really unique, and the guide explained to us how Wright used a very intricate set of chain pulleys to keep all the walls in space.  Very cool space, I can see how it would be easy to be creative in a place like that.  After this visit, I love Wright even more!  (For those who haven't already, I'd also recommend the book Loving Frank.) 

Architecture Survey, Last 30 Years

After I did the last post on Renzo Piano, I discovered that I've been gravitating towards articles I see relating to architecture!  It is really beautiful and amazing, so I thought I'd share this article with you.  Vanity Fair recently polled 52 of the brightest and best architects, professors and writers on architecture.  The poll included asking these individuals what they thought was the most significant building built in the last 30 years.  I looked through the responses and have listed and pictured the next 7 top responses below.  What beautiful work that's out there!
The top response was overwhelmingly Frank Ghery's Guggenheim Bilbao Museum (pictured below).   

Covered almost completely in glass, titanium, and limestone it definitely makes an impression.
But among the answers from the individuals polled, came out a few others that I was excited to research.

Museum Architecture + Renzo Piano

I don't have a ton of knowledge of architecture, but I do try and stay current on who is building interesting things, especially who is building new and interesting museums!
Seems like to be chosen to design a museum building you have to be a special combination of artist & architect in you.  Someone that has this unique combination and has built a significant amount of museum buildings in the last 15 years, is Renzo Piano.  His architecture doesn't always amaze me initially but it seems to be something like an onion; the more you view  it, experience it, walk around inside, see different sides of it, the more you see how truly genius it is. 
As I researched Renzo Piano's work, I realized that I've seen it a lot more of it then I thought over the years.When I visited Atlanta in 2007, and saw the expansion of the High Museum, I was seeing his architecture.  Their website says this about his 3 building addition to their space: "Often called the "master of light," Piano's sculpturally inspired buildings meld seamlessly with the High's existing light-filled Richard Meier structure.  Piano's design of the new Wieland Pavilion and the Anne Cox Chambers Wing features a special roof system of 1,000 light scoops that capture northern light and filter it into the skyway galleries."  Without knowing this roof was design by Piano especially to let natural light into the galleries, I took this picture.  I remember being completely enthralled by a roof that was so unique.    

 My favorite is his design of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.  Home to a great host of modern and contemporary art.   

Architectural Salvage

Architectural salvage places are some of my favorite warehouses to go to and just roam around.  It's also something that I haven't done very much of recently because I don't have that much space to store any pieces I might find and want to take home!  But that doesn't mean I don't keep track of where they are in hopes that I'll have more space one day.  :) 
Places like this really are the best for unique things like vintage signs, beautiful chandeliers, old iron gates, stone sculptures off old buildings, even old arcade games or soda machines.  In fact I bought a beautiful old wooden door at a place like this a few years ago (more on that find later...).  Despite that, I don't typically look for those larger pieces, I tend to look more for smaller accents that will fit subtly into the decor of our home.  Old door knobs, stained glass pieces, small windows, tin wall hangings, wall hooks, iron wall hangings and vintage sconces.

Anish Kapoor

Anish Kapoor is an artist that I've only in the last few years become familiar with.  He is known mostly for his sculptures which engage viewers through their size and simplicity.  The sculptures often have an element of mystery and the viewer is able to explore the sculpture by walking in and around it.  His use of space and its interaction with the viewer is extremely unique and I think you'd be hard pressed to find an artist who allows as much interaction with their work as he does. 
The other thing about his work is that he engages viewers through the materials he uses.  I know for me, when things are shiny or have a mystery to their surface, I really want to reach out and touch them.  And this is how he creates another level of fascination in his work.  Take this piece for example in the permanent collection of the Tate Modern called Ishi's Light.  

How badly do you want to walk in ther and touch that shiny dark surface!  I can only imagine what it feels like to stand within that sculpture.One of his pieces I feel privileged to see frequently is is Cloud Gate.

Most people in Chicago know this sculpture only as 'the bean,' but it is in fact a sculpture designed and created by Anish Kapoor.  He said about this sculpture "What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline ... so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around."  Pretty awesome.