Linda’s Blog

22/10/2009

14/10/2009

26/03/2009

10/03/2009

16/11/2008

Fantastic sculptures by Jaume Plensa at Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park through January 2008. Helvetica is alive and well, and being made into people.

Fantastic sculptures by Jaume Plensa at Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park through January 2008. Helvetica is alive and well, and being made into people.

20/10/2008

13/10/2008

06/10/2008

29/09/2008

Meyer May House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909.

Meyer May House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909.

15/09/2008

Meyer May House, Grand Rapids

Frank Lloyd Wright was years ahead of architectural styles and construction technology. His designs stood out from the other houses in the neighborhood - no gingerbread, conventional windows, or columns. Instead, his designs incorporated horizontal expanses, cantilevered roofs, unconventional materials. The roofs on his houses leaked and sagged because his designs pushed building conventions of the time.

Lloyd Wright’s Prarie-style architecture for Meyer May (1909) sits on a corner in the Heritage Hill neighborhood of Grand Rapids, MI, among large, Victorian homes. It is low, horizontal, and features over 100 stained glass windows. Viewing the house from outside, one cannot find the “front” entrance, or determine the bedrooms from the living area. He not only designed the house, but the planters, furniture, lights, stained glass, and rugs. It is a total, unified package.

Geometric shapes are found throughout the house in the window, light, and rug designs. Lights and exterior planters incorporate a circle-within-a-square theme. An interesting contrast is found in a wall mural design featuring hollyhocks in soft pastel colors.

External materials include light colored brick, in which the horizontal mortar is recessed to stress the horizontal character of the design, black/green copper trim, and red tiles on the roof. Oak wood is used extensively inside on the floors, woodwork, furniture, doors, and dining room table and chairs. Walls are painted/stippled in earth tones. Light fixtures are cast in metal. The stained glass windows are mostly clear glass, with the geometric designs made of reds, golds, and greens. The living room fireplace is dark brick, featuring glass, horizontal mortar which sparkles as it reflects light. Built-in wood bookshelves line the walls of the living area.

In the dining room, a long rectangular table is surrounded by tall, straight-backed wooden chairs and a vertical light fixture at each corner, forming a room inside a room. It is very formal, yet intimate at the same time.

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