Frank Lloyd Wright and Tesla

[Skipdd]

My new avatar. Don’t see the Tesla? It’s a little convoluted but here goes.
The design is a take-off from a Frank Lloyd Wright window from the Coonley House, circa 1911 Frank Lloyd Wright's Coonley Playhouse stained glass, art glass, and light screens When I picked the variegated red orange glass I originally was thinking about the sun (but now I think of Mars, lol). Wright practiced sustainable architecture before it was even a category. When I got my first Tesla, I will admit it was 70% because I was smitten with the mix of amazing esthetics, speed, coolness, and 30% because it was electric and sustainable. Eventually I found TMC and began getting schooled on sustainability in a meaningful way. I guess I’m connecting dots with this design. It’s the concept of sustainability and the beauty of design.

A neighbor of ours created this for us. It hangs in a house we moved to last year - a beautiful mid-century modern home nestled in the woods. Seems apropos to have this and a Tesla.

 

[Merrill]

I’m a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, took an architectural drafting class in high school and he was a big part of that class. He designed the Marin County Civic Center in 1962 and it still looks futuristic today. We visited Taliesin West in Arizona a long time ago he was an incredible person.

 

[brucet999]

I’m a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, took an architectural drafting class in high school and he was a big part of that class. He designed the Marin County Civic Center in 1962 and it still looks futuristic today. We visited Taliesin West in Arizona a long time ago he was an incredible person.

I was a big fan of FLW until I visited Taliesen West and the Robie house in Chicago. Apparently, he cared about form, but neither the structural integrity of his designs, nor craftsmanship of execution, as was evident in the sagging second floor joists, visible in first floor ceilings at Robie House, and in Taliesen West's awful, sloppy trim work, which he would have been present to witness.

 

[Merrill]

Yes, that was a problem with quite a few of his designs, falling water and the cantilevered portion of the house over the river, the Johnson and Johnson reverse column’s. He had put design over engineering but still think he was very forward thinking in his architectural design especially when relating his construction based on location and how his buildings were situated on the land.

 

[wdolson]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance talked about people who are primarily form and those who are primarily function. Form people go for the look of something over the practical usefulness and function people go for the usefulness and other practical considerations. Rarely do the two cross paths in the same person.

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the world's greatest architectural artists, but function took a back seat.

I've only been to one of his buildings, the chapel in Sedona, AZ. I was there two days after the Winter Solstice at sunset and realized he situated the chapel so that the sun appeared to go down right on top of a peak in Monument Valley on the Solstice. I did some calculations and found that the sun would set right between two rocks sticking up in the distance on the Summer Solstice. It's a stunning building in its own right, but I found that little attention to detail interesting too.

 

[Merrill]

I heard he would camp out on the property for a few days to make decisions on direction and how best to situate the building, so not surprising on the setting sun.

 

[bo3bdar]

Thank you so much! And please, let me know when you're done, I might take that thing off your hands.

Randomly ran across your comments on slide scanning here. If you are mechanically inclined, here is a slide scanning robot that I built from an old Kodak carousel projector and a USB relay:

I set this up because all my family slides are in carousels, and doing them manually or emptying carousels is too much work. Results are very good.

 

[wdolson]

Randomly ran across your comments on slide scanning here. If you are mechanically inclined, here is a slide scanning robot that I built from an old Kodak carousel projector and a USB relay:

I set this up because all my family slides are in carousels, and doing them manually or emptying carousels is too much work. Results are very good.

My father had some carousels, but most were in the yellow boxes from Kodak processing. The Nikon Coolscan made fast work of the slides, though the project stalled out. I still have about 1000 left to do, but other life things got in the way.

Back in the day to make a print out of a slide, an inter-negative had to be made first. ie transfer the slide's image to negative film. I found several rigs for doing this in my father's stuff. It got me thinking of how to do it today and I came up with pretty much the same design. The Kodak carousel projectors had an optional attachment for loading individual slides a pack at a time. My father had one and it was what we normally used.

I calculated that to get the same DPI as the scanner I was using, it would take a DSLR with around 36 MP. In the video it looks like he was using a Nikon with 24 MP. That top layout is shared by the D750, D780, D7000, D7200, and D7500. The D7500 is only 20 MP for some reason, but the others are 24 MP. The D7000 series are cropped frame, 2/3 the size of 35mm film. The D700 series are full frame, sensor the same size as 35 mm film. Only a handful of Nikons are more than 24 MP.

 

[Skipdd]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance talked about people who are primarily form and those who are primarily function. Form people go for the look of something over the practical usefulness and function people go for the usefulness and other practical considerations. Rarely do the two cross paths in the same person.

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the world's greatest architectural artists, but function took a back seat.

I've only been to one of his buildings, the chapel in Sedona, AZ. I was there two days after the Winter Solstice at sunset and realized he situated the chapel so that the sun appeared to go down right on top of a peak in Monument Valley on the Solstice. I did some calculations and found that the sun would set right between two rocks sticking up in the distance on the Summer Solstice. It's a stunning building in its own right, but I found that little attention to detail interesting too.

Some more connecting dots, wow almost too many. The most amusing one is the MCM (mid-century modern) house we bought. We are literally solving a form over function architecture decision now. The original owners built a gorgeous home. Originally an Acorn-Deck house Home - Acorn Deck House that they subsequently modified to a MCM with the help of an architect and their own sense of design which was excellent. Lots of custom wood built-ins throughout the house. Multiple HVAC systems, including one that is ensconced in a corner floor to (almost) ceiling cabinet made to mirror its siblings that are symetrically spaced along an exterior wall. You open the top part of an 18” wide hinged cabinet and you are staring at the inside unit of an HVAC. Not maintainable and it broke in June. We are working with the original builder (the owner shared his name, in the event we would ever have questions) and the owner of the HVAC company to solve. Instead of tearing out the inside walls and dissembling the cabinet to get to the unit, we are going to cut a hole in the exterior wall and then have a door made that matches the wood trim. This will allow for future service/replacement without the drama. We are 50/50 form and function. Yes I knew this was a likely problem as we thoroughly inspected the house before we bought it. Knock on wood, so far everything is within the margin of error (expectations).

It’s been awhile since I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Going to have to either find my old dog-eared copy or by a digital version. Thanks to you and @Merrill and @brucet999 for sharing. This has been a fun and informative weekend diversion.

 

[Merrill]

Keep in mind that when this was built people that lived in Marin were in an uproar over the design, FLW kept the existing land as it was and designed this to fit between the small hills that existed.

 

[Skipdd]

Keep in mind that when this was built people that lived in Marin were in an uproar over the design, FLW kept the existing land as it was and designed this to fit between the small hills that existed.

This isn’t one I was familiar with. We’ve been to Falling Water, Taliesen West, the Pope-Leighey house and the Guggenheim. Can’t say I liked everything he did, but it’s hard not to be impressed with how he fused so many things together to achieve his designs, and how most blend into their environments. Falling Water is our favorite.

 

[Merrill]

This isn’t one I was familiar with. We’ve been to Falling Water, Taliesen West, the Pope-Leighey house and the Guggenheim. Can’t say I liked everything he did, but it’s hard not to be impressed with how he fused so many things together to achieve his designs, and how most blend into their environments. Falling Water is our favorite.

Yes, I agree he built a subdivision full of mid century modern homes in Terra Linda not my favorite look.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Keep in mind that when this was built people that lived in Marin were in an uproar over the design, FLW kept the existing land as it was and designed this to fit between the small hills that existed.

Lived in Marin County (Tiburon) for five years in the '60s and it was a controversial design. An odd look and color for the area but certainly eye catching when driving by. I recall some complaints about interior utility and maintenance issues but don't recall specifics after so many years.

Never had cause to visit or go inside the building. Should have done so when I drove by in May.

 

[Merrill]

There was a few issues with rain leaking from the center glass roof, I walked down the atrium type of area I think it was on the second floor but do not remember it was a long time ago.

 

[HankLloydRight]

We're knocking down our garage and building it higher to accommodate two car lifts (have to make room for the Cybetruck and Roadster) as well as a bigger deck on top of the garage... and now you all have me seriously considering adding several FLW stained glass windows to two of the three walls of the garage (which are otherwise windowless). And then at night, I can add backlighting to illuminate the windows from the inside. Perhaps ones like these:

 

[Merrill]

Lived in Marin County (Tiburon) for five years in the '60s and it was a controversial design. An odd look and color for the area but certainly eye catching when driving by. I recall some complaints about interior utility and maintenance issues but don't recall specifics after so many years.

Never had cause to visit or go inside the building. Should have done so when I drove by in May.

I grew up in Larkspur, where did you go to school.

 

[Skipdd]

We're knocking down our garage and building it higher to accommodate two car lifts (have to make room for the Cybetruck and Roadster) as well as a bigger deck on top of the garage... and now you all have me seriously considering adding several FLW stained glass windows to two of the three walls of the garage (which are otherwise windowless). And then at night, I can add backlighting to illuminate the windows from the inside. Perhaps ones like these:

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View attachment 705782

Art is a very personal choice. we’ve never had a stained glass piece before. One thing I’ve noticed is that the colors change based on how the light hits the piece, which is mostly driven by time of day. This is especially true for the variegated glass (the glass used for the circles). FWIW, I would research the effects and see if that is something that appeals to you.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I grew up in Larkspur, where did you go to school.

Reed and Del Mar for various levels of elementary school and a freshman year at Redwood HS before moving on. We lived a block or two above the Del Mar school.

 

[Merrill]

Reed and Del Mar for various levels of elementary school and a freshman year at Redwood HS before moving on. We lived a block or two above the Del Mar school.

What year were you at Redwood, I went there 60 to 64.

 

[dgpcolorado]

What year were you at Redwood, I went there 60 to 64.

'67-'68 IIRC. So, a few years younger. I was disappointed to leave because I had to start over in a place with a three year HS, and all of the students came from one junior high, so I was very much an outsider! Liked living in Marin County, back before it got a reputation.