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Wright in Racine
29 'new' Wright homes: True or False?
Posted by:
mhertzberg on
July 7, 2008 at
3:27PM CST
(c) Mark Hertzberg
There is a buzz about William Allin Storrer’s declaration that he, Richard Johnson, and Daniel Dominique Watts have identified 29 previously undocumented Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes, with the promise of more on the way. Wright scholars would welcome news of more Wright commissions, if they could be documented. Storrer’s announcement about these homes was first detailed in a column by Blair Kamin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune. Kamin’s piece, published on-line Thursday and in print Sunday, also quotes Dr. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, respected director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives at Taliesin West. Those archives are the widely accepted authority in determing which projects were actually done by Wright. Pfeiffer emphasized to Kamin the need for proof of the speculation that any house is or is not by Wright, “But unless we have a drawing to authenticate it, we can’t confirm it. The same goes for houses. The rest of it is all speculation.” These newly declared commissions have not been documented as Wright’s work. Previous research and documentation pointing to Harry Robinson as the architect, which has been accepted for 35 years, cannot simply be dismissed without new documentation. In academics, the burden is on the new person to disprove the standing research and theory.There is an irony in Storrer’s piece published on his website on Monday. On one hand, he criticizes Pfeiffer, “There was a fire at Taliesin around the time Wright might have been doing his first drawings for the William Street project. There were later disasters. Drawings have been lost, so lack of a drawing proves nothing.” He offers several other reasons why the lack of documentation may not mean anything in this case. Then, at the end of his article, he insists on documentation from critics, when he invites feedback, “We expect there will be those who disagree with us. We welcome ideas that will help us refine our approach to identifying architectural works and their rightful creators. Please, if you do, make sure you quote chapter and verse exact details of design throughout the project of each and every collaborator you see in the project, and why that makes our decision faulty. ”Feels like” and “didn’t x do it this way?” don’t count with us, only specific identifiable characteristics of architects will carry much weight with us, unless you can produce a document with irrefutable proof of your assertions.” So, Pfeiffer, the authority who says documentation is key to solving the mystery, is discredited by Storrer, the person who insists on documentation from anyone who disagrees with him. Storrer’s website boldly asserts that “This is the ONLY independent, unbiased source of information on the world's greatest architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and his work.” This leaves no room for any of the many Wright organizations, scholars, researchers, or aficionados who have any of a number of fine websites of their own. Do conjecture and similarities make a home a Wright house, or is documentation the absolute key to solving the puzzle? Links: Blair Kamin’s article http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/ William Allin Storrer’s website http://www.franklloydwrightinfo.com/
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