
Selectors: Jim Van Loon, Rosa Forte
June 8 marks the 150th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s birth in Richland Center, Wisconsin in 1867. The Purdy-Kresge display and online guide “Frank Lloyd Wright at 150” includes material selected from the WSU library collection and online sources to provide insight into the life and work of this colossal (and controversial) American design talent.



Less is only more where more is no good.
--Frank Lloyd Wright


Treasures of Taliesin
by
Frank Lloyd Wright believed that his unbuilt designs were the most interesting of his works. Here are 106 color plates of his drawings for 76 unexecuted designs. Twenty-nine of the drawings have never been published.Pfeiffer has created a visual history of the development of Wright s work that extends in time from 1895 to 1959 and in architectural interest from his admonition to Franklin Watkins to use cadmium plated screws with an electrical screwdriver to secure the cypress siding of his studio-residence to a description of the 26-foot drawing for The Mile High Building that was exhibited on September 17, 1956.Wright argued then that This is the future of the tall building in the American city. Level Manhattan to one large green, like Central Park, and erect a few of these well spaced apart and you have the congregation desired by city work and city life, but surrounded with trees, fields, parks and streams. Pfeiffer draws on his long association with Wright to describe the circumstances surrounding the germination of each project, characterize the personalities involved, and explain what went wrong and why. The stories include political intrigue and assassination, as well as intimate glimpses of personalities such as Mike Todd and Ayn Rand, and a poignant recollection of Marilyn Monroe, who wanted an entire floor of her planned home with Arthur Miller for their children. There is even a residence for a mysterious client whose identity was known only by Wright."

450 Madison Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids MI 49503
County Hwy. 492, Marquette MI 49885
1925 N. Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills MI 48013
5045 Pon Valley Rd., Bloomfield Hills MI 48013
71 N. Peterson Park Rd., Northport MI 49670
11036 Hawthorne Dr., Galesburg MI 49053
2822 Taliesin Dr., Kalamazoo MI 49008
2527 Arrow Head Rd., Okemos MI 48864
1155 Wrightwind Dr., Okemos MI 48864
207 Sunnybank Rd., St. Joseph MI 49085
2760 W. Seven Mile Rd., Detroit MI 48221