Wright in Hollywood

The textile-block system was a fascinating experiment that Frank Lloyd Wrightconducted from about 1922 to 1932 as part of his quest to find a new system of construction using astandardized building material based on the idea of twentieth-century machine technology. RobertSweeney has meticulously researched the textile block system, providing a case-by-case account ofeach project, commenting on Wright's clients, collaborators, and contractors, and positioningWright's experiment firmly within the larger historical context of concrete block technology.Sweeney traces the forms of several of the early concrete block projects to Wright's own earlierwork, clarifies an array of important technical challenges the architect faced, and notes thenumerous block shapes required for executionThe concrete block experiment was firmly rooted in theconcept of architectural simplification that Wright established at the outset of his career. It wasbegun in Hollywood, where he was living at the time, but was part of a larger vision with globalapplication. Wright pursued the concept with a sense of mission, designing approximately thirtyprojects through the decade. Sweeney shows, however that this technical evolution can be explainedin just three designs: the canonical Millard house of February 1923; and in two unexecuted projects,the Community Playhouse, "Little Dipper," for Aline Barnsdall, and in designs for a resort hotel forthe Arizona desert.Although Wright began with structure, Sweeney points out that he was primarilyinterested in form: technology of assembly was only a path to architectural creation. As thestructural system matured - a process coinciding with the evolution of the minimalist InternationalStyle in Europe - the buildings became increasingly architectonic; forms were simplified, and theinitial fascination with ornament all but disappeared.Robert L. Sweeney is Executive Director of theR. M. Shindler House in Los Angeles. His comprehensive annotated bibliography on Wright waspublished in 1978.