FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
Designs for an American Landscape, 1922-1932
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Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
LAKE TAHOE SUMMER COLONY,EMERALD BAY, CALIFORNIA, 1923
Wright's designs for the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony, begun in 1923 while
he was pursuing hopes for Doheny, were also speculative. The site of
some 200 acres enclosed the head of Emerald Bay at the southwest corner
of Lake Tahoe. As records show, he attempted to interest the owner of
the property - a woman of means by the name of Jessie Armstrong - with
preliminary drawings of his proposal. Impressed with Wright as a person,
she remained reserved regarding his work. His ideas for Lake Tahoe remained
unrealized, although the site, now a state park, has survived largely
untouched.
Mobility was fundamental to Wright's concept, not the mobility of the
automobile and integrated roadways seen in the other projects in the
exhibition but that of the houses themselves. Here he conceived floating
cabins whose changeable positions on the water would intensify the visual
impact of the bay, and conceived the inn, itself approached by a floating
bridge, as a sort of elaborate jetty.
Hypothetical study model of the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
View of model
View of model, enlarged
In constructing the hypothetical study model of Wright's Tahoe design, cabins
were located in ways suggested by Wright's perspectives. The linear quality of
the Shore Type, for example, was clearly meant to embank the water's edge.
An examination of the upper areas of the site revealed several natural terraces,
bordered by rocks, that correspond to perspectives of the other types. Only
a few cabins are shown to suggest the openness Wright might have sought. The
inn and its network of floating piers were developed from the surviving sketch
showing a site plan and partial elevation.
Basswood, birch, and acrylic, 1995-96
Scale: 1 inch = 50 feet (area represented: approximately 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile)
Created for the exhibition by George Ranalli, architect, with Aaron McDonald
and Julie Shurtz, model makers (56)
Panorama, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe,
Steamer at Pier
Early in the century Emerald Bay was an established destination for tourists
on lake steamers that arrived at a pier near the entrance to the bay.
Harold A. Parker
ca. 1910 (negative exposed), modern print from copy negative
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (148)
Road map showing the proposed location of the Lake Tahoe
Summer Colony, Emerald Bay, California
Worthington Gates, cartographer
California Automobile Tours
(Oakland: California Automobile Tours,1914)
Relief halftone and letterpress
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (57)
Two views of the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony Project and
perspective sketch of Wigwam cabin
Wright superimposed an outline of the Lake Tahoe summer colony over an aerial
photograph of the site, reflecting his broad, inclusive vision of landscape
and facilitating the depiction of his knowing manipulation. The original sketch
remains undiscovered.
Heinrich de Fries, ed., Frank Lloyd Wright: aus dem Lebenswerke eines Architekten (Berlin:
Verlag Ernest Pollak, 1926), pp. 46-47
Relief halftone
Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.
Howard Dearstyne Collection, Gift of Marjorie Smolka (58)
INN
The site of the colony included the lake's only island, about the size of
a city block, and there Wright located the focal point of the development:
an inn built out over the bay and linked to the mainland by a varied network
of floating piers. Wright gave it special prominence by placing it adjacent
to the island itself, where it would have appeared romantically isolated.
The outline of the small island would have been intensified by the sympathetically
scaled inn, and brought into strong alliance with the surrounding mountains
through its connection to the shore. Had he continued to plan, bringing the
individual cabins more firmly into the composition, they would no doubt have
further structured their setting.
Site plan and partial elevation
showing inn, piers, and floating cabins for the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Enlarged view of site plan
The complicated intersections of the pitched and hipped roofs seem to be under
study in this drawing. Prominent in the elevation is a polygonal element linking
the central chimney with the lower bay window of the lounge. It resembles the
elaborate, multi-wired radio antennae shown on the roofs of the floating cabins.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and crayon on tracing paper, ca. 1923
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York (35)
Sketch perspectives and plans
for the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Sketch perspectives and plans, enlarged
A recently discovered sheet of sketches in Wright's hand hints at yet another
cabin prototype: a cabin bridging a chasm, as seen in the lower-right corner,
with a corresponding plan in the upper left. It would have been more difficult
to place than the others as such chasms are rare.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on Japanese paper, ca. 1923
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Gift, Donald D. Walker, 1986 (36)
The true basis for any serious study of the art of architecture is in
those indigenous structures, the more humble buildings everywhere, which
are to architecture what folklore is to literature or folksongs are to music
. . . . All are happily content with what ornament and color they carry,
as naturally as the rocks and trees and garden slopes which are with them. 1910
CABINS
Along the shore and on nearby mountain slopes, Wright proposed a series of
individual cabins. No site plan survives to locate these exactly, and probably
none was ever drawn; as with the Doheny Ranch, he had conceived prototypes
that could be varied to meet specific demands. He gave them names evocative
of appearance or location: Lodge, Wigwam, Fir Tree, Shore Type.
He again proposed his system of concrete blocks, but to be made of Tahoe's
white sand rather than the granite and sandstone of Los Angeles, and limited
to the retaining walls of terraces and the lower walls of the buildings. The
upper levels of the cabins were to be of stained boards and the steep roofs
of copper, with standing seams aligned to emphasize crystalline patterns.
Perspective and partial plan for the Lodge Type Cabin,
the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
This perspective, more finished than the alternate perspective shown, reveals
how effectively Wright refined his Tahoe vocabulary by adding angled bays,
complicated roof profiles, and more varied terraces.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (37)
Perspective and partial plan
for the Lodge Type Cabin, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
A preliminary perspective shows the cabin and adjacent, multi-leveled terraces
dramatically sited atop high retaining walls that seem to define one edge of
a level clearing.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on Japanese paper, ca. 1923
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal
Gift of George Jacobsen and of the CCA Founder's Circle, in his memory, 1994
(38)
Elevation for the Lodge Type
Cabin, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (39)
Plan for the Lodge Type Cabin,
the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Notes in Wright's hand list prototypes being considered for the colony. These
correspond somewhat to the surviving drawings but suggest that other types
were also being considered and that names for them were in flux.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (40)
Perspective for the Wigwam Cabin,
the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Named in obvious reference to its roof form, this cabin was also called the "Big
Tree."
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (41)
Plan and elevation for the Wigwam
Cabin, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
In this drawing a compact cluster of four rooms joined at the center by a massive
fireplace is rotated 45 degrees over its terraced base, adding angular complexities.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (42)
Plan and elevation for the Shore
Type Cabin, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
The lower, more extended profile makes this cabin ideally suited for a location
along the flatter areas of the site adjacent to the bay. Bedrooms on the upper
level are partly cantilevered over block walls below, imparting a dramatic
profile. The wall enclosing a small court at the back seems intended to retain
the slope of a hill rising behind.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (45)
Perspective and partial plan
for the Shore Type Cabin, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (44)
Sketch perspective for the Shore
Type Cabin, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
This preliminary sketch in Wright's hand conforms closely to the finished perspective.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (43)
FLOATING CABINS
The floating cabins, like houseboats, were to be moved about the bay, thus
bringing the lake itself into special play. Their names, like those of the
cabins, reflect specific qualities: Catamaran, Fallen Leaf, Family Type, Barge
for Two. Except for the Catamaran, all incorporated angled geometries, most
notably in their prows. The Barge for Two records Wright's first known use
of a fully hexagonal module. Not only its bays but the spaces throughout are
so shaped, resulting in a fully hexagonal plan. It was a device he would explore
in later years with extraordinary results.
Plan and elevation for the Fallen
Leaf Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
The plan, generated by rotated squares, like the Wigwam cabin, achieves richly
angled complexity.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (53)
Perspective for the Fallen Leaf
Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Clearly essential to Wright's vision were the reflected patterns of the barges
as they plied the waters of Emerald Bay.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (51)
Elevation for the Fallen Leaf
Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
The elevation shows a steeply peaked roof with a richly faceted pattern; it
is terminated by what appears to be a multi-cabled radio antenna.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (52)
Perspective for the Family Type
Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
The low, raking angles of the projecting roofs of this barge impart a sleek
appearance. The reflected image records a more conservative and probably earlier
profile.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (48)
Perspective and plan for the
Family Type Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
The blockier, less extended massing of this perspective appears to record an
earlier version of the design.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (49)
Elevations and plans for the
Family Type Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Roof profiles are again varied, with a more developed radio antenna that Wright
labeled"Radio or Aeolian Harp." The angled elements of its plan would have
facilitated the barge's movement through water.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (50)
Perspective and plan for the
Catamaran Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Long, narrow rooms and extended decks emphasize the linear nature of this floating
cabin, with telescoping elements defining a tapering profile. Partly erased
lines above a hipped roof seem to mark an open network of wires that on other
drawings indicates a radio antenna.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (46)
Plan and elevation for the Catamaran
Barge, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (47)
Good form arising out of the nature of materials, circumstances, and
site . . . the Tahoe designs were tent-like and terraced - and belonged with
the big trees round about them. 1933
Perspective for the Barge for
Two, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (54)
Plan and elevation for the Barge
for Two, the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony
The boards and diaphanous cables of the elevation reinforce the angled plan,
Wright's first recorded use of a fully hexagonal module.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, 1923
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (55)
NAKOMA COUNTRY CLUB AND MEMORIAL GATEWAY, NEAR MADISON, WISCONSIN, 1923-1924
Late in 1923, while he still held hopes for Tahoe's realization, Wright developed
its architectural vocabulary of steeply hipped roofs and angled forms for the
Nakoma Country Club, intended to adjoin a golf course in the residential suburb
of Nakoma a few miles west of Madison, Wisconsin.
The octagonal elements of its plan are less daring than his angular proposals
for Lake Tahoe, but its scale is larger than Tahoe's individual cabins, and
it is dramatically sited: one long wing was planned as an enclosure for parked
automobiles that bridges a shallow ravine. Except for this passive reference
to the automobile and a conventional driveway, roadways are not integrated
into the design.
Site plan for the Nakoma Country
Club, near Madison, Wisconsin
Graphite, ink and colored ink on tracing paper, 1923-24
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (62)
Perspective for Memorial Gateway
to the Nakoma Country Club, near Madison, Wisconsin
Wright's clear grasp of the scale of the site and of the need for an architectural
statement that would have discernible, even symbolic, presence within its broad
expanse is suggested by this drawing, with notes regarding his intended meaning.
He wrote to the directors of the club describing the "contrast of the shining
plateau and more shadowed pool" that would result, indicating those features
as important components of his design. The clubhouse can be seen in the far
distance.
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923Ð24
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona (59)
Elevation and plan with perspectival
foreground for the Nakoma Country Club
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite on tracing paper, ca. 1923-24
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Gift of Donald D. Walker, 1986 (61)
Elevation with perspectival
foreground for the Nakoma Country Club
Elevation with perspectival foreground, enlarged
Office of Frank Lloyd Wright
Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, ca. 1923-24
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Gift, Donald D. Walker, 1986 (60)
HOME - Overview
- Introduction
- Gordon Strong
- Lake Tahoe
- Doheny Ranch
Johnson Desert
Compound
- San Marcos
- Copyright and Ordering
Information
- Credits Exhibits Home
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