Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Building

"Frank Lloyd Wright and His Forgotten Larkin Building"
Bearings (June 7, 2008)

Bear with this post. It takes a while to get started, but here's where it starts getting interesting - to me, anyway.

"...And if there is any documentary film that is perfect for a Saturday, let me just say, that Ken Burns’ eponomously titled documentary DVD, Frank Lloyd Wright, is a masterpiece edifice of its own.

"The film follows the path of the iconic architect, even his less-than-glamorous history of philandering and his penchant for self-promotion. But, through it all, emerges a portrait of a man who did it to create beauty. And it is a uniquely American and transcendentalist notion of beauty — a perception of beauty that bequeaths 'nature with a capital "N",' in Wright’s own words.

"So what did I most like about the film? The pictures of course! And which pictures, in particular? The one image that made my heart jump forthwith was the Larkin Building in Buffalo New York ..."

The Larkin Building was the "the first entirely air-conditioned modern office building on record" (Great Buildings Online).

It was torn down around 1950.

Four photos and an illustration.

A quick read, and pretty good introduction to a fine building.