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News: a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939 but never built has been realised 74 years later at the campus of Florida Southern College.

The single-storey structure was one of around 60 houses drawn up by the late American architect as part of his series of “Usonian homes” – a kind of family residence that is free from ornamentation, intended to represent a national style whilst remaining affordable for the average family.

The house has now been constructed on the campus of Florida Southern College, which itself was masterplanned by Frank Lloyd Wright and currently boasts the world’s largest single-site collection of his completed buildings. Wright originally designed 18 buildings for the college but only 12 were constructed during his lifetime, making the Usonian house number 13.

Instead of being used as a residence, the building forms part of the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center – a gallery and visitor centre presenting both permanent and temporary exhibitions of Wright’s life and work.

“It is a singular privilege to be stewards of this paramount piece of American architectural heritage,” said college president Anne Kerr. “Frank Lloyd Wright is not only a part of Florida Southern’s history, but also a part of America’s great history, and the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center is a wonderful tribute to his legacy on our campus and his impact around the world.”

Around 2000 concrete blocks were used to build the walls of the house and had to be hand-made by craftsmen. Roof canopies and window frames are constructed from timber, plus around 6000 coloured glass blocks function as stained glass windows.

The house also features reproduction furniture that was designed by Wright specifically for use in his Usonian homes.

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74 years after it was designed appeared first on Dezeen.

News: a house in New Jersey designed in 1954 by the influential American architect Frank Lloyd Wright could be sold and moved as far away as Italy in order to save it from flood damage.

Homeowners Sharon and Lawrence Tarantino, who are themselves architects, hope to sell the Bachman Wilson house to a buyer willing to dismantle and transport the house away from its flood-prone site in Millstone, New Jersey.

“We have been here 25 years and over the past couple of years the flooding has become worse. We have to do what is best for the house,” Sharon Tarantino told the Daily Telegraph.

The asking price for the residence is £1 million, which includes the building and its furnishings as well as the estimated cost of moving it to a new location.

After plans to move the house to New York fell through, the couple got in touch with Italian architect Paolo Bulletti, who three years ago organised an exhibition in Fiesole, a town near Florence where Wright lived in 1910, to celebrate the centenary of the architect’s time in the area.

“We have recognised that the Bachman Wilson House was designed after Wright’s second visit to Fiesole in 1954 and there were many similarities to the design of his Fiesole house that was unbuilt,” said Sharon Tarantino.

The Tarantinos have now signed an exclusive agreement naming Bulletti as the Italian agent to research buyers for the property.

Although he has yet to find a site, Bulletti believes the mayors of Fiesole and Florence would be pleased to have the house, given Wright’s connection to the region, though it is still unclear if planning regulations would permit the house to be used as a residence.

However, it could be “erected in protected land, a park or a garden as if it were a sculpture,” Bulletti told the New York Times.

“We want to know that it has a future if we are going to go to the trouble of dismantling it and moving it,” said Sharon Tarantino. “We feel that wherever it goes, it has to have a connection to Wright.”

We recently reported that a Wright house in Phoenix, Arizona, could be bulldozed unless a new buyer is found or the city agrees to grant landmark status to the property.

Meanwhile, a New York and Athens-based architecture firm provoked ire from commenters last month with its proposal to add 13 floors to Wright’s famous spiralling Guggenheim Museum in New York – see all news about Frank Lloyd Wright.

Photographs are by Lawrence Tarantino.

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shipped from US to Italy appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Wire: a house in Phoenix, Arizona designed by the influential American architect Frank Lloyd Wright could be bulldozed unless a new buyer is found or the city agrees to grant landmark status to the property.

Property developers 8081 Meridian, the current owners of the house, are still considering offers from interested buyers even though a 60-day period to find a new owner passed on 21 August.

If no new buyer can be found, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy hopes to persuade the City of Phoenix to grant the building landmark status, thereby protecting it from demolition for a few vital years. The Conservancy is asking supporters to write letters to the city’s council and planning committees.

If it cannot be saved, the house will be the first Wright building intentionally demolished in nearly 40 years, according to Janet Halstead, executive director of the Conservancy.

The David and Gladys Wright House was designed by Wright for his son and completed in 1952. The house is laid out in the same spiral plan as Wright’s iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York.

See other stories about Frank Lloyd Wright »

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faces demolition appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Wire: Oscar-winning film maker Bruce Beresford will direct a forthcoming movie about iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright – The Hollywood Reporter

The film will be centred around the architect’s Wisconsin home Taliesin, after which the film is to be named.

The LEGO Architecture line launched in 2008 has just released a Frank Lloyd Wright series. Via Design Observer.

Looks like LEGO is planning on trying to release more Frank Lloyd Wright works. Keep an eye out here if you’re interested.