For Immediate Release: March 30, 2006
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Prairie Skyscraper Exhibition: News Release
NBM Celebrates Wright’s Only Skyscraper—Price Tower
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Building Museum will present a comprehensive exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the completion of Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper—the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, of 1956. Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower, opening June 17, 2006, will examine the evolution of Wright’s concept of the modern office building, from the Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, and the Johnson Wax Administration Building and Research Tower in Racine, Wisconsin, to the Price Tower itself—which is hailed by architect Tadao Ando as “one of the most important buildings of the 20th century.” The Price Tower won the American Institute of Architects' 25-Year Award for its enduring architectural design, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The exhibition will be on view through September 17, 2006.
During its three-month run in the Museum’s second-floor galleries, the exhibition will feature approximately 108 drawings, models, photographs, documents, building components (such as exterior copper panels and louvers), and furnishings. The latter objects—desks, chairs, tables, and textiles designed for the Price Tower by Frank Lloyd Wright—keep with Wright’s conception of the building as an integrated work of art. This traveling exhibition comes to the Museum from the collection of Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and from the archives of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Originally conceived in 1929 as a residential tower in lower Manhattan, the concept for the 19-story, 37,000-square-foot Price Tower was further developed in the 1930s as a component of Broadacre City. It was finally constructed as a multi-use, high-rise tower that would serve as the corporate headquarters for H.C. Price Company, incorporating office, retail, and residential space.The iconic building was designed to resemble a tree in form and function, with branch-like, cantilevered floors that “broke the box” of conventional construction.
Prairie Skyscraper will showcase Wright’s ideal of integrating office, commercial, and residential space within a single structure and reflect the uncompromisingly holistic approach to design that makes him America’s pre-eminent architect. The exhibition will also highlight this fascinating take on America’s quintessential building type—the skyscraper—and the imaginatively designed, detailed, and furnished environment created by Wright for his last masterpiece of urban architecture.
Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower is a traveling exhibition organized by Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in cooperation with The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona. The exhibition, its tour, and its publication are made possible in part by The Henry Luce Foundation, the Buell Family of Bartlesville, The Silas Foundation, and the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. The exhibition installation has been designed by Zaha Hadid and Office of Zaha Hadid, London, and co-produced by Price Tower Arts Center and Yale University Art + Architecture Gallery. At the National Building Museum, the exhibition is made possible by the Copper Development Association, Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Silas, and the Museum’s F. Stuart Fitzpatrick Memorial Exhibition Fund. Prairie Skyscraper was curated by Anthony Alofsin, a noted scholar of Frank Lloyd Wright and professor of architecture at the University of Texas. Assisting him was former Price Tower Arts Center curator Monica Ramirez-Montagut, now assistant curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and Richard P. Townsend, executive director and CEO of Price Tower Arts Center.
Accompanying the exhibition is an illustrated catalog, published by Rizzoli International Publications and edited by exhibition curator Anthony Alofsin. The large-format, 176-page book features 150 color illustrations plus major essays by Alofsin; Hilary Ballon, chair of the department of art history and archaeology, Columbia University; Joseph M. Siry, professor of art and art history, Wesleyan University; Scott Perkins, curator of collections and exhibitions, Price Tower Arts Center; and Pat Kirkham, professor at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture.
To complement Prairie Skyscraper, the Museum will offer a host of educational programs for adults and families. On Saturday, June 17, 2006, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, the Museum will hold a dramatic program titled “A Towering Challenge,” during which families can build their own towers in the Great Hall out of 4’ wooden KEVA® planks. Throughout the day, KEVA Building Masters will erect a freestanding tower more than 50 feet high using 5,000 planks without glue or fasteners. On Monday, June 19, 2006, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, Anthony Alofsin will discuss Wright’s only skyscraper in a lecture titled “Pinwheel on the Prairie: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower.” This lecture awards 1.5 CEU. $10 Museum members and students; $15 for nonmembers. Prepaid registration is required. Register online or call 202.272.2448.
The Museum will also hold Wednesdays with Wright: Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids, a drop-in program series on eight successive Wednesdays from July 5 to August 23, between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. In these programs, children ages 3 to 10 can engage in hands-on design activities that demonstrate aspects of Wright’s style. For adults, the Museum will offer evening lectures by Prairie Skyscraper curators, historians, and other authorities on Frank Lloyd Wright; and a variety of drop-in films exploring the fascinating connections between Wright and his work.
The National Building Museum is America’s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions, educational programs, online content, and publications, the Museum has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the world we build for ourselves. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit www.nbm.org. Connect with us on Twitter: @BuildingMuseum and Facebook.
