When architect Barbie was introduced as Mattel’s Career of the Year for 2011 during the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention in New Orleans, it elicited both positive and negative reactions from the industry.
I recently took this doll on a trip to Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin and used the adventure to share ideas and information about some of the Organic Architecture Principles of Frank Lloyd Wright. In Chicago, the place where he started developing a distinct American form of architecture, it was where the Prairie Style was born. He lived in the Oak Park neighborhood. This place was the backdrop in the novel, Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, that told the illicit love affair between the celebrated architect and Mamah Borthwick.
The novel and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio share two themes about architect Barbie, namely women’s independence and that of architecture. Read on about lessons learned from her tour of the home and studio. Her adventures were chronicled by Chicago photographer Elizabeth Melas.
(The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust's mission is to engage, educate and inspire the public through architecture, design and the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, and to preserve the Trust's historic sites and collections.)
(Elizabeth Melas has been an accomplished photographer for more than two decades. She has had exhibitions of her work in Chicago, New York, and Paris. Early in her photography career, she developed a new technique using infrared film. She was selected as a fellow to The International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation, a prestigious award granted to professional women who have established themselves in their chosen field. Her work is currently part of the a.DOT Architects Doing Other Things retrospective during Chicago Artist Month, running from October 6th - 29th.)
A brunette architect Barbie visited the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)Architect Barbie contemplates about the "destruction of the box" right by the window that demonstrates it. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
She basks in the beauty of the plants that surround the exterior as the sun casts an interplay of shade and shadow on the sculptured pottery. This is not a tan she is sporting as a result of some sunshine. Architect Barbie now comes as a brunette, too. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Frank Lloyd Wright incorporated classical details within the design of the interiors. The rooms were also flanked by sculptures that add accent to the spaces. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Philosophies and principles about design, often engraved as quotations on walls, give verbal and visual meaning to the space. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
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The color scheme within Frank Lloyd Wright's home in Oak Park were characterized by earth tones. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Interplay of visual framing highlights spaces and add character to its volume. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Destruction of the box, as experienced from the interior. The idea behind this concept is to push the windows out. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Architect Barbie strikes a pose next to one of the toys displayed in the children's bedroom.
(image credit: Elizabeth Melas)Architect Barbie rests on the bed. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
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She dreams of having a dress designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, as she sat next to Mrs Wright's sewing machine. Frank Lloyd Wright was known for designing even the dresses of his clients so they complement the interior spaces. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Frank Lloyd Wright incorporated the "compression and release" concept in his spaces. "This theory deals with how we psychologically handle the feeling of enclosure. When you enter a building or stand under a low ceiling you often feel trapped. When you move into an open space with the sky above you will feel a tremendous weight has been lifted." (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)Another demonstration of the destruction of the box. Architect Barbie also learns of the stained glass window patterns of Frank Lloyd Wright. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
She poses behind a mural in one of the rooms. The painting on some of the walls at the Home and Studio were done by artist Orlando Berlini. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Remarkable detail in the house. A tree was allowed to literally grow inside the house, instead of cutting it down. A demonstration of respect for nature. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
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"The hearth is the psychological center of the home." - Frank Lloyd Wright (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)"Marion Mahony went to work in the Chicago studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, designing buildings, furniture, stained glass windows and decorative panels.[3] She would be associated with Wright's studio for almost fifteen years and was an important contributor to his reputation, particularly for the influential Wasmuth Portfolio, for which Mahony created more than half of the numerous renderings." - Wikipedia (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)Architect Barbie sits by the drafting tables where Marion Mahony, one of the first licenced female architects in the world, worked as an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)Architect Barbie analyzes the scale model of the Robie House. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)A vintage typewriter--yes there were no computers during Frank Lloyd Wright's time. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
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Frank Lloyd Wright was 21 years old when he started building his home and studio, financing it from the $5k loan he took from Adler & Sullivan. (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)"Most of the sculptures on the exterior of the Home and Studio were designed by Wright's friend and collaborator, Richard Bock. These include the two boulder figures flanking the entrance of the studio, which features a man crouching and breaking free from the ground beneath him. Bock also designed the stork capitals on the exterior loggia of the studio. The capitals signifies the tree of life, the book of knowledge, an architectural scroll, and two storks full of wisdom and fertility." - Wikipedia (image credit: Elizabeth Melas)
Fil-American Transformer of world + society through emerging synthesis of global architect, LEED environmentalist, experience economist, progressive modernist.
Design Sense is how we make something in our environment extraordinary & outstanding, sensible & comfy ...starting with interior spaces & expanding beyond.
