flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Watch Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller discuss architecture in animated video shorts

Architects

Watch Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller discuss architecture in animated video shorts

Given more time, Wright wanted to rebuild the country and change the nation.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | March 9, 2017

Courtesy of Blank on Blank

Whether you agree with Frank Lloyd Wright’s definition of good architecture or not, the late architect was never anything less than resolute and unswerving in his convictions. If ever you needed evidence of this, look no further than PBS Digital and Quoted Studios’ Blank on Blank animated short featuring excerpts from an interview between Wright and Mike Wallace in 1957.

In the short six-minute video, Wright calls architecture of the past 500 years “phony,” says, if given another 15 years to work, he would rebuild the country and change the nation, and casts aspersions on the New York City skyline calling it a “great monument to money and greed.” Wright certainly doesn’t hold anything back in this interview, but before anyone gets any ideas to call him arrogant, he has a few choice words for you too. “I think any man who really has faith in himself will be dubbed arrogant by his fellows,” Wright says. “I think that’s what happened to me.”

Wright’s interview on The Mike Wallace Show took place when he was 90 years old, just two years before his death. At this point in his life, Wright had designed over 1,000 buildings and had seen over 500 of them come to fruition, but even with so much work under his belt, Father Time was the only thing slowing the 90-year-old architect down and hindering him from accomplishing more.

Returning to his idea of changing the country, Wallace quoted Wright as previously saying, “If I had another 15 years to work, I could rebuild this entire country. I could change the nation.” Wright confirmed that he said this saying, “It’s amazing what I could do for this country. I wouldn’t start to change so much the way we live, as what we live in and how we live in it.”

Wright wasn’t the only architect featured in a Blank on Blank video. A 1965 interview between architect Buckminster Fuller and Studs Terkel was also turned into an episode.

Fuller’s interview isn’t quite as provocative as Wright’s, but he shares some of the same ideas as Wright regarding the current state of architecture. “I saw that the way in which we built was very, very ignorant,” Fuller says.

The rest of the video gives some insight into how and why Fuller developed his architectural style and philosophy.

Both videos act as windows into the minds and imaginations of two architects with very unique and very ambitious ideas for what architecture could and should be.

According to Quoted Studios, its purpose in creating these animated videos from interviews, such as this one featuring Wright and Wallace, is to unlock hidden stories. “Whether they’re interviews sitting on a journalist’s tapes or in a major archive, recordings buried in a media brand’s archives, or the yet to be heard stories within an organization, we transform raw, intimate storytelling into culturally resonant digital content,” the company writes on its website.

Other notable figures featured in the Blank on Blank series include Rod Serling, Ayn Rand, Ray Bradbury, and Carl Sagan.

Tags

Related Stories

| Jan 17, 2014

The Starchitect of Oz: New Gehry building in Sydney celebrates topping out

The Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology, Sydney, will mark Frank Gehry's debut project in the Australian metro.

| Jan 16, 2014

Construction spending for 2013 finishing 5% higher than 2012: Gilbane Construction Economics report

??Construction growth is looking up, according to the December 2013 release of the periodic report Construction Economics, authored by Gilbane Building Company. Construction spending for 2013 will finish the year up 5%.

| Jan 16, 2014

ASHRAE revised climatic data for building design standards

ASHRAE Standard 169, Climatic Data for Building Design Standards, now includes climatic data for 5,564 locations throughout the world.

| Jan 15, 2014

6 social media skills every leader needs

The social media revolution—which is less than a decade old—has created a dilemma for senior executives. While its potential seems immense, the inherent risks create uncertainty and unease.

| Jan 15, 2014

Report: 32 U.S. buildings have been verified as net-zero energy performers

The New Buildings Institute's 2014 Getting to Zero Status report includes an interactive map detailing the net-zero energy buildings that have been verified by NBI. 

| Jan 14, 2014

Sherwin-Williams unveils colormix 2014

Drawing influence from fashion, science, nature, pop culture and global traditions, Sherwin-Williams introduces colormix™ 2014, which captures colors that inspire creativity and design in today’s world. The four-palette collection provides design professionals with a guide to help them define the moods they want to create and select colors for their projects.

| Jan 13, 2014

Custom exterior fabricator A. Zahner unveils free façade design software for architects

The web-based tool uses the company's factory floor like "a massive rapid prototype machine,” allowing designers to manipulate designs on the fly based on cost and other factors, according to CEO/President Bill Zahner.

| Jan 13, 2014

AEC professionals weigh in on school security

An exclusive survey reveals that Building Teams are doing their part to make the nation’s schools safer in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy.

| Jan 13, 2014

6 legislative actions to ignite the construction economy

The American Institute of Architects announced its “punch list” for Congress that, if completed, will ignite the construction economy by spurring much needed improvements in energy efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency, and create jobs for small business.

| Jan 12, 2014

CES showcases innovations: Can any of these help you do your job better?

The Consumer Electronics Show took place this past week in Las Vegas. Known for launching new products and technologies, many of the products showcased there set the bar for future innovators. The show also signals trends to watch in technology applicable to the design and building industry. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




Museums

UT Dallas opens Morphosis-designed Crow Museum of Asian Art

In Richardson, Tex., the University of Texas at Dallas has opened a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art—the first of multiple buildings that will be part of a 12-acre cultural district. When completed, the arts and performance complex, called the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, a grand plaza, and a dedicated parking structure on the Richardson campus.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021