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.
Related Stories
| Jun 4, 2012
Brownfield goes green
Chicago Center for Green Technology uses high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers to share its green message and earn LEED credits.
| Jun 4, 2012
KBE Building and CTA Construction awarded Project of the Year from CMAA
Award given for work done on the renovation of Beverly High School in Beverly, Mass.
| Jun 4, 2012
Pressley promoted to Senior VP and CIO at Hill International
Pressley will be responsible for managing all of Hill's information technology systems and software worldwide.
| Jun 4, 2012
Stalco Construction promotes Scott Pavick to chief estimator
Pavick manages the estimating department and is responsible for developing cost estimates and budgets, value engineering, and subcontractor bid evaluation and negotiations.
| Jun 4, 2012
HBD Construction to build new training campus in St. Louis
Larger campus facility will expand training opportunities for plumbers and pipefitters.
| Jun 1, 2012
New BD+C University Course on Insulated Metal Panels available
By completing this course, you earn 1.0 HSW/SD AIA Learning Units.
| Jun 1, 2012
Caruso to lead Gensler’s Asia talent development
Caruso will be based in Shanghai and working with the Gensler offices in Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and India until the spring of 2013.
| Jun 1, 2012
AIA 2030 Commitment Program reports new results
The full report contains participating firm demographics, energy reduction initiatives undertaken by firms, anecdotal accounts, and lessons learned.
| Jun 1, 2012
Robert Wilson joins SmithGroupJJR
Wilson makes the move to SmithGroupJJR from VOA Associates, Inc., where he served as a senior vice president and technical director in its Chicago office.
| Jun 1, 2012
Gilbane Building's Sue Klawans promoted
Industry veteran tasked with boosting project efficiency and driving customer satisfaction, to direct operational excellence efforts.