Dimensions
231 x 193 x 15mm
On April 11, 1943, in the desert hills of Phoenix, Arizona, Frank Lloyd Wright's Pauson House burned to the ground. Work had been completed just one year earlier. Thanks to an astounding archive of letters exchanged by Wright (American, 1867-1959) and his client, artist Rose Pauson, the house lives on as a dialogue between two dynamic and creative people. In Building the Pauson House, the reproduction of more than fifty previously unpublished letters written between 1938 and 1943 - alongside rare site photographs and architectural drawings - chronicles the design and construction of a house that tested Wright's commitment to integrating his buildings into their natural environment. The correspondence provides a rare glimpse into another important challenge for the architect: pleasing the client. In note after note, Pauson's and Wright's personalities shine through: as they tussle over bills and design changes, frustrations emerge on both sides. But despite their differences and the occasional crisis, client and architect displayed the resolute optimism and consideration of a time gone by; Wright wrote: "If the house doesn't fit you from the soles of your feet to the top of your head it wouldn't be one of our houses."Edited and introduced by Allan Wright Green, the greatnephew of Rose Pauson, Building the Pauson House has a Foreword by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives. Joining the recent Frank Lloyd Wright's SCJohnson Research Tower (see p. 10) and many other Pomegranate titles devoted to Wright, these letters offer a remarkable view of the personality and working methods of one of the world's greatest architects.
