Description:

Wright Frank

Frank Lloyd Wright Initialed Plan for Future Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center

 

Undated Monona Terrace project architectural plans initialed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) as "FLW" in a 1" square red square cartouche in the lower left corner. In good condition overall, with uneven discoloration, chipped edges, closed tears, and residual tape along edges. The sheet measures approximately 44.5" x 18" unrolled.

 

Wright's plan shows an exterior view of the building that would become Monona Terrace (Madison, Wisconsin). The plan, rendered in black colored pencil, shows a low-slung facade dominated by arched windows that would have reflected the surface of Lake Monona.

 

Monona Terrace was first conceived by Wright, a Wisconsin native, in 1938. That year, a $16,000 surplus became available from the Wisconsin Centennial Corporation, which had sponsored the state's 100th-year celebration two years before. It was awarded to the newly formed Madison Planning Trust to finance and prepare an auditorium/administrative building in Madison.

 

Original plans for Wright's "Dream Civic Center" included a multi-functional municipal space linking the State Capitol building with the Lake Monona waterfront. The original plans featured an interconnected courthouse, community venue, and railroad depot. The project was shelved during World War II, initially approved in 1955, and then blocked through legislation between 1957-1959. Wright's last plans of Monona Terrace date from 1959.

 

The Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center was finally built in the late 1990s, four decades after Wright's death. While its exterior shell is based on Wright design, the interior had been modified by modern architects. This popular urban venue attracts residents and tourists alike with its six levels including a roof-top terrace.

 

Frank Lloyd Wright created over 1000 architectural plans over his 70-year-long career, of which more than half were constructed. Wright's pioneering design approach incorporated function, aesthetics, and the environment, and fundamentally changed late 19th and early 20th century architecture. In addition to architectural design, Wright wrote many books, served as a mentor, and also designed furniture and decorative arts.

 

Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, a small town 60 miles northwest of Madison, on June 8, 1867. Wright attended Madison schools until quitting to take a drafting position with architect Alan D. Conover. The aspiring architect studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin before decamping for Illinois, where he worked for noted architect Louis Sullivan. Wright began his own architectural practice in Chicago and Oak Park in 1893.

 

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