My maternal great grandfather died December 6, 1904 from a fall off the Larkin warehouse roof. He was a night engineer for the company.and was checking on a defective sign. The news stated the fall was an accident and he was unmarried. However, he was married with 3 young children. The Larkin company helped great grandmother with a mortgage to buy a boarding house that supported the family during those times.
You gotta love when a building is considered unsafe, slated to be demolished and then it fights back during demolition proving it was better built than touted.
My wife and I happened to be in the city when the Chicago Stadium was being demolished. We swung by to say goodbye to the old girl and saw that they were having all sorts of trouble with the east end wall (I think). We got caught up in the crowd watching the contractor beating the snot out of that wall with a huge wrecking ball. The ball kept bouncing off the unyielding wall. It turned into a party with many of us cheering for the wall. Lunch was from a Ptomaine Truck and a good time was had by all.
I took my very young sons to watch the demolition of the St Paul 1905 "unsafe" [Smith] High Bridge over the Mississippi River on a very chilly Sunday after Church in 1985 There was a delay in the implosion but finally the charges all went off and then ...nothing. They had to rescheduled it for another day. Residents questioned the veracity of the bridge inspectors but it did no good and a new bridge was done 4 years later.
@@denali9449 No that was much later, was not expected to go down, but there was a design flaw, plus the roademway was being redone and materials and machinery were stored on the closed lanes of the bridge. My sister had passed over that bridge only 10 min before the collapse.
Reminds me of when Germans tried to tear down their anti air skyscraper like fortresses.. They failed multiple times and just refurbished them. One is a huge aquarium now.
Architects are not generally engineers but they often play that role. FLW made some serious engineering mistakes, including "Falling Water" house. I frequently see it today on custom houses in the form of gross over designing when using steel, they have no idea what they are doing w structural steel typically.
He actually designed houses and buildings that are a nightmare to maintain. Although his designs look very good. Flat roofs and some of the stuff he did aren’t necessarily great. I’ve seen several houses that are junk he designed that people are attempting to save. They aren’t worth the expense to save them. Since he didn’t finish the education he needed to do this career; not surprising his buildings and houses got torn down. I’m not sad whenever I see another one of his houses or buildings on the block to be torn down. Most aren’t even safe.
@@elizabetherne556 Good point about flat roofs, those are always terrible. Architects are NOT engineers, it show in FLWs results and I've seen in many times in recent decades for US custom homes.
Real shame it was demolished. Detroit old train station was thought to be a lost cause. But the restoration is amazing. I hope they still have the blue prints for the Larkin building.
@17:19 There was a similar occurrence near Albany, NY. A church long unused was neglected and bought by the local supermarket chain Price Chopper. The church was touted as not worth saving and "ready to fall down at any moment". However, during the demolition they found the church was better built. Not only did two separate cranes break during demolition but it took way longer and cost much more for the project. Locals that had been trying to save the building called it God's revenge.
Much the same thing happened to a historic hotel where I was living. The folks who wanted to tear it down claimed it was unsafe, ready to fall down on its own, and when there was an earthquake they rushed to have it declared a safety hazard and have it demolished immediately. But the wrecking ball just bounced off the walls. It was clear that the reports of its instability were greatly exaggerated, but unfortunately by then it was too late.
It was a time when buildings were built to last. Buildings are disposable these days. Here in Milwaukee, a late-1980s basketball arena was demolished for a newer one recently, yet the 1950s sports arena across the street still survives.
My ears perked up when I heard you say “The Larkin Soap Company “! My grandmother often told me about it and how she got so many of her kitchen items after she joined the Larkin Club. It was a way for people of moderate means to acquire “nice” things I still have her beautiful bone china dishes she got from them. Thank you for this wonderful report and reminding me of those happy days in grandma’s cozy kitchen!
@@jamesdellaneve9005. You’re very right! Obsolescence can be just around the corner. Yet I wonder how many American households still hold Larkin items though their origin is long forgotten.
"we will go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost-effective" -Kurt Vonnegut myopic tragedy that the philistines were not cultured enough to see the value of preserving this historic building, for a parking lot, for shame, perfect metaphor for America
One of my favorite building in history! I fell in love with architecture and preservation while living in Buffalo -- thanks so much for this amazing feature!
It's kind of insane to think that a man who was so ahead of his time was born in 1867 and begun his architect career before the start of the 20th century. His creations, even today look like they could be from the future and yet he was born only two years after the end of the civil war and begun designing buildings years before the Model T or the first airplane.
Wright's buildings looked obsolete from the first moment of their existence, and indeed were. He is probably the most overrated artist in history, much less specifically an architect. Every building he ever designed is a nightmare of maintenance, and all have a curiously inhuman aspect that reflect the chaos of the creator's troubled mind. I will never understand what people see as "genius" in his work. The truest thing ever said of his work - "Falling Water" should really be named "Rising Mold".
It’s worth noting he overbuilt because he was undertrained. He pioneered modern architecture without any education, just training. Clearly he was a talented artist but think just how did he manage all the math?
What a tragic loss of an architectural and engineering masterpiece to be replaced by: a parking lot? Thanks for remembering the once iconic structure so later generations can marvel.
Apparently the buyer had no more idea what to erect there than anybody else did. Seems to have been a violation of the contract but at least it wasn't just a pit.
The site is still a vacant lot. The location is too far removed from the downtown core to have been of value. The past 15 years has seen the remaining structures of the Larkin Company totally renovated and are now a popular nucleus of a neighborhood now known as Larkinville. The buildings are used primarily as offices, mainly occupied by banks and law firms.
It was in the process of *falling into the water* due to FLW's flawed engineering and lack of adequate rebar in crucial cantilevered sections, extra rebar that the builder advocated but arrogant Write rejected. Repairs were made to save it. Not to pick on FLW but architects are not engineers and should know their limitations.
Growing up in Milwaukee WI. F.L.W. was a big inspiration for me as a kid. When I grew up and became a carpenter and mason, I understood why many of the houses and buildings he designed, ended up being raised. Complexity doesn't lend well to maintenance and upkeep.
I agree. Used to give tours of his Hollyhock House in L.A. and there was always something. The construction didn't lend itself well to earthquakes and had to be shut down for a couple years after the Northridge quake to strengthen it.
When it was built 100+ years ago, were there quake zone building guidelines? Or because it's a two storey house it didn't matter? It's on my to-visit list : )
Its not just complexity its needless complexity. His buildings simply were not practical and his designs dictated how people would live in the house and use its space. A good designer lets the owner make those decisions for themselves
My experience with FLW buildings is that they're beautiful, and beautifully situated. But they tend to lack utility and flexibility and have construction issues. I'd recommend them to folks who care more about how they look than how they work or more about what folks think than what it's like to live there.
Yeah he was a real pain about it being perfect looking, not exactly working perfectly lol. He got the wife of the Martin House’s owner so upset due to a dispute over the size of the closet. Neither would budge about it and eventually Mr.Martin sided with FLW as he was designing the whole house. She never slept in that bedroom.
Frank Lloyd Wright need a brother or partner with exceptional skills in construction engineering so that FLW's highly artistic design innovations would be highly practical, like the planes designed and built by the aviation's Wright brothers.
I think that was part of the problem with the Larkin Office Building... it was built with a very specific function in mind and didn't easily lend itself to reuse. And yes.. many FLW structures suffered from construction defects. Many had issues with water leaking... including Falling Waters which took $millions to fix and save the house before it literally fell into the water.
Employees of Larkin said the noise level of the typewriters in the atrium and echos in the building drove them crazy. The organ music, and some other modifications, which were designed to mask and soften the other noises only added to their headaches by the end of the day. As artistic, beautiful and innovative as it was, it interfered with the normal function of the business. No other business wanted that.
Considering all this ambiental properties of building in context of working conditions Repurpose this magnificent artwork would be so much better decision.
I am a life-long Buffalonian and I would offer 2 corrections to an otherwise well done piece. Both relate to Hubbard. He founded the "RoycrOft," not the RoycrAft. Also - you leave the viewer with the impression that the Roycroft died with Hubbard. Actually it's still a central attraction in the Village of East Aurora and still very active in the arts and crafts community.
You forgot to mention that Louis Sullivan was one of his early employers. Wright worked as a draftsman for Sullivan and moonlighted as an "architect". I believe the Winslow House in River Forest, IL was his first commission undertaken while still working for Sullivan. When Sullivan discovered Wright was moonlighting he fired him. Wright later called Sullivan, "My master" and you can see why looking at their similar styles. Sullivan died penniless but friends and former associates, including Wright, funded his headstone placed on his grave at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
I live in oak park, when I was first pointed out houses that look just like every other house and was told they were designed by wright, I was amazed. It's cool seeing all the stuff he's done over the years in my home town.
@@mileskosik472 I live in Elgin but was literally doing uber eats yesterday in Oak Park. I was going south on Ridgeland crossing Chicago ave. I had no clue they two of his houses were literally two blocks away. Imma drive by them next time I'm out there. When I was still a heroin addict I'd always be on Chicago ave..... just not in oak park lol. More like chicago ave between pulaski and Kedzie. St. Louis and Chicago to be exact.
I remember one of the biographies claimed that while Wright was climbing the ladder in the Sullivan office, disputes were handled by fist fights. Very un-becoming for architects and draughtsmen.
The city should have taken the bid for $26K. That might have resulted in someone buying it and preserving or restoring it. I wonder what was so high maintenance about the building that wouldn't have applied to any other building of its size?
Nice video but several errors.... 1. It's Roy-CROFT, not Roy-Craft. 2. Hubbard was disassociated with the Larkin Company before the Administration building was comissioned in 1903. 3. The structure was made of brick, not sandstone. 4. There was never a retail store on the Admin Bldg premises while it was in use for it's original purpose....it was used as a "retail outlet" only after the building was vacated, prior to Larkin's bankruptcy. 5. The Larkin Company went bankrupt during the great depression of the 1930s, not during the 1920s. 6. Hubbard's nickname was FRA, as in "father," a term he earned during his Larkin years as a term of endearment from his Larkin "family."
Extremely well done -- thank you. Interesting, rich and unexpected. What a pity the place could be saved -- guess there would be no question of it today.
Being from Buffalo and having worked in one of the Larkin Buildings, that are now office space, I found this quite interesting. On a side note it is Roycroft not Roycraft.
They fixed the Darwin Martin House. It’s like the day that it was built. Darwin hired him to design and build the Larkin building. Wright wasn’t famous yet.
I grew up literally playing in his Lutheran Church in Phoenix, both as a Viola player but a kid running around all over that sanctuary when they rebuilt the pipe organ. It was amazing where the pipes, bellows and tremulators were hidden! You couldn't hear anything but the music as it just appeared from the building itself. Amazing details that are usually covered up.
It's sad there wasn;t a way that the Larkin Building couldn't have been preserved and reused as it would have been if it were around in these days. Wright's mentor was Louis Sullivan, who he worked for in the 1880s & 1890s and pioneered the use of natural forms of decoration that Wright also used. One problem with Wright buildings is that they lacked the good engineering principles that later buildings did so they need contnusl renovtion which make them expensive ro maintain. Maybe that was one of the problems with the Larkin Building . Fallingwater has been renoivated several times because it has leaking floors and windows, /This was a building that was ahead of its times.
Frank Loyd Wright's buildings are famously known as "leakies." The designs were great but the practical, engineering factors were not his concern or skill and, as a result were often a building's weak point.
Fascinating story and a pity that the building had to be demolished. Wright’s buildings were often impractical, but this one looked so imposing and solid.
In discussing Wright's tragic personal life, the narrator seemed to have omitted the 1914 murder by a deranged houseman of Wright's live-in female companion, Mamah Cheney, together with her children who were visiting their mother at Wright's home. As part of the mayhem that day, the living quarters was destroyed by fire.
The video provide a well-structured and informative journey, covering various aspects such as the building's unique design, the history of office buildings, and the tragic events surrounding figures like Albert Hubbard.
Amazing detailing on the exterior. If I had just seen those (with no prior knowledge of the building) I would have guessed that it was at least 20 years newer! Sad that it's gone.
The destruction of the masterwork Larkin Building is testimony enough to government being a disastrous caretaker of anything of value. The loss of this building was criminal.
I am curious to know how you would have handled it. The city was stuck with a decaying building that it could not sell it any entity that was willing to refurbish it. It is sad that the building was demolished, and it is even sadder that the buyer elected to build a parking lot.
A Wright homeowner wrote Frank LLoyd Wright and complained that his dining room ceiling dripped on his head when it rained. Wright wrote back: "Then move your chair."
17:37 The brick pier to the right in the image of the parking lot is part of the original complex that must have escaped demolition. Those sandstone-capped brick piers had been placed at the corners of the building’s fenced “yard.”
Battersea Power Station in London, which was designed in the late 1920's by Giles Gilbert Scott, bears a striking resemblance to the Larkin Building imo, with its brick-clad, symmetrical design, I haven't found evidence of Scott having been inspired by the Larkin though.. Battersea Power Station is a grade 2 listed building, so fortunately, its still here today.
A parking lot is America's solution for almost all urban problems. When Wright designed a project for Pittsburgh's Point State Park, he included parking for ten thousand vehicles. The political bigwigs were flabbergasted. Oh no. We just want the pavilion. So, they built nothing. You should check out the drawings for that project. They're wonderful!
An absolute tragedy it was destroyed for a parkinglot...what a disgrace, also it teminds me of wrights building in Chicago. I believe it was a beer garden that was beautiful and looked a lot like the Larkin building, if I remembet correctly it was so well mDe that multiple companies went out of business trying to destroy it.
The Chicago Paradise Theatre is another example of being built to last. Though not a Wright building, it was considered architect John Eberson’s masterpiece. It had the distinction of being the first movie palace to be demolished (1956). The contractor said he’d have it down in six months, but it took over two years, driving him to bankruptcy and suicide.
Like the Bills? 🏈 (Sorry, couldn't help myself. I went to school in nearby Fredonia, NY, but never had interest in football. I did get into the Sabres while there, FWIW).
Just one of many historical buildings demoed in Buffalo. The Darwin Martin house was also slated from demo, luckly a FLW organization stopped it from being demoed and restored it.
My late Father-in-law studied under Frank Lloyd Wright and designed his own prairie-style home. The biggest problem was the leaks from the skylights. There was a Starving Artist store, in Des Plaines, Illinois that was house in a building designed by FLW. Unfortunately it was demolished and replaced by the typical non-descript office building. So sad.
The Frank Loyd Wright Sprire in Scottsdale was NOT created in the architects' lifetime and was more a FLW inspired (no pun intended) creation. It was created in the early 2000s. I am a native to that area and also went to the FLW Taliesin West compound on Field Trips in High School and as an adult. When the Spire was completed in Scottsdale it took me by surprise because all of a sudden, I drove by it and thought to myself, "When did they build that ". There was also a FLW home in my good friends (Arcadia) neighborhood, that I admired. I've always admired FLW style. I can almost immediately recognize his architectural lines when I see them. I had a client that just recently passed away. His multi million dollar home was definitely inspired by FLW..He has recently passed and the home has sold. It sits on the top of one of the hills adjacent to Piestawa Peak (Squaw Peak) in Phoenix. I am.in fear the new owners will raze the place and build something entirely new.
I live less than three miles from this, I'm a little sickened every time I pass by it. BTW as you show the parking lot the big brick pier to the right of the screen is all that remains of the building
The disappointing part of this is when I looked up the Larkin Building on Google to see what it looks like today and all that is left is a small portion of the building they dedicated with stairs and a landmark marker telling what it was and the history. The rest is a blacktop parking lot. Go figure.
Interesting that it became a maintenance problem. I just read this morning that the Robie House, built five years after the Larkin Building, likewise was expensive to maintain.
Fabulous presentation! It included a lot of information about which I was unfamiliar. All told, it's a sad story. The Larking office building, had it been preserved, would have been a useful and monumental highlight of downtown Buffalo.
A great summation about an iconic structure designed by an iconic individual- with the lkesson at the end, nothing lasts forever.- all things are temporary.
Japan does this kind of thing almost weekly. Many many historic buildings by famed architect Kenzo Tange and the like are demolished every year. They let them rot for years as an excuse to sell the land under the guise of being "dangerous" and "could collapse." Like yeah, that's what happens when you don't take care of something.
Thank you for this excellent History lesson. The brick building reminds me of the NIH Clinical Center, the building I worked in for forty years. Construction began in 1948 (the year I was born) I've seen a photograph of Harry Truman laying the "cornerstone". I admire the "Art Deco" touches Wright incorporated into the Larkin Building, especially the huge globes atop entryway columns, I hope those at least were preserved somewhere.
Great video, as always, and this time especially perfect because it merges two of my greatest interests: architecture and the sinking of the Lusitania. The photo of Elbert Hubbard holding his briefcase and wearing a heavy coat was actually taken by a press photographer onboard the Lusitania before it sailed from New York, and is the last known still photo of Hubbard. Even more remarkable is that, for a brief moment at the lower left of the screen, you can see Elbert and Alice smiling and waving at the newsreel camera that filmed the liner’s final departure. They are, appropriately, standing closely side-by-side.
This is a superb documentary. My architect grandfather, Kurt Meyer-Radon, who immigrated from Germany with his family in 1923, knew Wright from his sojourn in California in the 1920s. He regarded him as somewhat quirky, but appreciated the way he built in features to match his clients' tastes, and, in some ways, his own. So many specialized nooks and cabinets, all making use of contemporary building materials. I am, myself, an engineer, and I am a historian of air conditioning and environmental control. It took a while to get a thorough understanding of the systems built into the Larkin Building. I'd suggest doing a documentary just on this topic.
I wonder how many people who are suggesting that the city should have spent hundres of thoughsands or millions to rebuild and repair the building complain about their taxes and/or government decisions? The city put it up for sale, no private corporations wanted it for rebuilding, so purhaps that was the correct decision.
This building was the inspiration for the current Evanston Public Library in Evanston, IL. Design submitted to a juried contest and picked as the winner. It was only later that citizens realized it was not so original as presented.
As someone who works in a 105 yo building that was the administrative building for one of the biggest companies in the city at the turn of the century, I can testify that keeping an old building going is EXPENSIVE. Cleaning, painting, plumbing, wiring, H/Vac, Wi-Fi, there's an endless line of maintenance and modernization that has to be done.
If a thing doesn't need care, it is not alive. FLW buildings are impractical, but most older buildings worth their salt pay back their caretakers with comfort, feeling and ease.
I thought I knew all of FLW designs and buildings..never heard of this one. My fav house: The Robie House in the Woodlawn/ Hyde Park area on the South Side of Chicago.
The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo survived the 1923 huge earthquake with relatively minor damage. Unfortunately the design which saved it would cause it to fall apart in the long term, why it was also demolished.
Great history presentation. I am an elderly retired architect who has visited many of Wright's projects. This is by far the best presentation on the Larkin Building that I have experienced.
While the admin building is gone a number of the buildings once part of the Larkin complex have been refurbished and repopulated. The area is now often referred to as "Larkinville" or the "Larkin District". It's full of offices, shops, restaurants, etc and even has an area where events are held.
The city, and especially its tourism department, really regrets this today. It would be on Larkin Square now, a key part of Buffalo's revival, and would give the city a nearly complete set of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings - one of the few places outside Chicago that could share that boast.
@@rickmcginnis, as low of an opinion as I have of New York, learning this just dropped that horrid place a few notches lower. It is inconceivable that they would not save one of the most iconic buildings in the city. Then, as now, New York politicians seem to have a love affair with their anal cavities, which is where they obviously keep their heads!
Well, Larkin followed the arc of a lot of other mail-order companies; business boomed as soon a Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was offered by the US Postal Service, and declined as automobiles made it to every rural household. Hubbard or not (BTW, he did leave Larkin a few years BEFORE his death...), Larkin actually limped on into the early 1930's.
The others didn't lose their leadership to death, though. The video said it didn't end immediately. His son apparently did his best. Many mail order businesses like Sears and Wards and all the others whose catalogs were an American staple declined? You exaggerate.
I have always read that normal maintenance on Frank Lloyd Wright is giant. Not a great feature if the economy is not booming as it was at the turn of the last century.
Living in an area with a little bit of history and many things that should have been preserved. The sad reality is you can't preserve everything. I think it's far worse to see things of significance, left to rot. The spire you mentioned, really isn't a work of Wright. It was one spire in a much larger never built design of Wright's. A proposed capitol for the state of Arizona. Which a lot us wish was built.
There was no unusual expense for upkeep... If you notice in history all of these magnificent building have all come to an end by the wrecking ball or fire. If it was the wrecking ball, there was always endless lies about the building being unsafe/dangerous etc, when truth was the building were built so well, they would probably have stood for hundreds of years. The City Hall building in Philadelphia, another architectural jewel, was also slated to be torn down under false claims. Thanks to the claim of exorbitant demolition costs, the building still stands to this day and is still in use. It is as though they are trying to get rid of the old world architecture/engineering for some reason and leave us with nothing but these glass/steel frame buildings like we see today
@@SAMSON12321 If you don't keep up the plumbing and electrical work, roofing, bricks, etc, it will fail. No false conspiracy theory necessary. If you've ever had the duty of upkeep on a property you would know what a constant and expensive battle it is.
I’ve seen a few of the Wright houses he designed. They were not built for actual families to live in. The designs while artistic are impractical for actual use.
No matter the "design", if it can't take care of itself without regular maintanece, it is worthless. And the asthetics he "created", he jsut simply "reproduced" his "designs" from Japanesse architecture. He was only a copier in disquise. He has no original thoughts after all.
I have to admit...I studied Frank Lloyd Wright while getting my Architectural Technology degree. I was underwhelmed and thought his designs to be overrated, especially the houses. I visited one. The flat roof leaked (many of his roofs leaked), and the bathroom had a marine style toilet instead of a regular toilet because the space was so small. Also, the ceilings were very low, making it uncomfortable for six-foot tall me to walk around inside the house. I may be in a very small minority that doesn't like Wright's work, but not everyone thinks highly of him.
As much as I hate to see a historic building go. I hope some form of historic documentation takes place either by choice or by law if necessary. So at least documentation can help building that have been lost to still have some form of records for the future
What a enjoyable and informative watch, FLW is one of my Architectural Heros. A fun vid could be about the Monsanto "House of the Future" at Disneyland. It was built so well that YEARS later when it was time to tear it down that the wrecking ball would just bound off it, it had to be cut up piece by piece. So much history but so little time...... mike
I’ve been in one of the houses he designed. Personally I didn’t think it was anything special. So lackluster in fact the current owner remodeled a lot of it
Years ago I worked for an alarm company and we were sent to Michigan to work on an alarm in a Frank Lloyd Wright house. WOW the interior was so relaxing and beautiful I just wanted to stay all day. I remember eating my lunch while sitting on a window bench and just admiring every little detail throughout that enormous room. I can’t get the image out of my head to this day, some 40 years later. He certainly had talent.
Even though we're English, watching this clip made us feel so sorry for the building. It was truly innovative along with the employee welfare. It was a building made for its employees and was a work of art. How many companies provide for their employees like that now? You can imagine it was a place that the employees enjoyed working in. The environment, the culture. You just cannot see that happening these days. He was ahead of his time, well ahead of us as we are now. If anything we've gone backwards. My husband had heard of Frank Lloyd Wright because his stepdad was an architect all his life. There is also a Simon & Garfunkel song called, 'Frank Lloyd Wright'. Therefore, he had heard he was a brilliant, innovative architect and what he had heard turned out to be right. So sad that all of this has been lost. It should have been made into a National Monument, with the City funding its upkeep. It could have become a museum with displays of products, a restaurant and sales counters. But I guess the modern world doesn't want to see the ideal way of conducting business and taking care of people. It is all soulless, corporate backstabbing where everyone tramples on everyone.... How Darwinian of a primarily Christian country.
That would be great, wouldn't it? I'm starting to believe less and less in time. Maybe we're just stuck in a POV as we are? Even if not i'm confident such things are within God's power. Cheers!
Personally, I find most of Frank Lloyd Wright's designs to be overrated (and that's taking into consideration that he didn't have access to modern materials, communication, etc.) His houses tend to have doors that are too narrow to move furniture through, because he thought that the furniture should be actually a part of the building, immovable, situated ONLY where he wanted it. That is narcissism, conceit, and solipsism on a level which I have rarely encountered in life. And as with the building featured here, a lot of Wright's buildings have been noted for having rather high maintenance costs compared to others of similar age, purpose and utility.
It costs millions to maintain and operate Falling Water. It is only by running it as a tourist attraction, and with grants from the state, can it be maintained and remain open. Sure it is beautiful, but it is not practical. It uses thousands of dollars of fuel oil to heat it each month during the winter.
if that building was built in NYC or Chicago, it probably would have been used well into the modern era but Buffalo was already in slow decline by the late 40s and would slowly get smaller and less prominent as the decades wore on which would have made a giant office building like the Larkin building even less useful.
This is an unusual article in that it leaves Darwin Martin, the trusted manager of The Larkin Soap Co. totally out of the picture. Mr. Larkin gave Darwin the authority to hire Frank Lloyd Wright to design their new office building. He also designed the Darwin Martin house in Buffalo, a beauty that is now operated by the University of Buffalo. Martin became Wright's noted benefactor. Martin's gift to the Larkin Soap Company was his ingenious card system of bookkeeping, which allowed multiple people access to "the ledger" rather than only one.
My maternal great grandfather died December 6, 1904 from a fall off the Larkin warehouse roof. He was a night engineer for the company.and was checking on a defective sign. The news stated the fall was an accident and he was unmarried. However, he was married with 3 young children. The Larkin company helped great grandmother with a mortgage to buy a boarding house that supported the family during those times.
Wow. Thanks for sharing!
I wanna type “cool story” unsarcastically but typing “cool story” comes off so sarcastic online lol
Nice
One of many problematic company cover-ups!
What a terrible way to die. The compny was kind enough to help.
You gotta love when a building is considered unsafe, slated to be demolished and then it fights back during demolition proving it was better built than touted.
My wife and I happened to be in the city when the Chicago Stadium was being demolished. We swung by to say goodbye to the old girl and saw that they were having all sorts of trouble with the east end wall (I think). We got caught up in the crowd watching the contractor beating the snot out of that wall with a huge wrecking ball. The ball kept bouncing off the unyielding wall. It turned into a party with many of us cheering for the wall. Lunch was from a Ptomaine Truck and a good time was had by all.
I took my very young sons to watch the demolition of the St Paul 1905 "unsafe" [Smith] High Bridge over the Mississippi River on a very chilly Sunday after Church in 1985 There was a delay in the implosion but finally the charges all went off and then ...nothing. They had to rescheduled it for another day.
Residents questioned the veracity of the bridge inspectors but it did no good and a new bridge was done 4 years later.
@@peaceseeker52 That new one was not the I-35 bridge was it?
@@denali9449 No that was much later, was not expected to go down, but there was a design flaw, plus the roademway was being redone and materials and machinery were stored on the closed lanes of the bridge. My sister had passed over that bridge only 10 min before the collapse.
Corruption and stupidity happens a lot in architecture.
I have heard that Wright was secretly pleased that it took twice as long to tear down the Larkin Building as it had taken him to build it.
Reminds me of when Germans tried to tear down their anti air skyscraper like fortresses..
They failed multiple times and just refurbished them.
One is a huge aquarium now.
Architects are not generally engineers but they often play that role. FLW made some serious engineering mistakes, including "Falling Water" house.
I frequently see it today on custom houses in the form of gross over designing when using steel, they have no idea what they are doing w structural steel typically.
He actually designed houses and buildings that are a nightmare to maintain. Although his designs look very good. Flat roofs and some of the stuff he did aren’t necessarily great. I’ve seen several houses that are junk he designed that people are attempting to save. They aren’t worth the expense to save them. Since he didn’t finish the education he needed to do this career; not surprising his buildings and houses got torn down. I’m not sad whenever I see another one of his houses or buildings on the block to be torn down. Most aren’t even safe.
@@elizabetherne556 Good point about flat roofs, those are always terrible. Architects are NOT engineers, it show in FLWs results and I've seen in many times in recent decades for US custom homes.
IIRC the biergarten he designed put the demolition company out of business.
Real shame it was demolished. Detroit old train station was thought to be a lost cause. But the restoration is amazing. I hope they still have the blue prints for the Larkin building.
train station is lookin pretty good now.
@17:19 There was a similar occurrence near Albany, NY. A church long unused was neglected and bought by the local supermarket chain Price Chopper. The church was touted as not worth saving and "ready to fall down at any moment".
However, during the demolition they found the church was better built.
Not only did two separate cranes break during demolition but it took way longer and cost much more for the project.
Locals that had been trying to save the building called it God's revenge.
I've done maintenance work on some of those old churches built in the late 1800s to early 1900s. They were built solid!
@@billolsen4360 When we can't model material tolerances with a slide rule or computer, we just have to overbuild.
Where was it? I grew up nearby and am curious.
@@DAndyLord exactly!!
Much the same thing happened to a historic hotel where I was living. The folks who wanted to tear it down claimed it was unsafe, ready to fall down on its own, and when there was an earthquake they rushed to have it declared a safety hazard and have it demolished immediately. But the wrecking ball just bounced off the walls. It was clear that the reports of its instability were greatly exaggerated, but unfortunately by then it was too late.
It was a time when buildings were built to last. Buildings are disposable these days. Here in Milwaukee, a late-1980s basketball arena was demolished for a newer one recently, yet the 1950s sports arena across the street still survives.
My ears perked up when I heard you say “The Larkin Soap Company “! My grandmother often told me about it and how she got so many of her kitchen items after she joined the Larkin Club. It was a way for people of moderate means to acquire “nice” things I still have her beautiful bone china dishes she got from them. Thank you for this wonderful report and reminding me of those happy days in grandma’s cozy kitchen!
Larkin was the Amazon of it’s day. It’s shocking as to how quickly they went from the biggest company in the US to being out of business.
@@jamesdellaneve9005. You’re very right! Obsolescence can be just around the corner. Yet I wonder how many American households still hold Larkin items though their origin is long forgotten.
@@QueenBee-gx4rp The owner and his wife died. That isn't obsolescence.
"we will go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost-effective" -Kurt Vonnegut
myopic tragedy that the philistines were not cultured enough to see the value of preserving this historic building, for a parking lot, for shame, perfect metaphor for America
Exactly. Sadly this is not only accurate for the US...
Excellent quote...I can't imagine a better way to sum up this situation. Cheers
Profoundly true as evidenced on the biggest scale today. . .
One of my favorite building in history! I fell in love with architecture and preservation while living in Buffalo -- thanks so much for this amazing feature!
It's kind of insane to think that a man who was so ahead of his time was born in 1867 and begun his architect career before the start of the 20th century. His creations, even today look like they could be from the future and yet he was born only two years after the end of the civil war and begun designing buildings years before the Model T or the first airplane.
Wright's buildings looked obsolete from the first moment of their existence, and indeed were. He is probably the most overrated artist in history, much less specifically an architect. Every building he ever designed is a nightmare of maintenance, and all have a curiously inhuman aspect that reflect the chaos of the creator's troubled mind. I will never understand what people see as "genius" in his work. The truest thing ever said of his work - "Falling Water" should really be named "Rising Mold".
@@ultrametric9317 @9:26 describes Wright's innovations in the building. What you describe... is nothing in particular.
In the late 19th century, his mind was already in the 1950s
@@ultrametric9317troll
It’s worth noting he overbuilt because he was undertrained. He pioneered modern architecture without any education, just training. Clearly he was a talented artist but think just how did he manage all the math?
What a tragic loss of an architectural and engineering masterpiece to be replaced by: a parking lot? Thanks for remembering the once iconic structure so later generations can marvel.
Apparently the buyer had no more idea what to erect there than anybody else did. Seems to have been a violation of the contract but at least it wasn't just a pit.
It makes sense when you read and watch something like this, only to start finding yourself singing the song "Yellow Taxi"
The site is still a vacant lot. The location is too far removed from the downtown core to have been of value. The past 15 years has seen the remaining structures of the Larkin Company totally renovated and are now a popular nucleus of a neighborhood now known as Larkinville. The buildings are used primarily as offices, mainly occupied by banks and law firms.
Good start . Overhyped con man cult leader.
Up until a couple years ago, my parents owned and lived in a FLW house in Frankfort, KY. Upkeep was a pain, but it was gorgeous.
They are definitely something to look at, have only seen one in person
Falling water is a must see, absolutely stunning, I've been there twice, the location is so peaceful and serene.
It was in the process of *falling into the water* due to FLW's flawed engineering and lack of adequate rebar in crucial cantilevered sections, extra rebar that the builder advocated but arrogant Write rejected. Repairs were made to save it. Not to pick on FLW but architects are not engineers and should know their limitations.
Can’t go. Too tall. 🤣
Fallingwater is one word. It's the name of the building.
Growing up in Milwaukee WI. F.L.W. was a big inspiration for me as a kid. When I grew up and became a carpenter and mason, I understood why many of the houses and buildings he designed, ended up being raised. Complexity doesn't lend well to maintenance and upkeep.
I agree. Used to give tours of his Hollyhock House in L.A. and there was always something. The construction didn't lend itself well to earthquakes and had to be shut down for a couple years after the Northridge quake to strengthen it.
When it was built 100+ years ago, were there quake zone building guidelines? Or because it's a two storey house it didn't matter? It's on my to-visit list : )
It's razed.
@@notpurrfect6397 how bought demolished? Is that OK? Repurposed,recycled. It's gonna be fine.
Its not just complexity its needless complexity. His buildings simply were not practical and his designs dictated how people would live in the house and use its space. A good designer lets the owner make those decisions for themselves
My experience with FLW buildings is that they're beautiful, and beautifully situated. But they tend to lack utility and flexibility and have construction issues. I'd recommend them to folks who care more about how they look than how they work or more about what folks think than what it's like to live there.
Yeah he was a real pain about it being perfect looking, not exactly working perfectly lol. He got the wife of the Martin House’s owner so upset due to a dispute over the size of the closet. Neither would budge about it and eventually Mr.Martin sided with FLW as he was designing the whole house. She never slept in that bedroom.
Frank Lloyd Wright need a brother or partner with exceptional skills in construction engineering so that FLW's highly artistic design innovations would be highly practical, like the planes designed and built by the aviation's Wright brothers.
I think that was part of the problem with the Larkin Office Building... it was built with a very specific function in mind and didn't easily lend itself to reuse. And yes.. many FLW structures suffered from construction defects. Many had issues with water leaking... including Falling Waters which took $millions to fix and save the house before it literally fell into the water.
Employees of Larkin said the noise level of the typewriters in the atrium and echos in the building drove them crazy. The organ music, and some other modifications, which were designed to mask and soften the other noises only added to their headaches by the end of the day. As artistic, beautiful and innovative as it was, it interfered with the normal function of the business. No other business wanted that.
Considering all this ambiental properties of building in context of working conditions Repurpose this magnificent artwork would be so much better decision.
I am a life-long Buffalonian and I would offer 2 corrections to an otherwise well done piece. Both relate to Hubbard. He founded the "RoycrOft," not the RoycrAft. Also - you leave the viewer with the impression that the Roycroft died with Hubbard. Actually it's still a central attraction in the Village of East Aurora and still very active in the arts and crafts community.
Yes, upstate New Yorkers seem to avidly support many historic local industries.
You forgot to mention that Louis Sullivan was one of his early employers. Wright worked as a draftsman for Sullivan and moonlighted as an "architect". I believe the Winslow House in River Forest, IL was his first commission undertaken while still working for Sullivan. When Sullivan discovered Wright was moonlighting he fired him. Wright later called Sullivan, "My master" and you can see why looking at their similar styles. Sullivan died penniless but friends and former associates, including Wright, funded his headstone placed on his grave at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
Frank Lloyd wright was my earliest discovery or real ART…….
Sullivan was the greatest American architect. Far great than Wright.
I live in oak park, when I was first pointed out houses that look just like every other house and was told they were designed by wright, I was amazed. It's cool seeing all the stuff he's done over the years in my home town.
@@mileskosik472 I live in Elgin but was literally doing uber eats yesterday in Oak Park. I was going south on Ridgeland crossing Chicago ave. I had no clue they two of his houses were literally two blocks away. Imma drive by them next time I'm out there. When I was still a heroin addict I'd always be on Chicago ave..... just not in oak park lol. More like chicago ave between pulaski and Kedzie. St. Louis and Chicago to be exact.
I remember one of the biographies claimed that while Wright was climbing the ladder in the Sullivan office, disputes were handled by fist fights. Very un-becoming for architects and draughtsmen.
The city should have taken the bid for $26K. That might have resulted in someone buying it and preserving or restoring it. I wonder what was so high maintenance about the building that wouldn't have applied to any other building of its size?
It's most likely located in a place where few people now frequent.
Nice video but several errors....
1. It's Roy-CROFT, not Roy-Craft.
2. Hubbard was disassociated with the Larkin Company before the Administration building was comissioned in 1903.
3. The structure was made of brick, not sandstone.
4. There was never a retail store on the Admin Bldg premises while it was in use for it's original purpose....it was used as a "retail outlet" only after the building was vacated, prior to Larkin's bankruptcy.
5. The Larkin Company went bankrupt during the great depression of the 1930s, not during the 1920s.
6. Hubbard's nickname was FRA, as in "father," a term he earned during his Larkin years as a term of endearment from his Larkin "family."
I dislike channels that make videos on things they know nothing of and are too much in a hurry to be bothered with facts
Yeah, a few errors there, some I also noticed.
Extremely well done -- thank you. Interesting, rich and unexpected. What a pity the place could be saved -- guess there would be no question of it today.
Being from Buffalo and having worked in one of the Larkin Buildings, that are now office space, I found this quite interesting. On a side note it is Roycroft not Roycraft.
They fixed the Darwin Martin House. It’s like the day that it was built. Darwin hired him to design and build the Larkin building. Wright wasn’t famous yet.
I grew up literally playing in his Lutheran Church in Phoenix, both as a Viola player but a kid running around all over that sanctuary when they rebuilt the pipe organ. It was amazing where the pipes, bellows and tremulators were hidden! You couldn't hear anything but the music as it just appeared from the building itself. Amazing details that are usually covered up.
It's sad there wasn;t a way that the Larkin Building couldn't have been preserved and reused as it would have been if it were around in these days. Wright's mentor was Louis Sullivan, who he worked for in the 1880s & 1890s and pioneered the use of natural forms of decoration that Wright also used. One problem with Wright buildings is that they lacked the good engineering principles that later buildings did so they need contnusl renovtion which make them expensive ro maintain. Maybe that was one of the problems with the Larkin Building . Fallingwater has been renoivated several times because it has leaking floors and windows, /This was a building that was ahead of its times.
An architect is a blend of an artist and and engineer. Wright was a quintessential artist but not always so good at engineering.
Frank Loyd Wright's buildings are famously known as "leakies." The designs were great but the practical, engineering factors were not his concern or skill and, as a result were often a building's weak point.
Fascinating story and a pity that the building had to be demolished. Wright’s buildings were often impractical, but this one looked so imposing and solid.
In discussing Wright's tragic personal life, the narrator seemed to have omitted the 1914 murder by a deranged houseman of Wright's live-in female companion, Mamah Cheney, together with her children who were visiting their mother at Wright's home. As part of the mayhem that day, the living quarters was destroyed by fire.
I always hate it when a beautiful building is torn down. They claim it’s too expensive to save and I’ll go with that. Still such a shame.
The video provide a well-structured and informative journey, covering various aspects such as the building's unique design, the history of office buildings, and the tragic events surrounding figures like Albert Hubbard.
Amazing detailing on the exterior. If I had just seen those (with no prior knowledge of the building) I would have guessed that it was at least 20 years newer! Sad that it's gone.
The destruction of the masterwork Larkin Building is testimony enough to government being a disastrous caretaker of anything of value. The loss of this building was criminal.
Hallelujah.
I am curious to know how you would have handled it. The city was stuck with a decaying building that it could not sell it any entity that was willing to refurbish it. It is sad that the building was demolished, and it is even sadder that the buyer elected to build a parking lot.
eh
I hope this becomes a Pinned comment. Its so true.
@@nukemanmd If push came to shove, I’d have moved Buffalo City Hall into it and maybe have used a few floors for the main library.
A Wright homeowner wrote Frank LLoyd Wright and complained that his dining room ceiling dripped on his head when it rained. Wright wrote back: "Then move your chair."
17:37 The brick pier to the right in the image of the parking lot is part of the original complex that must have escaped demolition. Those sandstone-capped brick piers had been placed at the corners of the building’s fenced “yard.”
Battersea Power Station in London, which was designed in the late 1920's by Giles Gilbert Scott, bears a striking resemblance to the Larkin Building imo, with its brick-clad, symmetrical design, I haven't found evidence of Scott having been inspired by the Larkin though.. Battersea Power Station is a grade 2 listed building, so fortunately, its still here today.
And immortalized by Pink Floyd.
If you want to see a Giles Gilbert Scott building here in North America come to Vancouver BC. St James Anglican Cathedral!
The Roycroft buildings and shops have been reopened and still exists in East Aurora NY, about 20 minutes south of Buffalo.
They saw paradise and literally put up a parking lot
A parking lot is America's solution for almost all urban problems. When Wright designed a project for Pittsburgh's Point State Park, he included parking for ten thousand vehicles. The political bigwigs were flabbergasted. Oh no. We just want the pavilion. So, they built nothing. You should check out the drawings for that project. They're wonderful!
2:08: This was the Singer building, briefly the tallest building in the world when completed, and torn down in 1966.
The rush to modernise and destroy the history of our nation.
And at the time was the tallest building ever demolished.
An absolute tragedy it was destroyed for a parkinglot...what a disgrace, also it teminds me of wrights building in Chicago. I believe it was a beer garden that was beautiful and looked a lot like the Larkin building, if I remembet correctly it was so well mDe that multiple companies went out of business trying to destroy it.
The Chicago Paradise Theatre is another example of being built to last. Though not a Wright building, it was considered architect John Eberson’s masterpiece. It had the distinction of being the first movie palace to be demolished (1956). The contractor said he’d have it down in six months, but it took over two years, driving him to bankruptcy and suicide.
That's right!
I did a double take when I heard "exasterbated" @1:23. LOL
same!
Also, “suffragist” ??
It will be forever a source of shame for Buffalo NY
Like the Bills? 🏈
(Sorry, couldn't help myself. I went to school in nearby Fredonia, NY, but never had interest in football. I did get into the Sabres while there, FWIW).
Just one of many historical buildings demoed in Buffalo. The Darwin Martin house was also slated from demo, luckly a FLW organization stopped it from being demoed and restored it.
For all of Buffalo? "Hey, you! You there with the basketball. SHAME on you!"
@@petermgruhn Yeah, Buffalo even lost their basketball team.
My late Father-in-law studied under Frank Lloyd Wright and designed his own prairie-style home. The biggest problem was the leaks from the skylights. There was a Starving Artist store, in Des Plaines, Illinois that was house in a building designed by FLW. Unfortunately it was demolished and replaced by the typical non-descript office building. So sad.
The Frank Loyd Wright Sprire in Scottsdale was NOT created in the architects' lifetime and was more a FLW inspired (no pun intended) creation. It was created in the early 2000s. I am a native to that area and also went to the FLW Taliesin West compound on Field Trips in High School and as an adult. When the Spire was completed in Scottsdale it took me by surprise because all of a sudden, I drove by it and thought to myself, "When did they build that ". There was also a FLW home in my good friends (Arcadia) neighborhood, that I admired. I've always admired FLW style. I can almost immediately recognize his architectural lines when I see them. I had a client that just recently passed away. His multi million dollar home was definitely inspired by FLW..He has recently passed and the home has sold. It sits on the top of one of the hills adjacent to Piestawa Peak (Squaw Peak) in Phoenix. I am.in fear the new owners will raze the place and build something entirely new.
"inspired by FLW" has a way of meaning "but also kinda garbage" so unless it's exceptional, don't worry too much.
I live less than three miles from this, I'm a little sickened every time I pass by it. BTW as you show the parking lot the big brick pier to the right of the screen is all that remains of the building
The disappointing part of this is when I looked up the Larkin Building on Google to see what it looks like today and all that is left is a small portion of the building they dedicated with stairs and a landmark marker telling what it was and the history. The rest is a blacktop parking lot. Go figure.
Had no idea the Hubbards were on the Luisitania
Interesting that it became a maintenance problem. I just read this morning that the Robie House, built five years after the Larkin Building, likewise was expensive to maintain.
Fabulous presentation! It included a lot of information about which I was unfamiliar. All told, it's a sad story. The Larking office building, had it been preserved, would have been a useful and monumental highlight of downtown Buffalo.
Hubbard's arts & crafts group was the Roycrofters, not Roycraft.
Love your content! The videos are jam packed with so much good information that I am amazed at their brevity. Thank you! ♥️
I feel lucky to live near two classic FLW structures still standing in NE OK. One's up for sale currently.
Which ones?
Overrated
A great summation about an iconic structure designed by an iconic individual- with the lkesson at the end, nothing lasts forever.- all things are temporary.
Japan does this kind of thing almost weekly. Many many historic buildings by famed architect Kenzo Tange and the like are demolished every year. They let them rot for years as an excuse to sell the land under the guise of being "dangerous" and "could collapse." Like yeah, that's what happens when you don't take care of something.
Happens all the time. Cities love to churn property.
Well, buildings are not tchotchkes that we buy to look pretty on the mantelpiece and dust once or twice a year.
Thank you for this excellent History lesson. The brick building reminds me of the NIH Clinical Center, the building I worked in for forty years.
Construction began in 1948 (the year I was born) I've seen a photograph of Harry Truman laying the "cornerstone". I admire the "Art Deco"
touches Wright incorporated into the Larkin Building, especially the huge globes atop entryway columns, I hope those at least were preserved
somewhere.
Thank you for this video. I had never heard of this building before.
Great video, as always, and this time especially perfect because it merges two of my greatest interests: architecture and the sinking of the Lusitania. The photo of Elbert Hubbard holding his briefcase and wearing a heavy coat was actually taken by a press photographer onboard the Lusitania before it sailed from New York, and is the last known still photo of Hubbard. Even more remarkable is that, for a brief moment at the lower left of the screen, you can see Elbert and Alice smiling and waving at the newsreel camera that filmed the liner’s final departure. They are, appropriately, standing closely side-by-side.
This is a superb documentary. My architect grandfather, Kurt Meyer-Radon, who immigrated from Germany with his family in 1923, knew Wright from his sojourn in California in the 1920s. He regarded him as somewhat quirky, but appreciated the way he built in features to match his clients' tastes, and, in some ways, his own. So many specialized nooks and cabinets, all making use of contemporary building materials. I am, myself, an engineer, and I am a historian of air conditioning and environmental control. It took a while to get a thorough understanding of the systems built into the Larkin Building. I'd suggest doing a documentary just on this topic.
He may also have known FLW from the Wasmuth Portfolio.
I wonder how many people who are suggesting that the city should have spent hundres of thoughsands or millions to rebuild and repair the building complain about their taxes and/or government decisions? The city put it up for sale, no private corporations wanted it for rebuilding, so purhaps that was the correct decision.
This building was the inspiration for the current Evanston Public Library in Evanston, IL. Design submitted to a juried contest and picked as the winner. It was only later that citizens realized it was not so original as presented.
As someone who works in a 105 yo building that was the administrative building for one of the biggest companies in the city at the turn of the century, I can testify that keeping an old building going is EXPENSIVE. Cleaning, painting, plumbing, wiring, H/Vac, Wi-Fi, there's an endless line of maintenance and modernization that has to be done.
It's worth it.
If a thing doesn't need care, it is not alive. FLW buildings are impractical, but most older buildings worth their salt pay back their caretakers with comfort, feeling and ease.
I thought I knew all of FLW designs and buildings..never heard of this one. My fav house: The Robie House in the Woodlawn/ Hyde Park area on the South Side of Chicago.
We Americans sadly save so little of our history, pisses me off
Not just in America,here in Glasgow Scotland we’ve lost a few beautiful Victorian buildings.😡 18:19
And here in America they actually allow tearing down war memorials and destroying historical soldier's graves .
@@crippleguy415That's even more disgusting☹️
@@crippleguy415 Confederate war memorials?
Does it matter whose grave?
The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo survived the 1923 huge earthquake with relatively minor damage. Unfortunately the design which saved it would cause it to fall apart in the long term, why it was also demolished.
This building would not be out of place in a Ghostbusters movie.
3:03: Fallingwater, built for the Kauffmann family, retailers in Pittsburgh as a country retreat. Today this building is open for tours.
I really want to visit Falling Water.
Great history presentation. I am an elderly retired architect who has visited many of Wright's projects. This is by far the best presentation on the Larkin Building that I have experienced.
Including the horrific lies?
It turns out the atrium was not a gathering space, but a workspace filled with rows of desks, at least from the photos.
It's not a good docu.
Why dint the city just accept the actual offer to buy the property instead of demolishing it?
They needed the parking.
If you like old buildings, go to Buffalo and take the tour. Preserving architecture is a way of life there now.
Interesting! Thanks for the info.
Thanks for watching!
One of his best designs, and so far from conventional it was unreal.
While the admin building is gone a number of the buildings once part of the Larkin complex have been refurbished and repopulated. The area is now often referred to as "Larkinville" or the "Larkin District". It's full of offices, shops, restaurants, etc and even has an area where events are held.
The city, and especially its tourism department, really regrets this today. It would be on Larkin Square now, a key part of Buffalo's revival, and would give the city a nearly complete set of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings - one of the few places outside Chicago that could share that boast.
I was going to say that.
@@rickmcginnis, as low of an opinion as I have of New York, learning this just dropped that horrid place a few notches lower. It is inconceivable that they would not save one of the most iconic buildings in the city. Then, as now, New York politicians seem to have a love affair with their anal cavities, which is where they obviously keep their heads!
@@rickmcginnis it would have made fabulous condos if it couldn’t be maintained as offices
Well, Larkin followed the arc of a lot of other mail-order companies; business boomed as soon a Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was offered by the US Postal Service, and declined as automobiles made it to every rural household. Hubbard or not (BTW, he did leave Larkin a few years BEFORE his death...), Larkin actually limped on into the early 1930's.
The others didn't lose their leadership to death, though. The video said it didn't end immediately. His son apparently did his best. Many mail order businesses like Sears and Wards and all the others whose catalogs were an American staple declined? You exaggerate.
I have always read that normal maintenance on Frank Lloyd Wright is giant.
Not a great feature if the economy is not booming as it was at the turn of the last century.
Living in an area with a little bit of history and many things that should have been preserved. The sad reality is you can't preserve everything. I think it's far worse to see things of significance, left to rot.
The spire you mentioned, really isn't a work of Wright. It was one spire in a much larger never built design of Wright's. A proposed capitol for the state of Arizona. Which a lot us wish was built.
I read it really isn't much like his design.
Would have liked more details about what was so unusual and expensive about the upkeep of the building.
There was no unusual expense for upkeep... If you notice in history all of these magnificent building have all come to an end by the wrecking ball or fire.
If it was the wrecking ball, there was always endless lies about the building being unsafe/dangerous etc, when truth was the building were built so well, they would probably have stood for hundreds of years.
The City Hall building in Philadelphia, another architectural jewel, was also slated to be torn down under false claims. Thanks to the claim of exorbitant demolition costs, the building still stands to this day and is still in use.
It is as though they are trying to get rid of the old world architecture/engineering for some reason and leave us with nothing but these glass/steel frame buildings like we see today
@@SAMSON12321 If you don't keep up the plumbing and electrical work, roofing, bricks, etc, it will fail. No false conspiracy theory necessary. If you've ever had the duty of upkeep on a property you would know what a constant and expensive battle it is.
The picture at 8:43 is definitely not from 1906 or the Larkin. The chair, the wood deck, etc. all is contemporary.
Larkin Soap Company sounds like possible inspiration for Fight Club
The city could have used the property for office space.
The city of Buffalo should have remodeled the building for use as a jail.
So more tragic than 'problematic' (although I would love to know exactly what Hubbard had written that was 'obscene' and needed pardoning).
I’ve seen a few of the Wright houses he designed. They were not built for actual families to live in. The designs while artistic are impractical for actual use.
imho....... Some of the Wright furniture is woefully uncomfortable. You wondered if Frank was in on some joke.
They demolished it, for a parking lot. Are you kidding me? I am glad the building fought back during its destruction.
No matter the "design", if it can't take care of itself without regular maintanece, it is worthless. And the asthetics he "created", he jsut simply "reproduced" his "designs" from Japanesse architecture. He was only a copier in disquise. He has no original thoughts after all.
Wow. That‘s quite a bold claim.
I have to admit...I studied Frank Lloyd Wright while getting my Architectural Technology degree. I was underwhelmed and thought his designs to be overrated, especially the houses. I visited one. The flat roof leaked (many of his roofs leaked), and the bathroom had a marine style toilet instead of a regular toilet because the space was so small. Also, the ceilings were very low, making it uncomfortable for six-foot tall me to walk around inside the house. I may be in a very small minority that doesn't like Wright's work, but not everyone thinks highly of him.
As much as I hate to see a historic building go. I hope some form of historic documentation takes place either by choice or by law if necessary. So at least documentation can help building that have been lost to still have some form of records for the future
What a enjoyable and informative watch, FLW is one of my Architectural Heros. A fun vid could be about the Monsanto "House of the Future" at Disneyland. It was built so well that YEARS later when it was time to tear it down that the wrecking ball would just bound off it, it had to be cut up piece by piece. So much history but so little time......
mike
Just walked past the Wright house in Oak Park. So frigging cool.
I’ve been in one of the houses he designed. Personally I didn’t think it was anything special. So lackluster in fact the current owner remodeled a lot of it
Years ago I worked for an alarm company and we were sent to Michigan to work on an alarm in a Frank Lloyd Wright house. WOW the interior was so relaxing and beautiful I just wanted to stay all day. I remember eating my lunch while sitting on a window bench and just admiring every little detail throughout that enormous room. I can’t get the image out of my head to this day, some 40 years later. He certainly had talent.
Even though we're English, watching this clip made us feel so sorry for the building. It was truly innovative along with the employee welfare. It was a building made for its employees and was a work of art. How many companies provide for their employees like that now? You can imagine it was a place that the employees enjoyed working in. The environment, the culture. You just cannot see that happening these days. He was ahead of his time, well ahead of us as we are now. If anything we've gone backwards.
My husband had heard of Frank Lloyd Wright because his stepdad was an architect all his life. There is also a Simon & Garfunkel song called, 'Frank Lloyd Wright'. Therefore, he had heard he was a brilliant, innovative architect and what he had heard turned out to be right.
So sad that all of this has been lost. It should have been made into a National Monument, with the City funding its upkeep. It could have become a museum with displays of products, a restaurant and sales counters. But I guess the modern world doesn't want to see the ideal way of conducting business and taking care of people. It is all soulless, corporate backstabbing where everyone tramples on everyone.... How Darwinian of a primarily Christian country.
Look up the life of Google employees.
I studied the Larkin Building in college but never knew the Larkin/Roycroft/Hubbard/Lusitania connection.
Thanks again John in Chicago
I hope that when we die, we become specters that can travel through time and space so we can enjoy the things that people before us have destroyed...
That would be great, wouldn't it? I'm starting to believe less and less in time. Maybe we're just stuck in a POV as we are? Even if not i'm confident such things are within God's power. Cheers!
Wouldn't that be lovely? Although I have never thought of "The Afterlife" in those terms, I genuinely respect your thoughts on the matter. 💙
Personally, I find most of Frank Lloyd Wright's designs to be overrated (and that's taking into consideration that he didn't have access to modern materials, communication, etc.) His houses tend to have doors that are too narrow to move furniture through, because he thought that the furniture should be actually a part of the building, immovable, situated ONLY where he wanted it. That is narcissism, conceit, and solipsism on a level which I have rarely encountered in life.
And as with the building featured here, a lot of Wright's buildings have been noted for having rather high maintenance costs compared to others of similar age, purpose and utility.
Enjoyed this history. Thank you🌻🐝
It costs millions to maintain and operate Falling Water. It is only by running it as a tourist attraction, and with grants from the state, can it be maintained and remain open. Sure it is beautiful, but it is not practical. It uses thousands of dollars of fuel oil to heat it each month during the winter.
10:29: Roy-CROFT, not 'roycraft'....
This is a great summary of the Larkin building!
As usual, great job.
I’m in OakPark IL.
if that building was built in NYC or Chicago, it probably would have been used well into the modern era but Buffalo was already in slow decline by the late 40s and would slowly get smaller and less prominent as the decades wore on which would have made a giant office building like the Larkin building even less useful.
This is an unusual article in that it leaves Darwin Martin, the trusted manager of The Larkin Soap Co. totally out of the picture. Mr. Larkin gave Darwin the authority to hire Frank Lloyd Wright to design their new office building. He also designed the Darwin Martin house in Buffalo, a beauty that is now operated by the University of Buffalo. Martin became Wright's noted benefactor.
Martin's gift to the Larkin Soap Company was his ingenious card system of bookkeeping, which allowed multiple people access to "the ledger" rather than only one.