Such a wonderful concept. As an Art Major I did a term paper on Frank Loyd Wright. Two Frank Loyd Wright homes in our County on Lake Erie, Ohio. One of them was owned by a late dear friend of ours. Lew Penfield was very good friends with Frank Loyd Wright. Lew showed me a second set of plans for another home that he and Frank Lloyd Wright designed. It has never been built. I took my son to Falling Waters when he was 12 years old. I taught him how to enjoy and appreciate different styles of architecture.
It looks rather small, and access would be a problem - I doubt the stairs alone do not match today's codes, and handicap accessibility wasn't even a concept when it was designed.
For the younger crowd All the gas stations before the 1980’s era had a service Bay Area where they fixed cars . That part of this design was normal , but the unsupported canopy was all Wright !
Fantastic!.....We've visited a few Wright designed homes in Ohio, where we live. There are some "Usonian" styled Wright homes, that have been restored, and are exhibits, to visit. Tours are available and they always have docents who can answer questions. Thanks for posting this unique building.
This reminded me of the gas station at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta. It had a great big concrete swooping roof like an upside down umbrella. Couldn’t find any info on who designed or built it. It was around from the late 50’s until the 80’s when it was demolished.
@@agvga5510 I have a great book on the history of gas stations. From their inception to about the 70s there were a lot of great service station designs. A lot of gas companies linked their designs to their company image. Then the nondescript boxes with the utilitarian canopies we have now came into being, and company identity has been reduced to signage.
Years ago, I had the very rare ( and beautiful) opportunity to have a personal tour of the unrestored FLW hotel in Mason City Iowa! It tied in with a Buddy Holley tour I was doing, and Clear Lake Iowa is just a few miles away. At the time, they owners were looking for donations to restore the hotel, and I offered a hundred dollars. In return, they not only showed me the hotel, they took me around town to see the other homes he designed in that same town! Beautiful people, living in a very beautiful community. They mentioned at the time, that he only designed about three or four businesses, but 97 percent of his work was all residential. The man must have hated the industrialist more than I do!
Pretty cool that it's in Mn and it's a small town and it's FLW. Frankly, I don't love his style and never really did, although he is much celebrated. I had heard there was a thing there by him but hadn't seen it until now- thanks.
Having made many, many trips up to Ely, MN to paddle the BWCA, I never failed to look for the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station, but like so many, I never understood till now why it was in, of all places, Cloquet, MN. Thanks for the video.
Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect, and if you pay an architect they will design anything for you, which is exactly what happened. Why does that guy seem to think it is so weird "why would he design a gas station?"... money.
My opinion is that Wright did it for the money. His biography and the play I saw several years ago about his life suggested that he lived extravagantly and was often on the verge of being broke.
Because he owned an architecture firm and a client came to him and said "we need architectural services"? A "replica model"? The civic center where the ideas of democracy would be hashed out... if you needed your oil changed. FLW was... like too many architects. Drawings are rolled the wrong way.
Probably because Frank Lloyd Wright was a designer/artist not a well rounded architect who could understood the limits of the materials he employed. His buildings are notorious for leaking and needing huge renovations which more traditional houses of that era don’t need. I think his buildings are modernist sculptures not shouldn’t be considered real architecture. :)
Or FLW was a spendthrift and he needed the money, as his biography, at least 1 play, and numerous articles written during his own lifetime hint at, dance around, and even explicitly state.
@@CricketsBay What you say is true without question. But he takes the project because it's an exciting design challenge. That's how an architects mind works.
A friend of mine used to work in the Marin County (CA) Civic Center, FLW's last major public building. She said that when it rained, the custodians deployed buckets with numbers corresponding to a map of all the leaks.
Brilliant subject matter, and I'm really glad that this story was told, but it is frustrating hearing the word 'font' used when 'typeface' is what was meant. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that no one would have said "Frank Lloyd Wright font" when this building had just been built. It's all because of the advent of desktop publishing with personal computers that have to invoke a specific, explicit file, which would be a font, rather than a typeface, which is the collection of specific letter forms that have the characteristic look and feel that people almost always mean when they use the word 'font', that anyone ever started using the word 'font' in the first place. It's like hearing people say 'backslash' when they mean 'slash', or 'cadence' when they mean 'rhythm', or 'I could care less' when they mean 'I couldn't care less'. It's kind of maddening, actually. An example of a 'font' would be 18 point Microgramma Bold Extended, whereas a typeface would be Microgramma. When people are referring to the characteristic letter forms that Frank Lloyd Wright used in his logo they are almost always referring to the latter, not the former.
“All these years, I've found some one man who wanted my work... ...one man who saw through his own eyes and thought with his own brain. Such men may be rare, they may be unknown, but they move the world. - How did you look for them? - I didn't. They called for me. Any Man Who Calls for Me is my Kind of Man.” -The Fountainhead
The dude bought the building because he claims to be a Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiast, he got original documents and drawings from the man himself with the building, and he’s never looked at them before? Riiight. “Is that original?” “Yeah, I guess so.” Said no genuine fan of anything ever.
His designs were extremely artistic, not necessarily functional and efficient. For that reason the sustainable community refer to him Frank Wrong, not Frank right.
Why would FLR design a gas station? Coz he could and would design anything. Tell me he did a public toilet block, I'd believe it, and expect it to look like nothing else.
"Philippine mahogany" is not really mahogany. It's a cheaper substitute. Still, you are correct that in a big city it would have been obliterated by now.
Its now sort of called Meranti. Rumors exist that Marcos changed the name after Imelda saw a screening of the Diana Ross film. Son bongbong Marcos has stated under oath
It's freakin' ugly and a horrible design, but we are expected to like it and praise it because it was designed by a guy who designed one cool house, a one hit wonder. The only architect most people have ever heard of. So what if it looks like the useless canopy can't be supported by the flimsy glass wall? What does the building code say about cantilevers in Minnesota? Good thing it never rains in Minnesota, huh?
I wonder why the new owner only has B.A. in history from the university of Minnesota? I mean it's less than a mail order degree as far as merit, more expensive though which again begs the question... why would you pay so much for such a mediocre degree? I guess he's just one of those lazy types that always looks for and takes the least challenging path though life, which explains the college education and the reason America is in a state of failure. Frank would be very disappointed that his vision has been bought out by such a lame character.
Vids like this are still what makes TH-cam awesome.
same
What, you don't like 15 second videos with really loud and annoying music showing how to make a grilled cheese sandwich in your dishwasher?
You never heard of pbs
I've never heard of that architect before, what is he famous for?@@ozmond
Personally, I love the paid narrative actors. They're so delightful.
A shrewd investment, and valuable public asset. Great to see this being cared for.👍
Such a wonderful concept. As an Art Major I did a term paper on Frank Loyd Wright. Two Frank Loyd Wright homes in our County on Lake Erie, Ohio. One of them was owned by a late dear friend of ours. Lew Penfield was very good friends with Frank Loyd Wright. Lew showed me a second set of plans for another home that he and Frank Lloyd Wright designed. It has never been built. I took my son to Falling Waters when he was 12 years old. I taught him how to enjoy and appreciate different styles of architecture.
Why cant something that serves a function be beautiful as well, i absolutely adore it
It looks like someone has taken good care of it for 70 years.
Looks like the upstairs community room is unused.Seems a perfect spot to sell coffee ,snacks and F.L.Wright books.
It looks rather small, and access would be a problem - I doubt the stairs alone do not match today's codes, and handicap accessibility wasn't even a concept when it was designed.
For the younger crowd All the gas stations before the 1980’s era had a service Bay Area where they fixed cars .
That part of this design was normal , but the unsupported canopy was all Wright !
Fantastic!.....We've visited a few Wright designed homes in Ohio, where we live. There are some "Usonian" styled Wright homes, that have been restored, and are exhibits, to visit. Tours are available and they always have docents who can answer questions. Thanks for posting this unique building.
I just drove by that place last week. :-)
This reminded me of the gas station at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta. It had a great big concrete swooping roof like an upside down umbrella. Couldn’t find any info on who designed or built it. It was around from the late 50’s until the 80’s when it was demolished.
How cool. Frank said if he had more time he could've rebuilt America. Can you imagine?
Too much of even a good thing would be boring. Variety is the spice of life.
@@daniel_sc1024much better than too much boring and uninspiring architecture we are left with. Middle america… where everything is boxy and square.
@@agvga5510 I have a great book on the history of gas stations. From their inception to about the 70s there were a lot of great service station designs. A lot of gas companies linked their designs to their company image. Then the nondescript boxes with the utilitarian canopies we have now came into being, and company identity has been reduced to signage.
I credit my home economics teacher for taking us to see this!
Appreciate you sharing this here. Never underestimate how cool a HomeEco teacher just might be.
This is the most Minnesota thing I’ve seen in a while.
Years ago, I had the very rare ( and beautiful) opportunity to have a personal tour of the unrestored FLW hotel in Mason City Iowa!
It tied in with a Buddy Holley tour I was doing, and Clear Lake Iowa is just a few miles away.
At the time, they owners were looking for donations to restore the hotel, and I offered a hundred dollars.
In return, they not only showed me the hotel, they took me around town to see the other homes he designed in that same town!
Beautiful people, living in a very beautiful community.
They mentioned at the time, that he only designed about three or four businesses, but 97 percent of his work was all residential.
The man must have hated the industrialist more than I do!
So cool my friend! That hotel is now looking brand new, thanks to your contribution.
I hope they don't mind me bringing a camping chair and sitting outside with a coffee admiring this beauty 🙂
I think it would be a very good idea to turn the space on the second floor into a cafe. People can drive over, refuel, and have a cup of coffee.
Wow this is wonderful! I'd love to visit one day! Super cool
Pretty cool that it's in Mn and it's a small town and it's FLW. Frankly, I don't love his style and never really did, although he is much celebrated. I had heard there was a thing there by him but hadn't seen it until now- thanks.
Having made many, many trips up to Ely, MN to paddle the BWCA, I never failed to look for the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station, but like so many, I never understood till now why it was in, of all places, Cloquet, MN. Thanks for the video.
Love his designs. ❤
This is such an awesome video.
A F.L.Wright designed gas station was built long after his death inside the Transportation and Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, NY.
"Form over Function"
The pumps aren't covered to keep incumbent weather away from the customers.
Still, fave architect.
Customers didn't pump their own gas in the 50s. They sat in their car while an attendant pumped the gas.
They used to be but were moved away from the entrance, look at old pictures, those are new pumps not original those are long gone..
Incumbent weather? Is that a Minnesota thing?
Never knew. Amazing.
The customer lounge would be great for EVs which require far more time to charge up than a quick refuel.
Well, at least it’s pretty. If every gas station looked like that, roads would look better.
What an interesting idea. You don't see a gas station which is also an architectural monument every day.
Need a Frank Lloyd Wright Buc-ees!
Have you never seen a 711
Wow, I can't even buy a cookie cutter home in Toronto for less than $800,000. Not alone one that generates income. And doubles as a tourist magnet.
Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect, and if you pay an architect they will design anything for you, which is exactly what happened. Why does that guy seem to think it is so weird "why would he design a gas station?"... money.
My opinion is that Wright did it for the money. His biography and the play I saw several years ago about his life suggested that he lived extravagantly and was often on the verge of being broke.
the minds of great visionaries in any field often do not include being an accountant!!
Perfect.
There's another gas station and shopping center designed by FLW over in Huntington Beach, CA!
Because he owned an architecture firm and a client came to him and said "we need architectural services"?
A "replica model"?
The civic center where the ideas of democracy would be hashed out... if you needed your oil changed. FLW was... like too many architects.
Drawings are rolled the wrong way.
And how do you roll drawings?
This place was for sale about 20 years ago.
Got baked at falling water
Doesnt tell you just why at one time it became a "white elephant"Didnt occur to them that people might be curious to know.
Probably because Frank Lloyd Wright was a designer/artist not a well rounded architect who could understood the limits of the materials he employed. His buildings are notorious for leaking and needing huge renovations which more traditional houses of that era don’t need. I think his buildings are modernist sculptures not shouldn’t be considered real architecture. :)
Any water harvesting techniques?
Gorgeous
What's with the helicopter/UFOs in the designs for the visions of the cities and this gas station? (at 2:00 min. into the video)
$4.69 a gallon FJB LGB
Wouldn't it be the perfect station to add rapid e-charge plug ins ?
That will probably be necessary everywhere as we make the transition to all-electric vehicles.
I suppose gas would have to be three or 4 times more expensive if everybody had a Wright gas station?
Why? Because he was an architect and that's what he did for a living.
He liked cars, they were part of his plan it was called Broadacre, everyone was meant to have acre of land then small town all connected by highway.
At first blush, why design the roof to not shelter the pumps, but it did until the pumps were relocated.
Why not a gas station? A good architect will take on any building design challenge.
Or FLW was a spendthrift and he needed the money, as his biography, at least 1 play, and numerous articles written during his own lifetime hint at, dance around, and even explicitly state.
@@CricketsBay What you say is true without question. But he takes the project because it's an exciting design challenge. That's how an architects mind works.
It would be nice to see it lit up at night.
looks like a good place to install some fast-chargers!
EVs are on their way to extinction. The new ammonia internal combustion engines that only emit water vapor and nitrogen are the future.
Those drawing are worth many tens of thousands of dollars.
And i would ride right pass with that high ass gas
The roof covers just enough of the gas station that it will pour water on any person using the outside facing pump during a rainstorm
AND I bet the roof leaks…
A friend of mine used to work in the Marin County (CA) Civic Center, FLW's last major public building. She said that when it rained, the custodians deployed buckets with numbers corresponding to a map of all the leaks.
The semi-agrarian communities sound like some good vibes to me :)
Where’s the coffee pot
BEE-U-TIFFLE!
bucee is quaking in his boots
Brilliant subject matter, and I'm really glad that this story was told, but it is frustrating hearing the word 'font' used when 'typeface' is what was meant. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that no one would have said "Frank Lloyd Wright font" when this building had just been built. It's all because of the advent of desktop publishing with personal computers that have to invoke a specific, explicit file, which would be a font, rather than a typeface, which is the collection of specific letter forms that have the characteristic look and feel that people almost always mean when they use the word 'font', that anyone ever started using the word 'font' in the first place. It's like hearing people say 'backslash' when they mean 'slash', or 'cadence' when they mean 'rhythm', or 'I could care less' when they mean 'I couldn't care less'. It's kind of maddening, actually. An example of a 'font' would be 18 point Microgramma Bold Extended, whereas a typeface would be Microgramma. When people are referring to the characteristic letter forms that Frank Lloyd Wright used in his logo they are almost always referring to the latter, not the former.
Now klaus schwab of the WEF is saying we will not own cars, and like it!
325k is really cheap. I'd have bought that.
A lot of overhang on that structure. Not sure about that design.
I bet the answer is he thought that gas stations were ugly and wanted a fun looking one.
...." Thinking about gas stations " ....well wasn't Frank Lloyd Wright the dude with forty or fifty so cars ?
Why Did Frank Lloyd Wright Design A Gas Station In Minnesota? Because he could...
And he was bored
“All these years, I've found some one man who wanted my work...
...one man who saw through his own eyes and thought with his own brain.
Such men may be rare, they may be unknown, but they move the world.
- How did you look for them?
- I didn't. They called for me.
Any Man Who Calls for Me is my Kind of Man.”
-The Fountainhead
...and the gas pumps are in the sun. Poor planning?
Because it gets too hot and explodes every summer? Is that your premise?
The dude bought the building because he claims to be a Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiast, he got original documents and drawings from the man himself with the building, and he’s never looked at them before? Riiight.
“Is that original?” “Yeah, I guess so.” Said no genuine fan of anything ever.
He needed the money. He was not a very good businessman.
Why did Frank Lloyd Wright design a gas station? Same reason an architect designs any building - he was hired to do so.
You’d be shocked to find no one has ever given a shit about this gas station
Frank had to start somewhere
"the disappearing city", Frank Lloyd Wright was right, cities should go away
Attendant pumped the gas then.
His designs were extremely artistic, not necessarily functional and efficient.
For that reason the sustainable community refer to him Frank Wrong, not Frank right.
Seems like Wright's dream for America was highly car dependent.
Why would FLR design a gas station? Coz he could and would design anything. Tell me he did a public toilet block, I'd believe it, and expect it to look like nothing else.
Mahogany in the restroom. Must be a nice area because if that was in a big city it would have been obliterated with graffiti long ago.
"Philippine mahogany" is not really mahogany. It's a cheaper substitute. Still, you are correct that in a big city it would have been obliterated by now.
Its now sort of called Meranti. Rumors exist that Marcos changed the name after Imelda saw a screening of the Diana Ross film. Son bongbong Marcos has stated under oath
As an engineer, I do not like it. It is not practical. It takes too much structure to keep it from falling down.
Probably because someone paid him to
Because he could.
Because he was crazy. That's an easy question-
Yeah, he also design a dog house for a kid who sent him his paper route money
Oh God, Frank was carbrained 😭
He shoulda designed a McDonald's
That art gallery should be torn down, it’s hideous! :)
Who the hell is Frank Lloyd Wright?
looks like a crappy design. i don't like standing in the rain or sun when pumping gas.
It's freakin' ugly and a horrible design, but we are expected to like it and praise it because it was designed by a guy who designed one cool house, a one hit wonder. The only architect most people have ever heard of. So what if it looks like the useless canopy can't be supported by the flimsy glass wall? What does the building code say about cantilevers in Minnesota?
Good thing it never rains in Minnesota, huh?
I don't know if he just designed one cool house... he designed a lots of cool houses...BUT I agree... this is really ugly.
This guy is so over rated.
It's hideous. Modernist architecture is a blight. FLW is one of the most overrated so-called "architects" ever.
I wonder why the new owner only has B.A. in history from the university of Minnesota? I mean it's less than a mail order degree as far as merit, more expensive though which again begs the question... why would you pay so much for such a mediocre degree? I guess he's just one of those lazy types that always looks for and takes the least challenging path though life, which explains the college education and the reason America is in a state of failure. Frank would be very disappointed that his vision has been bought out by such a lame character.
I’ve been there multiple times. It’s just a Jetsons gas station. Full stop.