THE JOHN W. GEIGER COLLECTION
FOR THE STUDY OF
ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
Architectural Records
Series 1: John W. Geiger
60 Years of Living Architecture
Exhibition Pavilion
New York City, New York (1953)
Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
John W. Geiger, construction
Documentation consists of original and reproduced drawings for an exhibition house, furnishings, and gallery installation layout, photographs, and publications. The 60 Years of Living Architecture exhibition was first installed in New York City from October 22 to December 13, 1953 on the site where the Guggenheim museum building by Frank Lloyd Wright would later be built. The exhibition included the construction of a full scale Usonian house. John Geiger was among the members of the Taliesin Fellowship who built the structure and participated in the installation of drawings, models, and artwork in related to the show in attached galleries.
See also: Exhibition Pavilion Los Angeles, California (1954)
PROJECT FILE
Design Drawings
Drawings (reductions): Exhibit Installation and Usonian House
Photographic reductions of drawings in the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives: Presentation Rendering [#5314.001]; Building Line Projections [#5314.005]; Elevations [#5314.007]; Layout Plan for Installation [#5314.008]; Plan [#5314.011]; Elevations [#5314.014]; Plan [#5314.019]; Usonian House Floor Plan [#5314.021]. [Box 2]
Drawing: Usonian House Dining Chair
Pencil on vellum paper. Scale: measurements. Dimensions: 36" x 24". [Box 2]
Folder: Usonian House Views by Pedro Guerrero
5 images (8 x 10 black-and-white prints), including views of exterior street elevations, front entry, living room, and kitchen [Box 2]; and three images (14" x 11" black-and-white prints) of dining area and bedrooms. [Box 37].
Folder: Exhibition Catalog (September, 1953)
40 page catalog featuring a narrative and captions with architectural photographs of Wright buildings, a note by Frank Lloyd Wright, and a list of exhibited items was published by the Guggenheim Museum to accompany the exhibition. [Box 2]
Other references: A digital copy of the catalog can be found at Archive.org.
Folders (2): Souvenir Pamphlets (November, 1953)
Copies of a publication given out at the exhibition. There were two versions of a 12 page Taliesin-designed pamphlet titled The Usonian House created as a souvenir for the public. The pamphlet contained an introduction from Frank Lloyd Wright with captioned images of the Usonian house by photographers Ezra Stoller and Pedro Guerrero. The first version included a personal compliment from Wright that was rejected by the Guggenheim exhibition curator. The majority of the copies of this version were destroyed. The second printing was revised to remove the mention, and this latter version was the one given to those attending the exhibition. Both versions are present in the Geiger collection. [Box 2]
Other references: A digital copy of the second, distributed souvenir pamphlet can be seen at Archive.org.
Folder: Miscellaneous
Clipping from Time Magazine regarding the Usonian house built at the exhibition in New York (6/25/1984). [Box 2]