THE GEIGER DATABASE

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Frank Lloyd Wright commissions

Frank Lloyd Wright Commission Titles

The information presented here exhibits the extent to which John Geiger considered many points of reference related to a given Frank Lloyd Wright project. Aside from basic information such as title, location, and project date, Geiger extended his interests to types of floor and roof plans, types of construction and building purpose, and where possible the dates of the various stages of development in the design process and construction. Geiger often included citations for bibliographic references as sources for the recorded information in an elaborate but unevenly developed series of attributions.

Project Information

Midway Gardens for Edward Carson Waller and Oscar Friedman, scheme 2 [Chicago, Illinois] (1913)

Note: The following information concerning this project represents original research and analysis by John Geiger, and is based in his long and detailed study of the Frank Lloyd Wright literature as well as personal contacts with members of the Taliesin Fellowship and architectural historians. In addition, he added his own categories of building type and compositional form, as well as other points of consideration that he deemed important to understanding of the design. As with any primary archival source material, the references and sources of attribution should be consulted where possible to affirm the data provided. Sometimes there is an indication of attribution for which there is no matching footnote recorded. Some understanding of the intended source may be discovered in remaining notes or frequently cited publications which appear in the comment field.

Name of client: Waller, Edward Carson and Friedman, Oscar.

Sobriquet or alternative place name: Midway Gardens.

Design Status (as of 2011): Demolished.

Occupancy form or use: COMMERCIAL/Restaurant/Bar/Cabaret.

Principal building materials: MASONRY/Brick, concrete.

Number of drawings for this project detailed in the database: 82.

Drawing Number and Description

1401.??1     Perspective from entrance side
1401.??2     Sketch of sprite holding sphere by Alfonso Iannelli
1401.??3     Elevation of a floor plate (Alofson, Lost)
1401.??4     Perspective of table and 4 chairs on exterior terrace
1401.??4     Perspective table and 4 chairs at exterior terrace
1401.??5     Light fixture, standing
1401.002     Winged Figure Sculpture for Midway Gardens
1401.003     Sculpturedf figure and lighting fixture
1401.004     Aerial perspective from the front street right of center
1401.004     Aerial perspective from street right of center
1401.004     North belevidere cutaway perspective by William Lawrence
1401.005     Mural
1401.005     Sprites elevations
1401.006     Perspective of metal table, chairs, and table lamp
1401.007     Aerial perspective from front right
1401.007     Aerial perspective from entrance side
1401.008     Mural "City by The Sea"
1401.009     Elevations of three statues
1401.010     Elevation light fixture garden terrace
1401.011     Study of sprite sculpture
1401.013     Drawing of the Smiling Sprite
1401.015     Leaded glass windows, study
1401.015     Floor and site plan
1401.016     Leaded glass, perspective in situ
1401.017     Elevation of wire furniture and light fixture
1401.018     Elevation of interior table, chair and lamp, and china
1401.020     Elevation of tabe and chairs
1401.023     Elevation form the west
1401.025     Cross secetion at center line of main room
1401.026     Cross section thru building, court and band shell
1401.027     Cross ection looking at stage
1401.028     Cross section looing at back side of main elevation
1401.030     Basement plan
1401.031     First floor plan
1401.032     Mezzanine floor plan
1401.033     Balcony plan
1401.034     Roof plan
1401.035     Elevation from Grove Avenue
1401.036     Section elevation
1401.037     Elevation in courtyard
1401.038     Cross section later through main building
1401.039     Cross longituidonal through main building
1401.041     Cross section, partial, of winter garden, promenade and beleveder
1401.042     Cross seection through Winter Garden
1401.047     Elevation from Sixtieth Street/ cross section Summer Garden?
1401.048     Cross Section through summer garden looking west (north?)
1401.050     Cross section through promenade and tavern room looking north
1401.066     Leaded glass clerestory windows for Banquet Hall; Windows Bar Grl
1401.066     Clerestory windows of the banquet hall
1401.068     Elevation of relief panels (Alofsin, Lost Years)
1401.071     Elevation of leaded glass window; narrow and tall
1401.074     Sprite sculpture studies
1401.075     Sprite sculpture studies
1401.080     Ornament, studies, tower with balcony and trellis
1401.081     Ornamental block for balcony railing, and metal cornice,study
1401.081     Elevation of ornamental concrete railing block
1401.082     Light fixture
1401.082     Side elevation and section of one towwer with indiation of color
1401.085     Balcony, winter garden, sketch of capital
1401.090     Cross section
1401.091     Section/elevation
1401.092     Elevation study front elevation
1401.093     Elevation on Sixtieth street/ section of main block
1401.094     Cross sectin through summer garden towrds the orchestra shall
1401.095     Bronze floor plate
1401.096     Cross seectiion
1401.098     Cross section early study
1401.100     Cross section throught the Summer Garden looking at main element
1401.101     Longitudinal section
1401.102     Floor plan showing relationship to Sans Souci
1401.103     Plan and early layout of Midway Gardens
1401.104     Aerial perspecive from front right
1401.105     Floor plan, very early
1401.106     Floor plan, early but sign of final plan
1401.109     Orchestra shell details
1401.110     First floor plan, very early study
1401.115     Mural; City by the Sea, study for color application
1401.117     Winged Figure Sculpture for Midway Gardens/freehand dimensions
1401.118     Block and brick ormanent
1401.120     Mural; City by the sea, Midway Gardens, study for color
1401.125     Elevation of interior of belevedere
1401.179     Perspective of courtyard

Individuals recorded as contributing to project:

Note: Not everyone who contributed to a project may be named; only those whose participation has been confirmed from a source appear above. Occasionally names presented as contributors to a project may seem chronologically anomalous. This usually occurs when an individual prepared drawings for publicity, exhibition, or publication long after the original date of a commission.

Individuals recorded as producing drawings for this project:
Brodelle, Emil
Fritz, Sr., Herbert
Wright, Frank Lloyd

Specifications writer: Mueller, Paul F. P.

Notes and References

Comments by John Geiger and/or sources of attribution: (1) See drawing 1401.007 signed and dated 1913. Geiger 05/18/96 (a) See Kruty, Paul. Frank Lloyd Wright and Midway Gardens (University of Illinois Press, 1998) for an excellent book on this building. Geiger 03/03/04 (2) Huxtable, .

Note: The information shown above is collected from a series of data table columns intended originally to record not only comments or notes, but also to cite sources of attribution for dates assigned to the various stages of drawing preparation in the design process. As with any primary archival source material, the references and sources of attribution shown here should be consulted where possible to affirm the data provided.

This commission is referenced and/or illustrated in the following publications:

Aguar, Charles E. and Berdeanna. Wrightscapes: Frank Lloyd Wright''s Landscape Designs. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Alofsin, Anthony. Frank Lloyd Wright: The Lost Years, 1910-1922 A Study of Influence. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago. [ISBN: 0-226-01366-0].
Cleary, Richard (editor). Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward. New York: Skira/ Rizzoli. [ISBN: 978-0-8478-3262-0].
Drexler, Arthur. The Drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright. New York: Horizon Press. [ISBN: 0-8180-0019-8].
Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. In the Nature of Materials: The Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright 1887-1941. Boston, Mass.: Da Capo Press.
Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. In the Nature of Materials: The Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright 1887-1941. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
Kaufmann, Jr., Edgar. Frank Lloyd Wright: Drawings for a Living Architecture. New York: Horizon Press.
Kruty, Paul. Frank Lloyd Wright and Midway Gardens. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. [ISBN: 0-252-02366-8].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks. New York: Rizzoli. [ISBN: 0-8478-1715-6].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright Drawings: Masterworks from the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. New York: Harry H. Abrams Inc.. [ISBN: 0-8108-1773-4].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph 1907-1913 (Volume 3). Tokyo: A. D. A. Edita. [ISBN: 4-87140-515-X].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph Preliminary Studies, 1889-1916 (Volume 9). Tokyo: A. D. A. Edita. [ISBN: 4-87140-520-6].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph, In His Renderings 1887-1959 (Volume 12). Tokyo: A. D. A. Edita. [ISBN: 4-87140-523-0].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright, The Heroic Years: 1920-1932. New York: Rizzoli. [ISBN: 978-8478-3174-6].
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright: The Complete Works 1917-1942 (Volume 2). Cologne, Germany: Taschen. [ISBN: 978-3-8365-0926-8].
Riley, Terence and Reed, Peter (editors). Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. [ISBN: 0-87070-642-X].
Sloan, Julie L.. Light Screens: The Complete Leaded-Glass Windows of Frank Lloyd Wright. New York: Rizzoli. [ISBN: 0-8478-2306-7].
Wright, Frank Lloyd. Frank Lloyd Wright: Collected Writings Volume 1, 1894-1930. New York: Rizzoli. [ISBN: 0-8478-1546-3].
Wright, Frank Lloyd. Frank Lloyd Wright: Collected Writings Volume 2, 1930-1932. New York: Rizzoli. [ISBN: 0-8478-1548-X].