Here is your opportunity to ask questions of a Frank Lloyd Wright expert! John “Jack” Holzhueter is an historian who lives in the Madison area. He has authored numerous articles about Frank Lloyd Wright and was a consultant on the restoration of the Wisconsin State Capitol.

Jack is a terrific resource for background about Frank Lloyd Wright and his architecture, as a means of enhancing your club discussions and activity work. Please post your or your students’ questions here- we’ll share your question and the answer with the whole group.

Even experts take vacations… Questions will not be answered during Week 3 of the Challenge, but post them anyway and they will be answered upon his return.

Please direct your questions related to the logistics of the Book Club program to the FAQ section.

This week’s challenges are designed for you to complete at your “architecture study site” of choice. This could be your school building or another in your neighborhood. It does not have to be a community ‘landmark’ or architecturally significant building, but it could be!

Please upload a digital photo to the site to accompany your responses to the Challenges.

Since Petra and others in the book believe the house talks to them, use speech balloons to communicate what you think this building would say if it could talk. In other words, what mood does it convey to you? Is it friendly or unwelcoming to visitors? Does it fit in with its neighboring buildings or keep its distance? Use the 5 elements of architectural language- shape, scale, color, materials, and texture - to support your answer.

Scan and upload a collage of various speech balloons your students created. Or, send it to us by mail.

Your response will consist of two parts:
1) Download the attached worksheet “Investigate a Building” (in
Color or in Black and White . Have students individually complete this sheet and send at least one sample.

2) Ask students to critique the building according to Frank Lloyd Wright’s design principles. To do so, they should answer the following questions. Please write and send a sample of your responses.

• Does the building appear to be in harmony with its site? Do shapes or materials reflect the natural or urban environment of which it is a part? Explain your answer.
• Does the building function well for its intended purpose (as a home, office, etc)? If so, why? If not, how would you improve the architecture to make it more user-friendly?
• Do ceiling heights change and provide feelings of shelter as well as openness?
• Can people enjoy views of the outside while inside? Is there a sense of “the outside coming in”?

Go to this great source for graph paper: http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ Print square graph paper and indicate the size of the square as .25 inches.

Using a 1/4”= 1 ft scale, create a scale floor plan of one room of the building. Measure walls, furnishings and room openings like doors and windows. Use floor plan symbols (find them on https://www.floorplansfirst.com/symbols.cfm). In addition, indicate on the plan the area and perimeter of the space. Scan and upload one floor plan or send it by mail.

Extra 15 bonus points! Invite an expert to join you on your tour. The expert may be the architect, an historian, or a user of the building. As a group, develop a set of questions to ask your guest. After the presentation, write a paragraph about how your understanding of the building changed and increased after listening to the expert.

More extra 15 bonus points! Scan and upload, or send by mail, a student’s sketch of the exteriors of the building.

Students will need access to a computer to complete this activity.
www.architectstudio3d.org
This exciting website gives you an opportunity to be the architect and design a building for a client. Please send us at least one student’s complete plan that includes selection of furnishings, exterior materials, and location of doors, windows, and walls.

Our preference is that you opt on the website to send the design to our e-mailbox- bookclub@mononaterrace.com You may also print the design and send by mail.

Trace the steps of the Wright 3 when they investigate the Robie House on their own in Chapter 29.

Begin by downloading the Robie House floor plans for Levels 2 and 3 from the website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html Go to ‘Architecture, Landscape’, type ‘Robie House’ in the Search, then click on the #1 result.  Then click on the icon “25 drawings”.  The floor plans are in the first few boxes. (This is also a great resource to see Wright’s designs for the house’s windows and furniture.)

Indicate these locations on the floor plans with the corresponding number:

1. Where Tommy enters the house (page 269) (indicate with “1”)
2. The pantry (page 278)
3. One “scary corner” (page 279) “connected the kitchen passageway to the back hall”
4. Another “scary corner” (page 279) connected “the hall to the third-floor stairwell”
5. Bedroom where the Wright 3 are caught (page 280)
6. “Roof above the living room” where they are cornered by Thin Head and Black Glasses (page 286)

Scan and upload the floor plans with locations marked, or send them to us by mail.

If you complete the Calder activity for Week 7, follow these instructions:
Write and send a short story, several paragraphs, that takes place in the building you designed on the architectstudio3d website. Use the client as the main character. The story should include descriptions of the house in the plot, and how the house’s design impacts the client’s lifestyle and feelings as he/she lives in the new home.

If you don’t complete the Calder activity for Week 7, follow these instructions: Write and send a short story, several paragraphs, in the voice of Fred “Sunny” Robie, Jr., the young boy who lived in the Robie house with his family. Your story takes place in the Robie House playroom on Level 1 and the adjacent outdoor play area. Include a description of the house and Sunny’s feelings about his playroom.

Note: It is difficult to find images of the playroom in books or on the Internet. You can download the Robie House Level 1 floor plan from the website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html Go to ‘Architecture, Landscape’, type ‘Robie House’ in the Search, then click on result #1.  You’ll see a menu of drawings, plans and photos. (This is also a great resource to see Wright’s designs for the house’s windows and furniture.)

Students should assume that features of the other parts of the home, i.e. stained glass, open floor plan, apply to the playroom. Some imagination will be required!