Post #561681 by Grand Kahu on Tue, Oct 26, 2010 12:36 PM

As to the Barnsdall house, keep in mind Wright never formally acknowledged the influence of Mayan architecture or art upon it, but it has remained, at least to my own studies of it, resonant with his admiration of "primitive peoples" and their own respect of "Nature." It's something of a twist on the usual exoticism of the 19th century; Wright so stylized the forms as to not be readily identifiable as Mayan or Aztec, but instead filtered them through his broader knowledge of proto-modernist designs to come up with the result that is the Barnsdall. His version of Mayan Modern (ala Tiki Modern), so to speak. And, I have felt, instead of suggesting the exotic, he was more so interested in suggesting was was native to the land and to America -- what better way to do so than to reference (silently) indigenous architecture? His son Lloyd was more forthcoming about the influence of Native American art upon their work.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled programming now...

GK