“Frank Lloyd Wright and the City: Density vs. Dispersal” at The Museum of Modern Art

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February 01, 2014–June 01, 2014

The Robert Menschel Architecture and Design Gallery, third floor

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). St. Mark’s-in-the-Bouwerie Towers, New York. 1927–31. Aerial perspective. Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, 23 3/4 x 15” (60.3 x 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Jeffrey P. Klein Purchase Fund, Barbara Pine Purchase Fund, and Frederieke Taylor Purchase Fund

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). St. Mark’s-in-the-Bouwerie Towers, New York. 1927–31. Aerial perspective. Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper, 23 3/4 x 15” (60.3 x 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Jeffrey P. Klein Purchase Fund, Barbara Pine Purchase Fund, and Frederieke Taylor Purchase Fund

Frank Lloyd Wright and the City: Density vs. Dispersal, organized by Barry Bergdoll, Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, examines the tension in Wright’s thinking about the growing American city in the 1920s and 1930s, when he worked simultaneously on radical new forms for the American skyscraper and on a comprehensive vision for the urbanization of the American landscape in what he called “Broadacre City.” The spectacular model of that plan, for a low-density development over a vast territory, is among the most startling and beautiful of the many large-scale models prepared for exhibition by Wright and his associates and students at Taliesin. It toured the country for several years in the 1930s, beginning with a display at Rockefeller Center. Paired with Wright’s projects for skyscrapers—from designs for Manhattan (St. Marks in the Bowery proposal) to an ideal project for a mile-high skyscraper—the work reveals that Wright was as much a theoretician of the horizontal as of the vertical city. In this way his work is not only of historic importance, but of remarkable relevance to current debates on urban concentration. Architecture and Design Collection Exhibitions at MoMA are made possible by Hyundai Card.

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Frank Lloyd Wright and Eugene Masselink at the exhibition Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect. November 13, 1940–January 5, 1941. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York. Photo by Soichi Sunami

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Model of Broadacre City. 1934–35. Photograph, 6 5/8 x 4 1/4” (16.8 x 10.8 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York). Photo by Roy E. Petersen

Model of Broadacre City under construction by Taliesin Fellows. 1934–35. Photograph, 9 9/16 x 7” (24.3 x 17.8 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Model of Broadacre City under construction by Taliesin Fellows. 1934–35. Photograph, 9 9/16 x 7” (24.3 x 17.8 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). Broadacre City Project. 1934–35. Model: painted wood, 152 x 152” (386.1 x 386.1 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). Broadacre City Project. 1934–35. Model: painted wood, 152 x 152” (386.1 x 386.1 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). Grouped Towers, Chicago. 1930. Perspective. Pencil and ink on paper, 19 x 28 1/4” (48.3 x 71.8 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). Grouped Towers, Chicago. 1930. Perspective. Pencil and ink on paper, 19 x 28 1/4” (48.3 x 71.8 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). Grouped Towers, Chicago. 1930. Plan of the pedestal. Pencil on tracing paper, 13 3/4 x 35 3/8” (34.9 x 89.9 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). Grouped Towers, Chicago. 1930. Plan of the pedestal. Pencil on tracing paper, 13 3/4 x 35 3/8” (34.9 x 89.9 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Model of the H.C. Price Company Tower under construction by Taliesin Fellows. n.d. Photograph, 7 3/4 x 9 1/2” (19.7 x 24.1 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Model of the H.C. Price Company Tower under construction by Taliesin Fellows. n.d. Photograph, 7 3/4 x 9 1/2” (19.7 x 24.1 cm). The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)