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Gold Finch splashing and dunking in a decorative pool outside a Madison, Wisconsin Walgreen's on a Saturday afternoon
Built in 1997, this Modern building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1938 and 1959, but had its construction overseen by Anthony Puttnam of Taliesin Associated Architects, whom had worked under Wright. It serves as the convention center for the city of Madison, and features a public plaza on the roof, as well as a liner park connecting the building to the nearby intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Wilson Street, providing a clear line of sight of the Wisconsin State Capitol a few blocks to the northwest. The design underwent many iterations during Wright’s later career, though it was heavily influenced by his focus on organic geometric forms that defined his work in the latter portion of his career, departing from the ornamentation of the earlier Prairie style and being more organic than his geometric designs for the Usonian houses built during the same time period. The building’s overall form is very true to Wright’s original concept, though it was made taller and the interior layout and programming are distinctly postmodern or contemporary, making some overtures to Wright’s later work, but featuring materials, details, and elements that make the building very clearly one from 1997, rather than from Wright’s lifetime. Nevertheless, the building is a graceful and spectacular addition to Downtown Madison and the shore of Lake Monona. The convention center came at a high cost in terms of finances, but also in terms of historical relics, with several ancient Ho-Chunk nation burial mounds on the site of the building being disturbed by the construction of its foundation, and the original view from Capitol Square to Lake Monona being forever blocked by the building’s height and rooftop fountain. Nevertheless, the addition of a large public terrace on the roof, a modern convention center, low-profile parking garage, and public restrooms have been a benefit to Downtown Madison and the public.
The building’s exterior facade is relatively simple on the side facing Downtown Madison, with a long linear park and walkway featuring distinctive sculptural lamps designed by Wright, which also are present at the entrance to Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive from Capitol Square, draw visitors to the building. The walkway expands into circular and semi-circular sections and contracts into narrower sections, crossing a bridge over the parking garage and a railroad line below before arriving at the building’s entrance. The entrance features modern storefronts, with a curved concrete parapet and soffit above, which supports a stylish modern fountain above, and is ringed by a semi-circular terrace that wraps around the semi-circular facade, which continues to ramps on either side that provide access to the rooftop terrace above and the parking garage below via elevator and stair towers, which sit at either end of the building and are clad in glass curtain walls. On the rooftop terrace, there are planters with trees, bushes, grasses, and flowers, two food service counters with outdoor seating and their kitchens in circular pavilions, circular pavilions housing restrooms, as well as stairs and elevators to the convention center below, and more sculptural lampposts. The building overall is a large half-cylinder massing with two cylindrical massings partially embedded into the sides, which have two smaller cylindrical massings at the point where the cylinders intersect with the half-cylinder facing the lake, with long wings on the flat side of the building that narrow before terminating at semi-circular ends. The side of the building facing Lake Monona features seven arched curtain walls separated by slender columns, which are recessed from the face of the facade above, and feature a planter at the base of the windows, a long curved storefront at the base that is recessed below the planter with the two circular massings embedded into the sides of the building’s semi-circular main massing being largely blank with cutaway arches at the base that expose the building’s structural columns. Part of the building sits over Lake Monona, and rests on concrete piers that are embedded into the lake bed below, which also support the Capital City Trail, a multi-use path that passes on the lake side of the building. The parking garage sits above John Nolen Drive and a railroad line, and is made of concrete, featuring arched openings and two spiral ramps, which harmonize with the design of the rest of the building. Inside, the building features multiple floors of convention and meeting space, with windows featuring curved bulkheads and soffits, large open atriums between various floors that are semi-circular in shape, which have staircases cascading down to lower levels and feature planters and half-height walls with gracefully curved tops, vaulted ceilings in some areas, red carpeting, decorative cove light fixtures, and large spaces with modern systems and amenities, which manage to embody the spirit of Wright’s design philosophy.
The building is a significant landmark in Madison, dominating the shore of Lake Monona and being a significant feature of the Downtown Madison skyline and cityscape when viewed from almost any angle from the lakeshore. It is the most unique public convention center in the United States, also offering one of the best views and most distinctive interiors of any convention center in the country. The building provided the city with a modern convention center while realizing the design of Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the most notable architects of all time, whom spent much of his life in the vicinity of the city, and symbolizing Wright’s deep connections to the area. The public terrace on the roof of the building added a breathtaking new outdoor space to the city, making the shores of Lake Mendota far more accessible than they had been for generations, creatively bridging the barrier of a large roadway and railroad line that had previously separated Downtown from the lake, and allowing pedestrians to nearly seamlessly walk from the State Capitol to the edge of the lake.
Workshop participants try out a variation of GLBRC's Fermentation in a Bag activity.
Photo Credit: John Greenler, GLBRC. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Straz Tower (East Hall)
Residence Hall of Marquette University
Formerly a YMCA, later aquired by Marquette University and dubbed East Hall. Underwent massive rennovaitons in 1999-2001 and renamed Straz Tower.
While Straz Tower is rather spacious and newly renovated, there are more reasons students choose to live there. The specialty housing option of Honors Program floors and the fantastic dining room are also features that draw people here. Also here is the Marquette Rec Plex workout facility, allowing students easy access to health and fitness equipment, including basketball courts and a swimming pool.
While the river bank is being restored, the Kinnickinnic River is being diverted though a giant rubber hose.
Democratic Rep. Fred Clark seeks to unseat Republican Sen. Luther Olsen in Wisconsin's 14th Senate District recall election.
Construction started on this house in 1854 using Virginia Tidewater design. John Rountree's relatives were from Virginia and he chose to use a southern architectural style. Most of the windows are ceiling to floor, 12.5 feet high. When a reception was held here for General Grant, the windows were swung open to admit the guests. The house has two living rooms separated by folding doors which can be opened to accommodate large groups. The plaster ceiling decorations consist of fruit designs around the light fixtures and in panels around the rest of the ceiling. It used to be the University of Wisconsin, Platteville Chancellor's house, but was sold and is now a private residence.
At a Labor Rally in Madison Wisconsin on March 12th, 2011. The protesters are not happy about Scott Walker signing a bill removing collective labor barganing rights on the previous day.
Built in phases between 1911 and 1959, this Prairie and Organic Modern-style house and office were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to serve as his family residence and studio, with two fires leading to substantial reconstruction of the house in 1914 and 1925. The house, which is named “Taliesin”, Welsh for “Shining Brow” or “Radiant Brow”, referring to the hill upon which it is situated, is a long and rambling structure with multiple sections built at different times, with the building serving as a living laboratory for Wright’s organic design philosophy, as well as growing with Wright’s family, wealth, and business. The house sits on a hill surrounded by fields, but is notably located below the top of the hill, which Wright saw as being such a significant feature of the landscape that it should remain untouched by the house’s presence. The house’s westernmost wings served as the home of livestock and farm equipment, as well as a garage, later becoming housing for the Taliesin Fellowship, where aspiring architects apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright. The central wing served as the Frank Lloyd Wright studio, where Wright and his apprentices and employees worked on projects for clients, as well as where Wright often met with clients. The eastern wing served as the Wright family’s residence, and was rebuilt twice, in 1914 and 1925, after being destroyed by fire, and is overall the newest section of the complex, though some portions of the west and central wings were added after the main phase of construction of the residence was complete.
The house is clad in stucco with a wooden shingle hipped and gabled roof, with stone cladding at the base and on piers that often flank window openings, large casement windows, clerestory windows, outdoor terraces and balconies, stone chimneys, and glass french doors, all of which connect the interior of the building to the surrounding landscape. The interior of the buildings feature vaulted ceilings in common areas, stone floors, stone and plaster walls, decorative woodwork, custom-built furniture, and multiple decorative objects collected by Wright during his life. The exterior of the house has a few areas distinctive from the rest of the structure, with a cantilevered balcony extending off the east facade drawing the eye towards the surrounding landscape from the living room of the residence, next to a large set of glass doors that enclose the living room and adjacent bedroom from a shallower cantilevered terrace, while to the west of the residence, and south of the central wing, is a landscaped garden, which rests just below the crest of the hill.
The building was the full-time home of Wright from 1911 until 1937, when Wright began to spend his winters at Taliesin West in Phoenix, Arizona, due to the effects of the Wisconsin winters on his health. For the rest of Wright’s life, the house was the summer home of Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship, and following his death, the house was deeded to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which operated and maintained the house as a museum and the home of multiple programs until 1990. Since 1990, the house has been under the stewardship of the nonprofit Taliesin Preservation Inc., which operates the house in conjunction with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The building is a contributing structure in the Taliesin Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Taliesin was one of eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings listed as The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2019. Today, Taliesin is utilized as a museum, offering tours and interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and work.
A rare sight to see. A maroon and gold unit still bopping around in 2012. Can't imagine this will last for much longer.