Anthony Alofsin, leading authority on Frank Lloyd Wright, reveals the role that New York had on shaping the career of America’s most famous architect.
*Please note this event has been moved to a larger room. The lecture will now be held in the Celeste Auditorium at South Court (1st Floor).
Frank Lloyd Wright denounced New York as an “unlivable prison,” but in the 1920s the city gave him a refuge from personal and creative troubles, provided key clients and commissions, and helped him to resurrect a foundering career. The massive, sprawling metropolis unlocked new creative energies and later served as a foil for Wright’s work in the desert and in promoting “organic architecture.” And at the end of his life, Wright spent his final years at the Plaza Hotel working on the Guggenheim.
Prize-winning author and leading Wright authority Anthony Alofsin discusses how he discovered Wright’s complex relationship to New York City with foundational research in the recently opened Wright archives at Columbia University and the Museum of Modern Art. He speaks with structural historian and best-selling architectural writer Judith Dupré.
About the Speakers
Judith Dupré is a nonfictionist who illuminates the marvelous, especially as revealed in art, architecture, and engineering. A New York Times bestselling author, Judith has written numerous books of illustrated nonfiction that have been published in 14 languages. An inspired visual storyteller, she connects people to ideas, structures, and places, creating new understanding and joy.
Judith holds a M.Div. from Yale University, where she is a fellow of Saybrook College and named scholar at the Institute of Sacred Music. She earned degrees in English Literature and Studio Art at Brown University, and later studied at the Open Atelier of Design and Architecture in Manhattan.
Dr. Anthony Alofsin, FAIA, is an architect and art historian, known internationally as an expert on Frank Lloyd Wright. He is the author or editor of 15 books, including Frank Lloyd Wright: The Lost Years and, most recently, Wright and New York: the Making of America's Architect (Yale University Press, 2019).
In addition to studies on Wright, Alofsin's books cover subjects from the history of design education to Central European Architecture. Alofsin has been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a three-time Fellow of the MacDowell Colony, and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow at the National Gallery of Art, Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts. He received the Wright Spirit Award from the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. He practices and teaches in Austin, Texas where he is the Roland Gommel Roessner Centennial Professor of Architecture.