Sunday, January 17, 2010

Frank Lloyd Wright was 67 when he designed the The Pfeiffer Chapel at the Florida Southern College. He continued to work on the campus for another 20 years. The sheer persistence of it is admirable.

To my vaguely English eye (I say "vaguely" because there is an African one as well, though I'm often confused by it), anyway to my vaguely Anglicized eye, the Pfeiffer Chapel is an odd building, though in some ways typical of Frank Lloyd Wright. Many of his buildings seem to have a closed in feel to them, they present you with just one choice and, for the building, it is the right choice, at least that is what the building seems to say. In the Chapel, no matter where you are, there is a preferred perspective, a right way to look at things. Look any other way and the building oppresses you, holds you down, makes you understand where you ought to look. Entirely appropriate for a Chapel I suppose. Though again, my vaguely English self feels uncomfortable being so directly addressed, especially by a building.

There's no doubt, the man was inspired.


No comments: