Urbanism of Frank Lloyd Wright

Neil Levine is the Emmet Blakeney Gleason Research Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University. His books include The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (Princeton) and Modern Architecture: Representation and Reality.

Winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in Architecture & Urban Planning, Association of American Publishers "In his bracing new book, The Urbanism of Frank Lloyd Wright, Neil Levine affirms the genius appellation, but challenges the anti-urbanist label, examining seven sites of Wright's urban interventions... Some readers of Neil Levine's impressive book may conclude that since only a small portion of Wright's urban designing was actually realized, his work in this realm must be judged a failure. That is not the case; even when Wright's work survives only in words and drawings, they make significant contributions to our understanding of his achievement. This book, moreover, has another important dimension beyond Frank Lloyd Wright's own colossal career. It explores the history of cities and the urban situations that foster--and impede--the progress of architecture and its role in creating a better, healthier and more felicitous environment."-Thomas S. Hines, Times Literary Supplement "Levine ... strives valiantly to break Wright's partly vanguard, partly bonkers urban vision free from the tyranny of categorical misreading. This means contextualizing the nadir of Broadacre City within Wright's own musings on city planning, which nearly span the length of his career, beginning with his designs for a suburban compound at Oak Park, Chicago in the 1890s."--Samuel Medina, Metropolis "An authoritative study... The Urbanism of Frank Lloyd Wright challenges the long-held assumption that Wright was an anti-urbanist, and Levine conveys a clear view of Wright seeking to improve the urban experience."--Gwyn Lloyd Jones, Architecture Today "Copiously illustrated with plans, maps, and photographs, this book sets forth a monument to one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century... A feast for the eyes and a font of information, this title belongs in all institutions that teach architecture."--Library Journal "This is a beautifully crafted study of Wright's place in the history of urbanism in the first half of the 20th century. Levine, professor of art and architecture history at Harvard, uses 'urbanism' to refer not just to cities but to projects for multiple owners, multiple architects, and built over time. He examines Wright's provocative ideas, ranging from a project in downtown Pittsburgh to the semi-rural plan of Broadacre City to a mixed-use scheme for Baghdad. The book, replete with sketches, drawings, plans, maps, and photographs from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, offers encyclopedic detail and density. Levine's exhaustive scholarship should make it required reading for practitioners and urban design students alike."--Craig Whittaker, Architectural Record "Frank Lloyd Wright made an indelible impression on 20th-century architecture with buildings such a Taliesin, Fallingwater, and New York's Guggenheim Museum... But what about his unrealized plans? Neil Levin's The Urbanism of Frank Lloyd Wright ... explores some of the architect's most notable designs for cities--all but one of which was never erected... The full color drawings in Levine's book are intriguing renderings of what could have been."--Alina Cohen, Surface "Neil Levine's latest book offers a new, refreshing perspective on Wright... Levine resolutely maintains the reader's focus on Wright's work and genius by offering detailed and vivid descriptions of the journey underlying each of Wright's projects... The book is a treasure trove for every architect and aspiring architect, urbanist, engineer, infrastructure practitioner and inquisitive mind intrigued by the development of the relatively young field of city planning... This book will serve as essential reading for those seeking to carry forward that mission--improving urban planning through effective design."--Noor Bell, CityCity Magazine "The Urbanism of Frank Lloyd Wright is a companion to Levine's landmark study The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, published in 1997, and it is as monumental as might be inferred from the 20-year wait."--Will Wiles, Apollo Magazine

• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XII INTRODUCTION XIV I: SUBURBS IN THE GRID: THE NEW STREETCAR CITY 1 WRIGHT'S FIRST URBAN DESIGN INITIATIVE: THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE ROBERTS BLOCK, 1896 3 2 THE QUADRUPLE BLOCK PLAN AS THE FRAMEWORK FOR THE LADIES' HOME JOURNAL "HOME IN A PRAIRIE TOWN," 1900-1901 29 3 THE ROBERTS BLOCK REVISITED, 1903-4, THE CITY BEAUTIFUL, AND THE GARDEN CITY 48 4 THE QUADRUPLE BLOCK PLAN EXPANDED INTO AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHEME FOR THE CHICAGO CITY CLUB COMPETITION OF 1912-13 77 II: THE CITY IN QUESTION AT THE DAWN OF THE AUTOMOBILE AGE 5 CONGESTION AND ITS REMEDIES IN THE SKYSCRAPER CITY OF THE 1920s 119 6 DECENTRALIZATION VERSUS CENTRALIZATION: BROADACRE CITY'S RURALIST ALTERNATIVE TO LE CORBUSIER'S URBANISM, 1929-35 157 III: NEW VISIONS FOR THE CITY CENTER: URBANISM UNDER THE HEGEMONY OF THE AUTOMOBILE 7 A CIVIC CENTER MEGASTRUCTURE FOR THE LAKEFRONT OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, 1938 183 8 CRYSTAL CITY: A HIGHRISE, MIXED-USE, SUPERBLOCK DEVELOPMENT FOR WASHINGTON, D.C., 1940 222 9: THE POINT PARK CIVIC CENTER AND TRAFFIC INTERCHANGE FOR THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH, 1947 261 10 PLAN FOR THE EXPANSION OF BAGHDAD ANCHORED BY A CULTURAL CENTER, 1957 334 CONCLUSION 385 NOTES 390 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 429 INDEX 436 CREDITS 446