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Frank Lloyd Wright's All-Glass Buildings That Never Happened In The East Village
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 15, 2013
Modified Jan 15, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 15, 2013
Modified Jan 15, 2013
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By 1927, Frank Lloyd Wright was already a world-famous architect—though it would be decades before he would have a building in New York City, he did have some plans in the works. That year, Wright had began designing apartment buildings for an East Village location. According to a 1930 issue of Modern Mechanix, this would be the "first all-glass house in the heart of New York City... at Second Avenue and 11th Street," and Wright hoped to build four there within a few years. The buildings were somewhat surprisingly commissioned by Reverend William Norman Guthrie of St. Mark's Church, and would have resulted in building over the cemetery there. The plans would have also called for tearing down row houses on East 10th and Stuyvesant Streets.
"One of the unusual features of this building is that no structural steel will be used anywhere in the glass house. In detailing his idea, Mr. Wright pointed out that he plans to build this all-glass tower to a height of 18 stories and set a two-story penthouse on top of it for his own personal use. The walls of the building will be made of clear, heavy plate glass and the floors will be of concrete inlaid with a rubber composition to deaden noises. For decorative purposes, balconies and parapets, Mr. Wright proposes to use copper."
According to Untapped, the apartment towers would have been "revolutionary" given their lack of structural steel support, but alas, the project was scrapped. This was both a result of the Depression, and lenders unwilling to take a risk on the new design, as well as the wavering support of Guthrie and the members of the church. It wouldn't be until 1953 that Wright would get a Manhattan building... that year he erected two buildings in the spot that currently houses the Guggenheim museum. They were disassembled the following year, and in 1959 the museum finally opened.
Tagged
architecture
east village
flashback
frank lloyd wright
history
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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