Gordon Strong had bought the mountain and surrounding real estate, hoping to build a resort to attract urban motorists from nearby D.C. and Baltimore who were eager to escape the urban hubbub.
He had a road built to the summit, with a series of overlooks to take advantage of the remarkable vistas. Strong’s plan for the facility was to “serve as an objective for short motor trips on the part of residents of the vicinity,” and the project was named the Automobile Objective.
Wright decided to use spiral ramps, as they allowed for the “movement of people sitting comfortable in their own cars … with the whole landscape revolving about them, as exposed to view as though they were in an aeroplane … The spiral is so natural and organic a form for whatever would ascend that I did not see why it should not be played upon and made equally available for descent at one and the same time.”
It took Wright almost a year to complete the design. In August of 1925, he made a formal presentation to Strong and his fellow Chicago businessmen.
The design upset the building’s patron and the entire idea was scrapped
And did those guys pay Mr. Wright for the year of planning and the drawings he did? What a bunch of dweebs! It reminds me, in its design, of the Tower of Babel. What a magnificent structure that would have been.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I see that the businessmen mocked Wright and his design by sending him a print of the Tower of Babel. Idiots! they didn't know a good thing when it was right, or should that be, "Wright" in front of them.
ReplyDelete