The Art Museum of Tigre, Argentina is located in a fantastic building known as the Tigre Club. This club, completed in 1912 as a casino, was located next to a hotel that was torn down decades ago. It was for many years the meeting place for the movers and shakers of the area.
The casino was forced to close in the 1930s, and the building functioned as a restaurant for many years. Finally in the late 1970s it was identified as a National Historic Monument.
In 2006 it was restored and opened as the Tigre Art Museum. The building is magnificent.
The art collection focuses on life on the delta and the Rio De La Plata.
Those who follow this blog regularly know many of the postings are for architecture, and many of those have featured Frank Lloyd Wright. FLW generally is known for his homes, but did design some commercial properties as well.
One of his most famous commercial properties is the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. While a 19 floor building in a small city might seem out of place there are a few other buildings of similar height, as it was the headquarters for Phillip 66 petroleum company, and continues to be a major employer as part of Conoco – Phillips.
As usual there are many unique touches to the design, including these inlaid logos in the floor for the original owner’s company.
The building houses an art museum, as well as a collection of the original furnishings.
The building was built with offices and apartments. The apartments have been turned into a boutique hotel – we were lucky enough to get a 2 level room on the 13th and 14th floors.
The furnishings are new but fit the style perfectly.
As with many FLW designs there is quirkiness to the design (the bathroom was insanely small, and the stairs were narrow and at an angle) but it was worth it to spend the night in a work of art.
Next door is a performing arts center designed by a FLW student.
The Price Tower is one of America’s great buildings!
In my opinion the Rookery is the most architecturally interesting building in Chicago, and one of the best in the country.
Situated in the financial section of downtown Chicago on South LaSalle Street, it’s exterior doesn’t give any impression to a visitor of what awaits inside.
Famed architects Daniel Burnham and John Root designed the building in 1888.
With a mix of styles including Moorish, Venetian and Romanesque it was a remarkable building when completed. What makes it even more amazing is Frank Lloyd Wright lead the first of three major renovations in 1905-1907.
The second renovation was completed in 1931 by a former Wright assistant, William Drummond.
The third and final renovation was completed in 1992, and brought it back (mostly) to the FLW look.
Wright covered much of the ironwork with white carved Carrara marble.
The cantilevered staircase was something the people of the early 1900s hadn’t seen. Many refused to go onto the staircase, assuming it would fall off the wall.
Wright added the vertical supports, but they have never been attached – merely there to give assurance to people. The stairs are still doing just fine after 100 years of being cantilevered.
A close up of the marble work.
The stairs to the mezzanine are worn from a hundred years of feet going up and down them.
The mezzanine flooring is glass block.
The mezzanine also gives a great view of the light court.
The lighting of FLW.
Every photo blog posting seems to have a symmetry shot and this is this ones. It is the skylight lattice work.
This view shows one side of the cantilevered steps, as well as more of the marble and skylight.
The second floor elevator lobby looking towards the front of the building. At one time this was closed off for offices.
A view back down the stairs to the glass block. Every angle you look at this amazing building reveals a number of features.
The famed spiral staircase.
A view from the elevator lobby of the stairs.
The very cool lights near the elevators. Note the ‘Y’ underneath the light – it is a symbol of Chicago representing the Chicago River coming from the lake and forking into the North Branch and South Branch.
As you walk around the city you will find this ‘Y’ on numerous structures (but you have to look closely).
The elevator lobby, stairs and skylight! And then you get a reflection of it all off the floor.
Another view from the mezzanine including the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust gift shop.
Our docent Bruce was excellent, very knowledgeable and willing to share.
Here he shows where in the last renovation they left one of the original iron columns exposed.
Our final stop was a rare visit to the 11th floor Burnham Library. While it is a nice enough room, it is what was accomplished there that makes this a very special venue.
Essentially the design of the City of Chicago, and the 1893 World’s Fair were all decided in this room by the country’s greatest architectural minds.
Once again the Chicago Architectural Foundation docents were excellent. We look forward to more tours on this trip.
RDZ Photography 