Whether you agree with Frank Lloyd Wright’s definition of good architecture or not, the late architect was never anything less than resolute and unswerving in his convictions. If ever you needed evidence of this, look no further than PBS Digital and Quoted Studios’ Blank on Blank animated short featuring excerpts from an interview between Wright and Mike Wallace in 1957.
In the short six-minute video, Wright calls architecture of the past 500 years “phony,” says, if given another 15 years to work, he would rebuild the country and change the nation, and casts aspersions on the New York City skyline calling it a “great monument to money and greed.” Wright certainly doesn’t hold anything back in this interview, but before anyone gets any ideas to call him arrogant, he has a few choice words for you too. “I think any man who really has faith in himself will be dubbed arrogant by his fellows,” Wright says. “I think that’s what happened to me.”
Wright’s interview on The Mike Wallace Show took place when he was 90 years old, just two years before his death. At this point in his life, Wright had designed over 1,000 buildings and had seen over 500 of them come to fruition, but even with so much work under his belt, Father Time was the only thing slowing the 90-year-old architect down and hindering him from accomplishing more.
Returning to his idea of changing the country, Wallace quoted Wright as previously saying, “If I had another 15 years to work, I could rebuild this entire country. I could change the nation.” Wright confirmed that he said this saying, “It’s amazing what I could do for this country. I wouldn’t start to change so much the way we live, as what we live in and how we live in it.”
Wright wasn’t the only architect featured in a Blank on Blank video. A 1965 interview between architect Buckminster Fuller and Studs Terkel was also turned into an episode.
Fuller’s interview isn’t quite as provocative as Wright’s, but he shares some of the same ideas as Wright regarding the current state of architecture. “I saw that the way in which we built was very, very ignorant,” Fuller says.
The rest of the video gives some insight into how and why Fuller developed his architectural style and philosophy.
Both videos act as windows into the minds and imaginations of two architects with very unique and very ambitious ideas for what architecture could and should be.
According to Quoted Studios, its purpose in creating these animated videos from interviews, such as this one featuring Wright and Wallace, is to unlock hidden stories. “Whether they’re interviews sitting on a journalist’s tapes or in a major archive, recordings buried in a media brand’s archives, or the yet to be heard stories within an organization, we transform raw, intimate storytelling into culturally resonant digital content,” the company writes on its website.
Other notable figures featured in the Blank on Blank series include Rod Serling, Ayn Rand, Ray Bradbury, and Carl Sagan.
Related Stories
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Mar 11, 2015
Foster + Partners wins bid for 2022 World Cup centerpiece stadium in Qatar
Norman Foster described the design as “an exciting step forward in stadium design—it will be the first to break the mold of the free-standing suburban concept, and instead anticipates the grid of this future city.”
Architects | Mar 10, 2015
German architect Frei Otto named 2015 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate
The news comes a day after the visionary architect, 89, died in his native Germany.
Modular Building | Mar 10, 2015
Must see: 57-story modular skyscraper was completed in 19 days
After erecting the mega prefab tower in Changsha, China, modular builder BSB stated, “three floors in a day is China’s new normal.”
Sponsored | Metals | Mar 10, 2015
Metal Building Systems: A Rising Star in the Market
A new report by the Metal Building Manufacturer's Association explains the entity's efforts in refining and extending metal building systems as a construction choice.
Retail Centers | Mar 10, 2015
Retrofit projects give dying malls new purpose
Approximately one-third of the country’s 1,200 enclosed malls are dead or dying. The good news is that a sizable portion of that building stock is being repurposed.
Retail Centers | Mar 10, 2015
Orlando's Skyscraper to be world's tallest roller coaster
The Skyscraper is expected to begin construction later this year, and open in 2016. It will stand at 570 feet.
Museums | Mar 9, 2015
Architecture based on astronomy principles for new planetarium in Shanghai
The ancient Chinese civilization left some of the earliest records of humans studying the stars and skies. To exhibit this long history, a new planetarium and astronomy museum is planned for construction in Shanghai.
Architects | Mar 9, 2015
Study explores why high ceilings are popular
High ceilings give us a sense of freedom, new research finds
Cultural Facilities | Mar 9, 2015
London council nixes plans to rebuild the Crystal Palace
Plans for the new Crystal Palace Park were scrapped when the city and the project's developer could come to an agreement before the 16-month exclusivity contract expired.
Office Buildings | Mar 7, 2015
Chance encounters in workplace design: The winning ticket to the innovation lottery?
The logic behind the push to cultivate chance encounters supposes that innovation is akin to a lottery. But do chance encounters reliably and consistently yield anything of substance?
