The Johnson Wax Co. Building

Today in class we watched a documentary and learned about the Johnson Wax Co. building built by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is was one of my favorite documentaries besides the one about the Alhambra palace. The Johnson building was very interesting to learn about because of how the forest like feel to it. The Building had many pillars with large round tops to increase surface area and support. With these lily pad like pillars evenly space they created great support for the roof and also gave the feeling that you are in an artificial forest. Another factor that I found interesting about these pillars is that they varied in looks to make them represent different things, such as in certain areas when the pillars were shorter they represented flowers, and  in the main building where they we tall they represented trees.

Something that I found out from the documentary today was the architects design their own furniture for buildings. I always thought that the architect just designed the building and then people chose pre-made furniture to buy and got it in large amounts. I think it is a good idea for architects to design furniture for building because they can create interesting furniture that ties in to the whole idea of the building. They would be able to complete the building as a whole and complete the design.

One last thing I thought was an interesting concept for the Johnson building was the windows made out of glass tubes. The tubed windows allowed light to come into the building, but also provided privacy because the tubes aren't completely transparent. I thought this was a cool design because I thought it added a sort of texture to the windows. They weren't just flat and plain like most windows, they are wavy because of the many tubes the windows are made of. Though I wouldn't use tubes for windows for a house, it really contrasted the idea of the fort like building because the windows look thick and strong like the building walls.