Frank Lloyd Wright’s San Francisco Office and the Story of its Remarkable Travels

Presenter: Paul V. Turner, Stanford University
125 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium

To mark the recent installation of Frank Lloyd Wright's San Francisco Office in the Hagen History Center (Erie, PA), architectural historian Paul V. Turner will examine this unique work, trace its extraordinary migration across America, and describe its meticulous restoration. 

In 1951 Frank Lloyd Wright and his associate Aaron Green created an office in San Francisco, with an unusual design of louvered walls, irregular spaces, and built-in furniture.  Following Wright’s death and Green’s use of the office for many years, it was dismantled and began a cross-country odyssey––to Ann Arbor, Michigan; then Pittsburgh, where it was exhibited for several years in the Carnegie Museum; then Buffalo; and finally Erie, where it has recently been reconstructed at the Hagen History Center and is accessible to the public.  The talk will examine this unique work by Wright, explain how he and Green used it, trace its extraordinary migration across America, and describe its meticulous restoration.