Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater is stunning to tour, tough to live in

[Retrograde]

4. That's my general impression of Wright buildings

and why I think he is not a good architect: architects design buildings for people to use, Wright designed memorials to himself (what's that, Mr. Gehry?)

There are two Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the Buffalo area. I've toured on, Greycliffe, built as a summer home on the shore of Lake Erie for a local executive. Looks nice, great grounds and view of lake - but the windows are single-glazed and uninsulated in the snow belt, making it impractical for all-year use. There's an imposing fireplace made of local shale, a rock that contains a lot of moisture and thus has a tendency to explode when heated. According to the guide, after the first time dinner guests were hit with shrapnel they stopped using it. And the roof leaks.

The other one is the Darwin House, built for the same executive. His wife hated it, found it unlivable, and sold it as soon as she could after his death. It finally re-opened after a couple of decades of restoration. I can't comment on Wright's Larkin Building, which was razed shortly before I was born (I swear I had nothing to do with it!).