Frank Lloyd Wright: Designs for an American Landscape, 1922-1932
Gordon Strong Automobile Objective

Issues of mobility and landscape became paramount in Wright's concept for the Gordon Strong Automobile Objective. It was his first project to explore circular geometries as a means of fully shaping architectural space, and he acknowledged difficulties in depicting its complex forms. The result was a design without exact parallel.

Gordon Strong (1869-1954) was a Chicago businessman of considerable wealth. During travels in 1902 he became captivated by Sugarloaf Mountain, a solitary outcrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the feel of wilderness in the midst of a cultivated landscape, and he began to acquire land that comprised both the mountain itself and its undeveloped setting.

During the summer of 1924 he met with Wright to discuss possible schemes for its development, and by September of that year had fixed upon an ambitious program. As he explained to Wright, he wanted to erect "a structure on the summit of Sugar Loaf Mountain" that would "serve as an objective for short motor trips," primarily from Washington and Baltimore, both nearby.

Strong said he wanted a building that would enhance the enjoyment of views from the mountain top, and he specified that "the element of thrill, as well as the element of beauty" were both to be part of the experience. He further stipulated that its appearance be "striking, impressive, . . . enduring, so that the structure will constitute a permanent and credible monument."

Wright conceived the building as a grand spiral that would be the terminus of the roadway itself, placed so it appeared to complete the shape of the mountain which he saw as a seated lion. He later described it as "the natural snail-crown of the great couchant lion ... grown up from his mountain head, the very quality of its movement, rising and adapting itself to the uninterrupted movement of people sitting comfortably in their own cars in a novel circumstance with the whole landscape revolving about them, as exposed to view as though they were in an aeroplane." At first, a dance hall proposed by Strong was planned for the centre of the spiral structure, and cars were to park along a system of descending ramps. Wright's hand is apparent in these sketches.

That early kindergarten experience with the straight line; the flat plane; the square; the triangle; the circle! If I wanted more, the square modified by the triangle gave the hexagon; the circle modified by the straight line would give the octagon. Adding thickness, getting "sculpture" thereby, the square became the cube, the triangle the tetrahedron, the circle the sphere. These primary forms and figures were the secret of . . . whatever got into the architecture of the world. 1932

As he developed his proposal, Wright substituted a theatre for the dance hall of his preliminary studies. Sections indicate provisions for internal parking, but relationships between the theatre roof and the ramps rising above are uncertain. In one variation, he experimented with polygonal rather than circular shapes; in another, he suggested an elaborately profiled dome centered over the theatre.

In Wright's final scheme, developed during the summer of 1925, ambiguities of form were resolved, partly by eliminating internal parking. The spiraling roadways, cantilevered to allow full views, were no longer supported on continuous rows of columns but instead by a vast dome 150 feet in diameter. Under the dome Wright proposed a planetarium, to be surrounded by a circular gallery containing aquaria and natural-history exhibits.

Cars would circle to the top, where passengers could step out to enjoy an expansive view. In addition to a stairway contained within a strongly accented tower, two other routes of descent were provided: one, for automobiles, along a lower spiral; another, for pedestrians, along a raised walkway bordering the upper spiral.

A dazzling array of lounges and restaurants provided options for leisure activities, as did promenades linking the walkways to adjoining features of the terrain. One led to an overlook at the edge of the mountain; the other bridged a narrow chasm to a second summit. This last prospect was to be further dramatized by a constructed pool and waterfall.

As part of an unusually complete and carefully orchestrated presentation to Strong, Wright prepared a detailed set of drawings showing each level of his scheme together with elevations, sections, and perspectives.

There resides always a certain `spell power' in any geometric form, which ... is, as we say, the soul of the thing ... as for instance: the circle, infinity; the triangle, structural unity; the spire, aspiration; the spiral, organic process; the square, integrity. 1932

Although the basic concept and siting remained unchanged, several perspectives show variations of certain details; in some, for example, the stair tower is raised above the top level of the ramps; in others, the waterfall to be constructed under the bridge is eliminated. In all Wright worked with patterned openings, a critical element in all his concrete constructions of this period. In most, he indicated people ranging over the terrain, their access to be facilitated by the building he conceived.

This perspective suggests the monumentality of the scheme. The stair tower and promenades effectively moderated its circular form, serving to join it both visually and physically with the precipitous terrain. Characteristically, Wright had not shied from a difficult site, but instead structured his design to complete its natural form.

The Strong project celebrated mobility in a way no other design had, for while there was ample precedent for spiral structures, none had been conceived in just this way, nor been so fully integrated with its setting. Neither had roadways been so dramatically recognized. Strong rejected the design, feeling it inappropriate, and built a more conventional park instead. Wright, apparently captivated by the spiral, continued to develop its potential in several later projects, of which the Guggenheim Museum (1942-59) is the most well known.