07/23 | Frank Lloyd Wright - Johnson Wax Administrative Building

Architecture Documentary - 23 Episodes
-Very Rare series, that I couldn't find anywhere else, so I've decided to share.

[@brentdobson5264]

Toured this building sometime arround 68-9 . It made sense to me because it was special and creative in every detai . I especially recall the tower's elevator as an incredibly satisfying experience ....it was just so beautiful . Something about the building restored faith in life and what it can be when art transcends ugliness with an utterly eloquent protest ❤ .

[@billolsen4360]

Those columns look like a human reaching with arms spread upwards toward heaven, praising God.

[@sandimagle3085]

Having grown up in Racine, I have been in this building many times. Also, Wingspread which is another example of Wright's genius on display a few miles north. This documentary is so beautifully shot and informative that it almost takes your breath away, just as the building itself does in person. Excellent in every way!

[@letsif]

Thank goodness for intelligent clients. They did the Wright thing.

[@csxlab]

hahaha :D

[@kennethsouthard6042]

While the building is definitely an architectural marvel and treasure, it hardly seems efficient or safe, and only housing 200 workers. Most notably the tower which only was able to be used for 30 years due the single elevator and small staircase.

[@nandagopalm4478]

Good one LOL!

[@FODteam]

@@kennethsouthard6042 safe? Yes? Efficient? No. Absolutely awesome? Yes. Kick rocks.

[@nilo70]

I will forgive you for that

[@Collateralcoffee]

Thank goodness for people who keep this legacy, know what it is they have, and care for it. Thank you Johnson Wax!

[@blingbling574]

Antifa will tear this down in five and a half seconds unless they get $5,000,000 per-second starting now.

[@mvg2x34]

I’m just a regular person. Never went to architecture school but I love architecture and buildings. I find many of Wrights houses and the SC Johnson building and the Price tower beautiful. If I were an architect and tried to do stuff like this, I’d probably be poor because all we build in America now are McDonalds, Wendys, Chick Fil A, Dollar Store strip malls, big warehouses and squares. I’m surprised they even need architects for those.

[@craigcorson3036]

I have lived in Racine since 1998, so of course I have seen the building many times. Until today, though, it has been only from the outside. Quite nice to finally see some of the inside. Perhaps one day, I will take the tour.

[@concretecat]

You should! Yolo

[@GH-oi2jf]

I visited once. I just walked onto the grounds and looked around. Nobody questioned me. I suppose they get a lot of that. It’s a beautiful place.

[@davethompson3140]

They probably figure if you take the time to find the entrance, you deserve to look at the building. I’d want to see the entire building; one doesn’t look at only half of The Mona Lisa, do they?

[@james1787]

What an architectural showpiece!

[@carolejameson9261]

Racine is my hometown. I remember going there on a warm summer night with visitors to show off the feat of building such a unique building. Bored by the adult’s conversations, we took off our socks and shoes, and went running through those wading pools!

[@ukestudio3002]

Grew up seeing that building since the 50’s. It left it’s mark on me as a child, seeing it, wondering who built it, what it housed, why it looked so different.. Odd to think that, that piece of architecture could and did generate a transformative process in my life. At 72 I can see that now.

[@debb8152]

Me too. I passed it every day walking to kindergarten. I think it transformed me too. I am 70 and work as a designer--it was direct influence. It was a poor, industrial neighborhood. Johnson Wax started buying up the land around it as houses became derelict.

[@firstnamesecondname5341]

If ever there was a building worthy of a sci-fi series it’s this one…. Stunning 🤩

[@billolsen4360]

Often thought of that myself. Leave it as is, you have Princess Leia's mansion and military headquarters, with a big sign embossed above the entrance, "Disney Employees Will Be Laser-Blasted On Sight"

[@chrisk8187]

Wright was also commissioned to design an expansive house for Mr. Johnson near by the shore of Lake Michigan. It has since been turned into a cultural, conference, charitable fund raising venue etc. I performed as a member of the Wisconsin College Conservatory Chorus in the glorious three story main room back in late '60s.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Wingspread?

[@richardcovell1707]

That's accurate. I grew up in Racine and visited Wingspread several times.

[@WesB1972]

A stunning timeless creation. Accolades to both Frank Lloyd Wright and Hib Johnson for creating this masterpiece.

[@largol33t1]

Timeless? LOL, it looks so out of date today. I see this and I think about the early 1970s style government buildings I frequented when growing up. I called the style Bored Government Monstrosity.

[@davethompson3140]

Although Wright was the genius in creating such a uniquely stunning “cathedral of business “, anyone who loves architecture owes their admiration to Herbert Johnson. He was the one who could see Wrights vision and took the chance of almost bankrupting his company to build it. It was a big gamble; but look what Hib’s bravery left us all to admire. His story is the one that needs to be researched for prosperity.

[@danyellerobinson5940]

If you're gonna look at Johnson, a full review of the family business practices would be most revealing indeed.

[@themamo8249]

I'm happy to watch this amazing video, it's 2020 and everything happens before I had a great time to understand what's wrong and Wright.

[@franksliwa362]

This is a stunningly beautiful beautiful building!!!

[@holly-jothompson3717]

thank you, really enjoyed watching and learning .

[@kirk4086]

Please put " Falling Waters" in Pennsylvania, on your bucket list...you will not be disappointed!

[@csxlab]

Indeed. I'm glad to raise awareness for how architecture can be thought and practice.

[@brett6626]

Neat, the collage in my home town almost has that same design with the exposed brick.

[@lamontejohn6244]

One of the legendary stories about the Johnson's Wax HQ building was that after the building was complete and the company moved is, the CEO of Johnson's called Wright to complain that the unique skylights made of glass tubes were leaking rain water on his desk. Wright's response was, "Well then, move your desk."

[@csxlab]

hahah that made me laugh so hard .. so it is true that the CEO had to have a water bucket next to his desk. I am thinking interview people and compile this stories and make a short DOC about it.. its hilarious.

[@billolsen4360]

@@csxlab If I'd been FLLW, I would have recommended potted plants beneath the leaks, but the water & melting snow to good use, Mr. Johnson! Mr Wright was ahead of the curve on this project Where skylights and side windows were concerned, though. The mastic he used between the glass tubes for the translucent ceiling and windows didn't thrive very long. Johnson Wax eventually replaced them with thick, custom-made tempered glass sheets that only looked liked glass tubes. They no longer had to have an employee inspect the "skylights" constantly and apply additional mastic with a calking gun over and over.

[@MicaRayan]

What an incredible structure. FLW is my classic idol and despite so many prominent architects around, I still go back to his books everytime. Since my forte is to build or renovate houses, I just enjoys his creations. The heights of ceiling are everything and evokes spiritualism. It is pure melody to eyes and heart!

[@victoriaelizabethwhitimaxw1613]

Frank was definitely a pioneer and must have been a time traveller

[@csxlab]

Visionair :D

[@TheStockwell]

. . . a time traveller. Because that's the only way to explain him being a genius and a creative visionary. Time travel - got it. :)

[@ivanbassoarchitetto4139]

un documentario che valorizza il genio di Frank Lloyd Wright, complimenti!!! ib

[@humashaikh1428]

Masterpiece!!

[@urielalbertosanchezm]

Masterpiece, mind blowing!

[@MarcAndre1]

I absolutely luv that at : 5:39 he created a drawing that included the Unitarian Church he designed and built, the Synagogue as well as the Marin County Civic Center are all in the same drawing.

[@sdeee3842]

What a beautiful place to work 😻

[@wayned1807]

I think it was PBS that did a multipart series on FLW that was excellent. It didn't pull any punches when it needed to be said.

[@davidhall7744]

Simply outstanding architecture, like something from a Hollywood film set 😀

[@billolsen4360]

Look at the architecture in The Ten Commandments. Especially in the evil man's house that Baca built for himself.

[@originaluddite]

I have the Frank Lloyd Wright pop-up book (yes that's a thing). It's one major omission is this amazing building.

[@Sanpedranoazul]

Love it! We need more clients like Johnson!

[@davethompson3140]

Job Johnson was as much a genius in his own “Wright” as his architect. What businessman would almost sink his company into bankruptcy to create such a work of art? Very few. His life needs a thorough investigation; he must have been an amazing man.

[@billolsen4360]

@@davethompson3140 And during the Depression years, too!

[@Nyjawonder]

Why am i continuously reminded of the starship Enterprise?

[@crusherbmx]

My elementary school was originally built in 1911 in that classical style with columns and whatnot. In 1970 that was torn down and a new "modern" building was built that looked a lot like something Frank Lloyd Wright would have done in 1911.

[@mayal-s5284]

Interesting!

[@markpfeifer1402]

Everywhere you look in that building you are surprised by something you've never seen before.

[@Nigelrathbone1]

The building that Pledge built. When I was a kid, I loved the smell of Lemon Pledge my mpm used to dust the diningroom table - huff that shiznit all day long.

[@paulafoster2607]

We were hoping for something like that on Lake Hollingsworth.

[@MilciadesAndrion]

This amazing building has famous "lily pad" columns and other innovations created by architect Frank Lloyd Right

[@GH-oi2jf]

Wright. The pattern made by the tops of those columns shows up in company logos from the 1960s.

[@HByway]

Our Architecture History Teacher

[@ronward3949]

Some good Tours, with monetary tributes could help to finance the ongoing costs, if not disturbing to the Operations of the Business.

[@ronward3949]

Aesthetics crucial, opens the mind, connectivity, Natural inspirations are human, with a key central respect to Nature.

[@modelleg]

The sad part is that so few practicing architects have learned anything from FLLW.

[@davethompson3140]

That’s what makes him such a genius; he’s a one-off.

[@klausrain111]

I think they've learned plenty, but haven't "exactly" copied.

[@elliebellie7816]

We've learned plenty from Frank Lloyd Wright. Mostly what we've learned is that nobody wants to spend the $$$ to create his vision any longer. Even the most expensive homes these days are very cheaply designed by mass production architects.

[@MilesBellas]

They learned to stop leaks?!

[@Jude74]

They learned that you need to be a way more aware of your clients needs than he was at times. His buildings were beautiful and completely not practical in many ways. He was a malignant narcissist, in addition to being a genius, think about that.

[@Bonserak23]

The narrator is the same voice actor for The BOSS in Metal Gear solid, I could never forget this voice.

[@Viewingpublic08]

1:26 'The engineers demanded a full-tale skest' - couldn't she have re-recorded that bit?!

[@oliverjackson5070]

I would love to have an apartment within this building.

[@csxlab]

Thank you for the aproval : P

[@horaciomora75]

¡ BIEN POR SUBIR ESTE INTERESANTE VIDEO !.. ADMIRACIÓN TOTAL POR FLLW, PERO RECORDEMOS QUE TAMBIÉN ERA HUMANO ... ( SUJETO A ERRORES )

[@WilliamJamesRoss]

Mr. Wright's Ninth Symphony! He proved himself Beethoven's equal! To me this building has the same kind of spiritual presence.

[@timj455]

Lost in translation @ 1:26 “a full cale stest”🤣

[@csxlab]

Indeed :) cheers

[@CheckThisOut77]

Wright used compression -> expansion in his buildings. A small area opens to a large area.

[@childrenslivesmatter3073]

Never tear that down.

[@csxlab]

Wow, that was my thought when I first discovered him. So if you like, I'll recomend you this book, it is rare, but I think it was reprinted inside another book. "Two lectures on architecture By Frank Lloyd Wright" - The Art Institue of Chicago, The Lakeside Press .. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Chicago. Excellent tips for everyone, but this was two lectures from him i the University giving recomendations to architecture students .... I think they should be basic in any architecture school.

[@kevinfahey5240]

They need to reissue Drawings of a Living Architecture-the best book on him and the most beautiful. Now it sells for $1,000!

[@Siemianowicee]

6:25 Translation from French: Give them what they want Frank, otherwise you will lose control.

[@KZ-cm9rt]

It's not control but order ...:you will lose your order.

[@arlenegojocco7518]

Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of FLW, I am just wondering that since it's open plan, doesn't distraction play into office work?

[@GeneGenieX]

Do you have the details of who made this documentary?

[@ajc5869]

An absolute masterpiece, but really I have to say the computers in there really detract from it

[@klausrain111]

Stunningly beautiful, if not exactly practical, in a conventional sense. But given time, it turned out to be perfectly practical, yes?

[@loremipsumpj3567]

They even preserved the original computers that came with the building.

[@jinglemyberries866]

i did not expect it to hold 60 tonnes, wow.

[@handariawan7]

it really great but i'm from Indonesia, how can I get subtitle in my language? please :(

[@emmarose4234]

I wanna have my birthday party at the Johnson Wax Headquarters! Too bad my birthday’s in winter...and I’m from Georgia. 🥶

[@csxlab]

Maybe because architects like many other elese stoped reading and started to live by published images in magazines. We can still learn a lot by understanding theyr philosophy.

[@raymondhutchinson7156]

I would say that most of the issues within the architecture field today can be traced back to certain modernist architects like Le Corbusier. Corbusier pressed for the idea that architects could solve any problem (truth is architecture is limited by its environment and the demands of the client). He also focused on the idea of simplifying design processes, often throwing out all previous teachings in architecture. Today many of the schools that took up architectural teaching based on Corbusier's ideas focus too much on the aesthetic beauty and expression of a design, rather than the other critical aspects of architecture , function and structure. I'm just glad I go to a school that actually focuses on all aspects (past and present ) of architecture and a good general understanding of engineering.

[@billolsen4360]

Mr Wright designed the Office Of The Future says the narrator. I wish she had been correct about that, because nothing in the office buildings I've worked in over the past 42 years has the freedom and beauty as you see in this structure. They're all boxes within boxes to trap the employee, much like old Alcatraz Penitentiary. 8-foot ceilings, cubicles. Not even the highest paid executives have it much different. Just a bigger more private box within a box.

[@germanyevenescantillana7675]

La. Genealidad de convencer con esa solucion de tubos de vidrios..es impresionante u haberla construido es ..de arqto great

[@rogerevans9666]

@24:45,, the tower is "shut down for non-conformance with safety requirements"?

[@GH-oi2jf]

Safety standards evolve.

[@davethompson3140]

I thought it was reopened after being updated.

[@ronward3949]

Wow, now natural lighting aids good long term Vision, eye strain from unnatural lighting could later plague the eye's, I find it is superior. Glass is good option for natural lighting, providing better than Fluorescent lighting, loud, unnatural, stigmatizing. Eye strain from light deprivation is a concern, I share. Great openness with Overhead Management uniting Business and Employees, working areas. The adaptations to make it an entity of itself, yet Family and Employee linked for the Hermitage. Wise to the Grand Scale, the Projects helped to impress and astound others.

[@davethompson3140]

Does the Johnson Wax Company offer tours of the building to the public?

[@thedoor5442]

yes

[@zezeandjr4110]

Publication of this video states 2011, but everything in the video (cars, computers,etc.) is late 1980s.

[@chesterplemany]

I'd say mid 90's

[@GregoryRCosta]

The narrator sounds like Susan Sarandon.

[@mayal-s5284]

I thought she sounded like Padma Lakshmi from Top Chef. 😂

[@ignacioalvarezriveroalvare4517]

Jonson como Frank Lloyd su reto aúna industria un generador de las un parada de concreto .

[@csxlab]

Do you saw the documentary? Because, it's at the beginning 0:26 ... Un film de Frédéric Compain.

[@yengsabio5315]

Is Mr. Wright self-taught or he was schooled formally? Thank you in advance!

[@jasonl8326]

the outside reminds me a little of Cloud City from star wars

[@davethompson3140]

Not Star Wars, Star Trek you troglodyte!

[@raymondsmith9063]

It is pretty, but I think that working there would play with my head after a while.

[@chrisk8187]

Then your head most likely would not be of use to a company of this concept and stature..........

[@raymondsmith9063]

@@chrisk8187 Well, I hope it is most likely they would not hire spoiled human housepets!

[@maryloumader-pipia9698]

What do they do in case of fire or to evacuate

[@raulbruno8901]

Shito

[@GH-oi2jf]

Marylou Mäder - They get out of the building. What would you do?

[@sutherlandA1]

The research tower stopped being used after 1982 because it wasn't up to code due to the narrow cramped stairwell, they needed to ad an external fire escape but it would've ruined the look

[@PiggyFuktoy]

Definitely a blood sister to the Marin Administrative Center, which is, quite possibly FLW’s Queen Creation. BTW, I was blessed to have been friends with Frank Lloyd Wright’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Wright, whilst living in SanFrancisco in the 1970-80-90’s

[@MelancoliaI]

Love this building! It's like brutalism if it didn't suck!

[@HByway]

Professor Michela lead me here, Hahaha~

[@ronsimpson7596]

Didn’t those plexiglass tube skylights leak a sieve?

[@callmeishmael7452]

Yup. Terrible water seals. Wrights primarily flaw was a disregard for the danger of water.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Yes, but they were replaced. I think they were Pyrex tubes.

[@thedoor5442]

developed before silicone caulk

[@ranlive1]

Is the tower still closed today?

[@sutherlandA1]

It's a museum now

[@rossapolis]

0:02 Wrong! Racine is only 75 miles or 120 kilometers away, not 200 kilometers away.

[@planetwisconsin9901]

That office tower is vacant it sways to much. Turn on a faucet at the top floor the water goes back and forth from the sway.

[@csxlab]

lol kinda like the millenium tower in SF, but this is only like what? 6 floors?

[@middleway5271]

It is NOT 200 kilometers from Chicago..... It's much closer.

[@tomlehr861]

Racine had many industries

[@csxlab]

hehe ... no problem ^_^

[@danf4447]

it must be a helluva traffic jam at 9 and 5 with only one entrance/ exit and it is deliberatly hidden and restricted. seems cool unless you ever worked in a large building

[@csxlab]

You realise this was built in 1939, right?

[@danf4447]

@@csxlab right. with no thought to the fact that LA or the country might......grow??

[@csxlab]

@@danf4447 Ok.

[@davidcarlin3850]

Why are the screen quotes in a different language and narration in English ????

[@csxlab]

It was taken from DVD multi-language ... original is French.

[@MilesBellas]

.....beautiful interior but it leaks?! 3D printing defines similar circular aesthetics?!

[@fabiobrestianto5465]

It looks like the TVA office from loki series

[@zelphx]

He was a first-class asshole... but his genius was mesmerizing. I was born a short distance from his other "skyscraper", Price Tower, in Bartlesville, OK. He contributed more than one project to that little town; he liked the "lay of the land". BTW... why the abrupt ending?

[@billolsen4360]

Yes, leaving his wife behind in Chicago in 1909 with no money & 5 of 6 kids to raise just to run off to Europe with his latest honey was a pretty bad reflection of Mr Wright's character. It's amazing how many of his biographers justify that as if it was a period of spiritual awakening, or other such garbage.

[@FODteam]

@@billolsen4360 call me an asshole but some things need to be done. You cant say that you have never "noped tf out" of a situation before?

[@billolsen4360]

@@FODteam Unimportant situations or those where people were just using me, yes

[@FODteam]

@@billolsen4360 sounds kind of personal dude. Im sorry someone hurt you. Im glad you made it through that experience. Been there, not fun. Keep on keepin on man.

[@davidjacobs8558]

most geniuses are assholes. like Steve Jobs, for example.

[@nobody617]

Dang, imagine the sewer treatment plant he coulda designed..

[@rudolphvaleriano1578]

FLW used high-strength concrete going as high as 9000 psi

[@csxlab]

a friend from a friend from a friend :) heh

[@RonsHere123]

hmm, Good Base For A Geodesic Dome~!!!

[@wowbagger3505]

Like most other Wright creations the designs, and I live near two others, the design was far ahead of the materials. I had a relative, also a scientist, who once told me the tower (as I recall) is so drafty they could never get the balances to work! This is not to disparage Wright. He was just way ahead of his time!

[@MrDrPaes]

16 or 60 tons?

[@romanr9977]

+MrDrPaes 60. Quite amazing.

[@broccoliliverwort4932]

She said "full tale scast" instead of "full scale test". 1:24 🤣🤣😂

[@madmanmapper]

1:24 Full tale scest.

[@dazzazulu777]

Worked there…asbestos issues throughout.

[@csxlab]

Hi, would like to know more about how your experienced this space while working there. Hope your health was not affected. Sadly Asbestos became an hard truth too late, "we first saw evidence of asbestos being used to strengthen and improve materials about 4500 years ago. Greek sources began to mention asbestos around 400 BC, discussing its useful properties such as its chemical and fire resistance. ... sadly this was even used in ladies tampons... We came only to understand the adverse effects of Asbestos around 1989" .. I was shocked to find about this.. I thought we knew earlier. Here in Portugal when it was found, many public schools, hospitals and etc, had to be decomissioned and or repaired to take asbestos out. In Netherlands when I worked there 2011-2014 .. it was a curent business still to remove asbestos from Old buildings. So it does not surprise me that something built in 1936 inevitabliiy would contain asbestos on materials. Hence today a dedicated architect will consider as well the natural influence of matter on the human body .. or simplye the effec of matter properties of architecture on matter proprerties of the human body.

[@ronward3949]

Air shafts, intakes, outtakes, afford constant oxygen rich fresh air, yet draining CO2 buildup, smells, and other impurities within the entity, a Vacuum or insightful design would stabilize and renew Air inside, which is highly desirable for health and mental state, as deprivations of stale, non flushed, breathing spaces for so many demands or should be considered refreshing versus sterile.