Mahony Griffin: Unsung Genius

Ireland could own under-construction skyscraper

(NEWSER) - It's supposed to be one of America's iconic skyscrapers, but Chicago's problem-plagued Spire is a step closer to being Irish-owned today after a lender filed to take possession of the under-construction project, the AP reports. Anglo Irish Bank has filed a $77 million foreclosure lawsuit against Irish developer Garrett Kelleher, claiming default on loans that matured a year ago. More»

It's on list of endangered landmarks

(NEWSER) - The suburban Chicago house where Cameron killed his dad's Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on a list of endangered Illinois landmarks, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Highland Park home is on the market for $2.3 million and is at risk of being torn down. The preservation group Landmarks Illinois says it hopes a public outcry will save the house. More»

(NEWSER) - A fixer-upper is on the market in Los Angeles, but it will still set you back $15 million. Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House, which he built in 1924 and nicknamed the "temple on the hill," is for sale, reports NPR. The architectural gem boasts magnificent views of the city and an impressive Hollywood resume, with guest spots in movies such as Day of the Locust and Blade Runner. The drawback is that heavy rains a few years ago left their mark on its concrete-block exterior. More»

(NEWSER) - Architectural photographer Julius Shulman has died at the age of 98, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a career spanning two-thirds of the 20th century, Shulman became the premier photographer of modernist architecture and worked with the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen. But his most famous shot is a photo of Pierre Koenig's Case Study House #22 in LA, which one critic called “one of those singular images that sum up an entire city at a moment in time.” More»

The models are great, but Wright show disappoints

(NEWSER) - Fifty years after the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, historians and critics are still fighting over the legacy of an architect called in turns a genius and a megalomaniac. Now, a new exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York—one of Wright's last buildings—offers an anniversary retrospective of his career. For New York Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, the show is a disappointment: While it contains beautiful drawings and models, it "offers no new insight into his life’s work." More»