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Legos Are Back, And They Are Cloning Tourist Attractions

Move over postcards and sno globes; souvenir shops of some specific major landmarks will soon be getting welcome new additions to their stock. LEGO has just announced a very neat partnership wtih an architect, whereby some famous buildings are being turned into building block sets, a la Puzz-3D. We think this is just another excuse for staycatiioners, but anything that allows us to sit the Sears Tower on our desk is good by us.

In the "Lego Architecture" line, people will be able to buy sets for building Empire State Building, Chicago's John Hancock Building and Sears Tower, and the Seattle Space Needle. Perhaps the most exciting release are the two Frank Lloyd buildings, Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum.

To further crank up your wanderlust once you've completed the structure, each box contains a book of facts, notes on its architectural significance, and points of interest in the city. Although they aren't quite yet for sale behind the glass of your local gift shop, they can be pre-ordered in sets here. Do we sense a perfect Father's Day gift from this?

Related Stories:
· New LEGO Architecture Series by Adam Reed Tucker [If It's Hip, It's Here]
· Architecture Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Images: If It's Hip, It's Here]

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The Guggenheim: Back in White

Frank Lloyd Wright’s spiraling Guggenheim Museum is one of New York’s most interesting architectural landmarks, but that hasn’t meant much to visitors over the past three years, when the museum’s aging exterior has been shrouded in a thick coat of scaffolding.

The restoration was recently completed, and the Gugg is showing off it’s shiny new façade with a site-specific installation from artist Jenny Holzer, whose work consists of giant text projected onto the side of the museum.

To celebrate even further, the museum is getting rid of the admission fee--for one day only. This Thursday, October 30, the Guggenheim will be open for free from 12pm to 8pm, with free audio tours, too.

Related Stories:
· Guggenheim Highlights Restoration with Oct. 30 Free Day [Newyorkology]
· Museums coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Guggenheim]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: The Gammage

Frank Lloyd Wright was fond of many areas of the country, but he especially loved the state of Arizona. So it's not surprising that his last commissioned work was completed in Tempe on the campus of Arizona State University. The Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium was completed in 1964, and it's still going strong today as a center for the performing arts. The building was named in honor of Dr. Grady Gammage, president of the university between 1933 and 1959.

Interestingly, the auditorium offers what it calls "continental" seating; there is no center section. Odd number seats are referred to as "house left" and even seats as "house right." If you and a friend buy seats 1 and 2, you'll be next to each other in the center of the main section; if you have seats 65 and 67, you'll still be side-by-side, just way over to the left.

Although the auditorium doesn't have any official tours, there are still plenty of chances to catch a performance. Touring Broadway productions are frequent, and this fall brings A Chorus Line and Spring Awakening. The Lion King comes to town in early 2009. That said, since it's right on campus, we bet you could rustle up a personal tour if you find a friendly janitor with some keys.

Related Stories:
· Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium [Official Site]
· ASU Gammage [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: agilitynut]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Price Tower

We wouldn't normally assign the title of skyscraper to a building that's only 19 stories tall. But when it's a tower designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, that's exactly what we'll call it. Harold Price, chairman of an industrial firm in Oklahoma, commissioned it for his corporate headquarters, and the skyscraper first opened to the public in 1956.

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Touring (and Boozing) at Graycliff

Now that upstate New York is starting to thaw out, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Graycliff Estate has announced its summer schedule. A bunch of new tours are available at the home, finished in 1929.

In Depth Tours will take you beyond the standard sights, and the Master Architectural Tour goes even deeper, as you check out details like gutters, roofs and drainage systems. (Read: You better be a serious Wright fan for these multi-hour walks.)

If you're more into just enjoying scenery, Graycliff is hosting evening wine parties on select summer Fridays. Sipping vino in the summer sun at a dope estate? Yes, please.

Related Stories:
· Graycliff Tour Schedule [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Graycliff Estate and Darwin House [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel : Oak Park Overload

Though Frank Lloyd Wright is well known for his Robie House in the Chicago suburb Oak Park, a handful of other houses and buildings in the city offer up tours to the public. And while we've mentioned the upcoming Walk Wright In tour coming up in May, somehow we feel like a weekend-long architecture extravaganza might be a bit much for some folks. Dial it down a notch with these two see-it-in-an-afternoon buildings.

Designed with Wright partner Louis H. Sullivan (who helped plan Chicago's World Fair), the Charnley-Persky Home is open to the public on Saturday at 10 am. These limited hours last until March; from April on, an afternoon tour is also available (at 1 pm). Admission gets you a 90-minute tour of the home, as well as the nearby historic landmark Madlener House. Wednesdays at noon, one-hour guided tours are offered free of charge.

Unity Temple also offers free admission to visitors willing to take a self-guided tour through the Unitarian church. For a more in-depth look at the building, docent-led tours are available Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Related Stories:
· Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation [Official site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: hibino]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Stay Overnight in Wisconsin

Frank Lloyd Wright's Midwest version of Taliesin, perhaps hampered by a colder climate, receives somewhat less attention than its west coast companion. Located near Spring Green, Taliesin Wisconsin served as the springboard for much of Wright's later designs--and it was where many of Wright's tumultuous personal problems unfurled.

In addition to Taliesin, Wisconsin also boasts other Wright-designed homes. The Bernard Schwartz House and Usonia I (the Jacobs House) are both open for overnight stays. And because tours for Taliesin Wisconsin don't begin again until May, Wright fanatics in Wisconsin don't have much of a choice: It's overnight stay or bust.

Our Guide to Schwartz House and Usonia I

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Robie House

Frank Lloyd Wright wore many hats during his career: architect, interior designer, even adulterer. Lately, tours of his various homes and buildings have offered visitors customized looks at Wright's constructions, and the Robie House has also joined the roster. (It's across town from Wright's home and studio.)

Engineering students and architecture dorks alike will jump at the chance to take in the Geek's Guide to Wright's Robie House. The specialty tour (on Jan. 26 and Feb. 26, both at 4 pm) gives visitors a look at the innovative methods Wright used in what the Wright Preservation Trust calls STEM: science, technology, engineering and math. In addition to a docent-guided tour of the house, the Geek's Guide also gives visitors the opportunity to view building plans and construction photographs.

If you're not a dork, you can satisfy your sweet tooth and learn something, too. Robie House's Decades of Decadent Desserts--apparently, Wright was also a fan of alliteration--accompanies an overview of social history from the past 100 years with popular desserts from different eras.

Neither of those doing it for you? Literature buffs can get their fill with the Wright 3 Tour, every Saturday at 1:30 pm. Visitors learn about Robie House's role in the book Wright 3. With space limited for each tour, visitors are urged to get there early or book tickets in advance.

Related Stories:
· Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wildcat Dunny]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Wright on, Chicago

Most architecture lovers find themselves in Chicago for the skyscrapers, but you can round out your tour with some of the low-slung buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright. He made his home--and his first studio--in the suburb of Oak Park from 1889 to 1909, and the building has been preserved as it was when he moved out. Tours of the residence happen every day, from 11 am-3:30 pm.

South of downtown in Hyde Park, the Robie House flanks the campus of the University of Chicago. One of the greatest embodiments of Wright's Prarie style, it was actually designed in the Oak Park studio. Finished in 1910, Robie House remains an icon of modern design, and it's open to visitors every day.

If you want to check out both sites, plus more Chicago-area Wright buildings, mark your calendar now for May 17, 2008. The yearly Wright Plus tour, offered by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, takes fans inside private homes as well as landmarks on an epic day-long housewalk.

Related Stories:
· Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

[Photo of Robie House: cerealfan]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: The Precariously Perched Mansion

High on a haunted hill, Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House just got a reprieve. In danger of crumbling completely after a 1994 earthquake and a rainy 2005, a restoration project has shored up the delapidated-but-distinctive concrete block mansion near Griffith Park.

The Ennis House has appeared in lots of movies and TV shows (Blade Runner, Predator 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to name a few), but its on-screen glamour can't conceal the fact that it suffers from the same thing plaguing the campus of Florida Southern College: Wright's avant-garde construction wasn't always time-tested. That didn't keep the architect from hyping the building in a 1924 letter to its owners, of course:

You see, the final result is going to stand on that hill a hundred years or more. Long after we are gone it will be pointed out as the Ennis House and pilgrimages will be made to it by lovers of the beautiful--from everywhere.

And while Wright's prediction turned out to be true, keep in mind that there aren't any tours or other activities happening. But if history is any guide, going to see the Ennis House now--while its still standing--might not be a bad idea.

Related Stories:
· The Ennis House Foundation [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: jplouis]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Taliesin West

While it's cool to check out the places Frank Lloyd Wright built for other people, his own home and studio is where you can really get in touch with his vision. That's why we've got to put Taliesin West on our map. (There's another Taliesin in Wisconsin, but we'd much rather visit the one in Scottsdale this time of year.)

Built out of the materials surrounding it--desert sand and rocks feature prominently--it's both a collection of useful structures and a meditation on how buildings should interact with their environment. Now a National Historic Landmark, the compound also houses the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, a movie theater, a performing arts theater, outdoor pools and gardens and an architectural school.

This time of year, two special tours are available in addition to the normal offerings. The Apprentice Shelter tour explores some of the structures students have devised and runs on Saturdays. The Holiday Night Lights tour on Fridays in December includes a twilight jaunt around the grounds as well as caroling and holiday treats.

Related Links:
· Taliesin West [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: andy54321]

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Frank Lloyd Wright Travel: Graycliff Estate and Darwin House

While Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater House keeps limited hours during the winter season, one of his lesser-known residences has added additional hours for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Graycliff Estate, located in Derby, New York, near Buffalo, was built between 1926 and 1929, and is known as a precursor in style to Fallingwater.

For $14 (and $10 for students), visitors can take one of the daily, docent-led tours through the estate or purchase a combo ticket that includes a tour through the adjacent Darwin D. Martin House, built about two decades earlier.

Extended holiday hours go into effect Friday and last throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, with December tours running from Dec. 26 through Dec. 31. Because just one tour is offered per day, the Graycliff Estate's board recommends purchasing tickets in advance. And because the two homes overlook Lake Erie, expect cold-weather lake winds and sudden changes in weather. If that's too fierce for you, there's always Lakeland.

Related Links:
· Graycliff Estate [Official Site]
· Frank Lloyd Wright coverage [Jaunted]
· Frank Lloyd Wright Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: Graycliff House]