Discoveries

Creating this model has been a learning experience for me, both about Frank Lloyd Wright and Sketchup. I haven't made much visual progress since my last post because I've been figuring things out about each of them.

There are a few things I've realized about Midway Gardens. One of them is the efficiency of the layout. Even though it is a vast, sprawling building, getting someone their hot food efficiently would have been no problem. If you look at the plan (and I'm sorry that you can't view the Wendingen on this blog, but I think it's still under copyright and I'm kind of fanatical about that) you will find several boxes with an X drawn through them. Most of these are within walls and I'm pretty sure these were dumbwaiters. They are all in pairs and can be found near the Belvederes and within the Winter Garden. Food for the outdoors would be brought in from a series of ramps that led to subterrenean kitchens. It looks like you'd get your food hot at Midway Gardens.

Another neat detail I noticed is that the second floor railing on one side of the perimeter Arcades is taller than the other. I couldn't figure out why it was drawn this way on the sections and elevations (consistently, too) but after examining some of the photos, I realized that each railing ended in a different location and connected to a different element. Who would ever think to do such a thing? It's subtleties like this that make the building, and this process, fascinating for me.

As for Sketchup, I had been very worried that my computer was going to get to a point where it could no longer handle processing the model. Doing a little internet research was truly enlightening and I spent a good chunk of the weekend putting everything in components (all the stuff that wasn't already one, that is) and putting everything on a layer. One article I read referred to people 'graduating' to layers, and that's what it feels like-what a difference! But doing this has only made me realize how lacking my Sketchup skills are and what a newbie I am. But as I said, this is a learning experience.

Once I've made some more visual progress, I'll post more pictures.