Status Update

Here are my latest renderings. I got a lot done over New Year's but I've been spending plenty of time correcting things as well. I decided that the front and side entrances were too narrow and increased themy by half a brick on each side. This was to make the sculpted panels at the front fit properly between the brick piers. I also decided to move the urn located on the knee wall insde the front entrance. Kruty shows that the wall was built as a simple L angle, but if you look closely at the Wendingen plan, you can see that it looks like the wall is actually a T shape. I debated on how to show it, but since this is an 'ideal' Midway Gardens, I decided to make the change. In my opinion it looks much nicer, giving the urn it's own space and also giving the plants more light.


Before


After

Something I am not at all sure about is the staircase up to the top of the Belvedere. Kruty mentions that it was very narrow (and I made it a claustrophobic 2'-6") but I have no idea what it looked like at the bottom or the top. Making it as simple as possible seemed like the best idea, so it's pretty bland, but does break up the wall a little bit. At the top, I wasn't sure how close to the balcony railing to bring the wall surrounding the stair opening. It ends up being frustratingly close to the edge. I'd prefer it to either intersect the railing or at least have enough room to shuffle between the two. There is neither. Then again, I am reminded of two instances I've encountered with older buildings where clearance wasn't a priority. If you have ever climbed to the top of Brunelleschi's dome in Florence, you know that the balcony around the drum of the dome is so narrow you almost have to shuffle sideways. And the same is true if you've even been to the balcony atop Biltmore's main tower. Wright wasn't all that concerned with head clearance, so why should he care about the ability to manoever around tight spaces? Even though it is unfinished, the top of the Belvedere looks like it will be very cramped indeed, and though the designer in me may not like it, that doesn't mean it wasn't actually built that way.