Making carpets for a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Rye City, New York by Groundplans, Ltd.

Article source: Groundplans, Ltd.

For the past 10 years I had the honor of working for the family in Rye, NY that owns a Frank Lloyd Wright house. It is through their architect, Emanuela Magnusson of EFM Design that I have had this privilege.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

• Architects: Groundplans, Ltd.
• Project: Making carpets for a Frank Lloyd Wright house
• Location: Rye City, New York, US
• Software used: Illustrator

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Walking into a Frank Lloyd Wright house is like no other. Frank Lloyd Wright, considered one the greatest 20thCentury architects, had his own formula for keeping us engaged within his space. I noticed when working on this house in Rye that he designed for Max Hoffman – the first importer of Mercedes in the United States. (His showroom on the corner of 56 St and Park Ave got destroyed right after the owners were contacted that it was being considered for landmark status. The showroom’s car ramp, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, was his mini precursor to the Guggenheim ramp.)

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Back to Rye…Mr. Wright made the entryway ceiling height low and the walkway narrow; bordering on dark and claustrophobic. This made it all the more surprising when we emerge into a light filled space opening up to a double hight ceiling living room. Augmenting the opposite makes a dramatic impact.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

A note about the living room carpet. Before Frank Lloyd Wright delivered his furniture and carpet to the new house, he had a falling out with Mr. Hoffman. Therefore the furniture for this house went to another house he was building in the Mid-West.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

In the 1990’s EFM design took inspiration from FLW’s rendering of the carpet he made for the living room (shown) by both simplifying it and augmenting it. Groundplans was called in to make the carpet the second time after the first fabricators did not do a good job. We engineered the design to work with the space so it would last for many years.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Image Courtesy © Groundplans, Ltd.

Tags: New York, US

Categories: House, Illustrator

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