To Be Perfectly Frank

On This Day In History
1876: Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone

Quote Of The Day
"I have a large seashell collection which I keep scattered on the beaches all over the world. Maybe you've seen it."
(Steven Wright)

I visited the Yodoko Guest House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright today. Designed in 1918 as the residence of Tazaemon Yamamura (the 8th generation brewer of Nada sake makers) and his family, the building was built in 1924 by Wright's disciples, Arata Endo and Makoto Minami. This elegant building perfectly encapsulates Wright's trademark organic architecture that blends harmoniously with its environment, and is also a harmonious blend of Eastern and Western architecture. The Yodoko Guest House clings to the side of a hill and, although it is four storeys high, no single section of the building exceeds two storeys.

Frank Lloyd Wright visited Japan many times and spent three years here during construction of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, parts of which he designed. He was an avid collector of ukiyo-e. Indeed, he was the single largest collector of ukiyo-e in the West and he frequently lent his collection to galleries and museums in Europe and America. Wright was instrumental in introducing the art form to Western audiences, particularly the works of Hiroshige.

Kiyomizu-Dera