Midway Gardens

Last updated
The Wright-designed Midway Gardens sprites were later relocated to the Arizona Biltmore Hotel Arizona Biltmore - Wright sprite 3.JPG
The Wright-designed Midway Gardens sprites were later relocated to the Arizona Biltmore Hotel

Midway Gardens (opened in 1914, demolished in 1929) was a 360,000 square feet [1] indoor/outdoor entertainment facility in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. It was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who also collaborated with sculptors Richard Bock and Alfonso Iannelli on the famous "sprite" sculptures decorating the facility. Designed to be a European–style concert garden with space for year-round dining, drinking, and performances, Midway Gardens hosted popular performers and entertainers but struggled financially and the structure was torn down in October 1929.

Contents

History

Midway Gardens was opened on the site of the former Sans Souci amusement park on the southwest corner of Cottage Grove Avenue and East 60th Street. Edward C. Waller Jr. commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design and build the Gardens in 1914 (Waller's father, Edward Waller Sr., had commissioned an apartment building from Wright, the Waller Apartments). Construction was completed very quickly, [2] and the Gardens opened in June, 1914. [3]

Although at first business was strong, Waller never had enough funds to back the construction and upkeep of Midway Gardens and declared bankruptcy in March 1916. [4] At this point, Midway Gardens was purchased by the Schoenhofen Brewing Company and renamed "Edelweiss Gardens" (after the brewery's main beer brand). Wright, who generally exerted strong creative control over his completed projects, was disgusted by the aesthetic changes the new owner made to the Gardens. He wrote that Edelweiss had added "obnoxious features" and that the whole effect of "the proud Midway Gardens" "was cheapened to suit a hearty bourgeois taste". [5] Edelweiss Gardens continued through the war years (closing briefly in 1918) and stayed open as a dry establishment during Prohibition. [4] In 1921, the building was sold once more, to the E. C. Dietrich Midway Automobile Tire and Supply Company, and renamed "The Midway Dancing Gardens". [6]

Finally, in October 1929, Midway Gardens was closed permanently and demolished. A testament to Wright's design, the building was so solidly constructed that tearing it down sent the wrecking company into bankruptcy. [7]

Features and entertainment

Midway Gardens was an indoor/outdoor entertainment center intended to act as a beer hall and concert/dance hall which featured bands including the Midway Gardens Orchestra. The large area (equivalent to a city block) offered entertainment to a wide variety of people in a German-style meeting place. The Gardens included restaurants, saloons, newspaper and cigar stands, and arcades. When Prohibition was passed, the Gardens lost part of their entertainment value.

When it opened, Midway Gardens was an upscale entertainment venue that was also affordable to the common person. Max Bendix and the National Symphony Orchestra frequented the concert section because they were the "house band". The ballet dancer Anna Pavlova performed numerous times as well. Frank Lloyd Wright brought in popular acts to sing, dance, and play music, which created a bourgeois environment. After it became Edelweiss Gardens, however, the high class atmosphere switched to one of vaudeville, ragtime, and cabaret. In the early 1920s, a young clarinetist Benny Goodman played in the house band. [4]

Design

The modernist architecture of the Gardens was based on strict geometrical forms. [2] A large, open–air central area, filled with tables and chairs, was ringed by a series of three–story buildings with indoor spaces for dancing and other activities, as well as cantilevered balconies with overhanging roofs. [4] [6] There were terraced gardens, pools, and a music pavilion and stage.

The building itself was made of yellow brick and patterned concrete block. It featured highly intricate ornament and many geometric sculptures, which Frank Lloyd Wright named "sprites" and were co-designed with Alfonso Ianelli. Some of these sculptures escaped demolition and can be found elsewhere. [8] In keeping with Wright's style, the building also featured rows of art glass and hidden entries. The interior was likewise intricately ornamented and filled with Wright-designed furniture and accoutrements, right down to the napkin rings. [6] [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lloyd Wright</span> American architect (1867–1959)

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing architects worldwide through his works and hundreds of apprentices in his Taliesin Fellowship. Wright believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Sullivan</span> American architect

Louis Henry Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism." He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School. Along with Wright and Henry Hobson Richardson, Sullivan is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture." The phrase "form follows function" is attributed to him, although the idea was theorised by Viollet le Duc who considered that structure and function in architecture should be the sole determinants of form. In 1944, Sullivan was the second architect to posthumously receive the AIA Gold Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona Biltmore Hotel</span> Historic hotel

The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is a resort located in Phoenix near 24th Street and Camelback Road. Designed by Albert Chase McArthur, it opened on February 23, 1929 as part of the Biltmore Hotel chain. Actors Clark Gable and Carole Lombard often stayed there and the Tequila sunrise cocktail was invented there. It later became part of Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lloyd Wright</span> American architect

John Lloyd Wright was an American architect and toy inventor. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Wright was the second-oldest son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. John Lloyd Wright became estranged from his father in 1909 and subsequently left his home to join his brother on the West Coast. After unsuccessfully working a series of jobs, he decided to take up the profession of his father in 1912. Shortly afterward, he was able to reconnect with his father, who took John under his wing. Differences in opinion regarding the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo caused the pair to again become disunited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandstand</span> Structure designed to accommodate bands during concerts

A bandstand is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamental focal point and also serves acoustic requirements while providing shelter for the changeable weather, if outdoors. In form bandstands resemble ornamental European garden gazebos modeled on outdoor open-sided pavilions found in Asian countries from early times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taliesin (studio)</span> Studio and home of Frank Lloyd Wright in Spring Green, Wisconsin

Taliesin, sometimes known as Taliesin East, Taliesin Spring Green, or Taliesin North after 1937, is a historic property located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of the village of Spring Green, Wisconsin, United States. It was the estate of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and an extended exemplar of the Prairie School of architecture. The expansive house-studio set on the brow of a ridge was begun in 1911; the 600-acre (240 ha) property was developed on land that previously belonged to Wright's maternal family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwin D. Martin House</span> American historic house in New York (1905)

The Darwin D. Martin House Complex is a historic house museum in Buffalo, New York. The property's buildings were designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905. The house is considered to be one of the most important projects from Wright's Prairie School era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie School</span> Architectural style

Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamah Borthwick</span> American translator (born 1869–1914)

Martha Bouton "Mamah" Borthwick was an American translator who had a romantic relationship with architect Frank Lloyd Wright, which ended when she was murdered. She and Wright were instrumental in bringing the ideas and writings of Swedish feminist Ellen Key to American audiences. Wright built his famous settlement called Taliesin in Wisconsin for her, in part, to shield her from aggressive reporters and the negative public sentiment surrounding their non-married status. Both had left their spouses and children in 1909 in order to live together and were the subject of relentless public censure. In 1914, a disturbed member of the staff at Taliesin suddenly went on a murder-suicide spree at the estate killing Borthwick, two of her children and others. Wright was away at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Pritzker Pavilion</span> Bandshell in Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. The pavilion was named after Jay Pritzker, whose family is known for owning Hyatt Hotels. The building was designed by architect Frank Gehry, who accepted the design commission in April 1999; the pavilion was constructed between June 1999 and July 2004, opening officially on July 16, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E-Z Polish Factory</span>

The E-Z Polish Factory is the only factory building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is located in Chicago, Illinois, United States at 3005 West Carroll Avenue. The E-Z Polish Company made polish for shoes and stoves. The building now serves as practice space for local bands and artists.

Richard W. Bock was an American sculptor and associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graycliff</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Graycliff estate was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1926, and built between 1926 and 1931. It is approximately 17 miles southwest of downtown Buffalo, New York, at 6472 Old Lake Shore Road in the hamlet of Highland-on-the-Lake, with a mailing address of Derby. Situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie with sweeping views of downtown Buffalo and the Ontario shore, it is one of the most ambitious and extensive summer estates Wright designed. It is now fully restored and operates as a historic house museum, open for guided tours year round. There is also a summer Market at Graycliff, free and open to the public on select Thursday evenings. Graycliff Conservancy is run by Executive Director Anna Kaplan, who was hired in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan G. Moore House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Nathan G. Moore House, also known as the Moore-Dugal Residence, is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was built one block south of Wright's home and studio at 333 Forest Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. It was originally completed in 1895 in the Tudor Revival style at the request of client Nathan Moore. Wright obliged his client's wishes, but long after disliked the house for its adherence to historical styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. A. Foster House and Stable</span>

The Foster House and Stable is a Japanese-influenced house at 12147 South Harvard Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The house was designed in 1900 by Frank Lloyd Wright as a summer home for Stephen A. Foster, an attorney who worked for real estate developer who helped to build this part of the West Pullman neighborhood. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 9, 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madlener House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Madlener House, also known as the Albert F. Madlener House, is a 20th-century mansion located in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is the work of architect Richard E. Schmidt (1865-1958) and designer Hugh M.G. Garden (1873-1961). Commissioned in 1901 and completed in 1902, the house was built as the residence for Albert Fridolin Madlener, a German-American brewery owner, and his wife, Elsa Seipp Madlener. Since 1963, it has been the headquarters of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. In 1970, The Madlener House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1973, it came under the protection of a Chicago ordinance protecting the city's historical and architectural landmarks. The house was fully remodeled and renovated by architect Daniel Brenner (1917-1977) in 1963–64.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waller Apartments</span>

The Edward C. Waller Apartments are located from 2840 to 2858 W. Walnut Street in Chicago, Illinois. They were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1895 and named after Edward C. Waller, a prominent Chicago developer after the 1871 fire. Waller and Wright collaborated on the Waller apartments and the Francisco Terrace apartments to execute Waller's pioneering idea of subsidizing lower income housing. Each apartment was designed with a parlor, chamber (bedroom), dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and closets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso Iannelli</span> American sculptor

Alfonso Iannelli was an Italian-American sculptor, artist, and industrial designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Bendix</span> American concert violinist and conductor

Max Bendix was an American concert violinist, conductor, and teacher. He was the first concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was also the concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. Bendix wrote several works for orchestra and some incidental music as well as songs. In 1899, the Musical Courier called Bendix "the finest American violinist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midway Barn</span> United States historic place

Midway Barn was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright for farming on his Taliesin estate in the town of Wyoming, Wisconsin. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

References

  1. "✅ Midway Gardens - Data, Photos & Plans". Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  2. 1 2 Cashman, Sean Dennis (1988). America in the Age of the Titans: The Progressive Era and World War I, pp. 367-68. New York University Press.
  3. Sengstock, Charles A. (2004). That Toddlin' Town: Chicago's White Dance Bands and Orchestras, 1900-1950, pp. 56-58. University of Illinois Press.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Sebesta, Judith A. "Spectacular Failure: Frank Lloyd Wright's Midway Gardens and Chicago Entertainment." Theatre Journal, Vol. 53, No. 2, May 2001, pp. 304–07.
  5. Wright, Frank Lloyd (1943) (2005 ed.) An Autobiography, p. 191. Pomegranate Communications, Inc.
  6. 1 2 3 "Frank Lloyd Wright". Archived from the original on 2011-04-03. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  7. Gill, Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright, p. 228.
  8. "Frank Lloyd Wright Statues Adorn Phoenix Resort". about.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2018.

41°47′07″N87°36′24″W / 41.7853411°N 87.6067936°W / 41.7853411; -87.6067936