Johnson Wax Building, Racine, Wisconsin


Related person
Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
Date
1936-1939 (creation);1944-1950 (Johnson Wax Research Tower added)
Location
North and Central America->United States->Wisconsin->Racine
Description
The Johnson Wax Headquarters were set in an industrial zone and Wright decided to create a sealed environment lit from above, as he had done with the Larkin Administration Building. The building features Wright's interpretation of the streamlined Art Moderne style popular in the 1930s. In a break with Wright's earlier Prairie School structures, the building features many curvilinear forms and subsequently required over 200 different curved "Cherokee red" bricks to create the sweeping curves of the interior and exterior. The mortar between the bricks is raked in traditional Wright-style to accentuate the horizontal of the building. The warm, reddish hue of the bricks was used in the polished concrete floor slab as well; the white stone trim and white dendriform columns create a subtle yet striking contrast. All of the furniture, manufactured by Steelcase, was designed for the building by Wright and it mirrored many of the building's unique design features. Submitted by Jacqueline Gargus for ARCH 602.
Style/Period
1930s (1930 - 1939)
Modern
Material
brickwork
glass