February
11, 2005 - Frank Lloyd Wright's Yodoko Guest House
Frank Lloyd Wright was a known Japanofile, owned a legendary collection of Japanese prints and has designed a handful of buildings in Japan. Rumor has it that Wright once spent a lengthy spell in Japan to escape some problems stemming from an affair he had with the wife of a wealthy client...
The Yodoko Guest House is high on a hill in a wealthy part of Kobe. It was my first visit to a Wright building and I was impressed...
Impressed primarily by the wealth it would take to create such a house. The entire house was incrusted with intricately carved stone bricks, the woodwork was immaculate - every inch reeked of painstaking labor. The construction cost must have been staggering. I have been exposed to very few private dwellings that were more opulent.
I liked the massing of the house more than anything. It was deceivingly large and mazelike, but managed to hide its bulk on the exterior by staggering levels as it gracefully walked up the hill.
Asai, me, Diana, and Yuriko (dig the slippers)
Facade right of the main entry.
Massive stone Hearth.
Lighting in the fourth floor dinning room.
Detail of how the lights hang from a nook with a small window …
Fourth floor dining room.
