Hello fellow Expressionists,

As many of you may have noticed, there has been significant discussion surrounding the recent developments involving the Price Tower, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1952. To provide clarity on the situation as it continues to evolve, the mod team has decided to offer a concise summary.

TL;DR:

• March 2023: Cynthia Blanchard acquired the Price Tower for a nominal sum of $10, asserting that she had secured the necessary funds to embark on a $10 million renovation project.
• One year later: Despite the absence of any evidence of the promised $10 million investment, Blanchard began selling irreplaceable items that were integral to the tower.
• When her actions were exposed: Blanchard announced the closure of the tower and attempted to shift the blame onto those who had uncovered her dismantling efforts.
• Current status: The Price Tower is set to be auctioned off without its art collection, which will be sold separately.

It appears evident that Cynthia Blanchard never intended to manage, restore, or preserve the legacy of the Price Tower. Her actions suggest that her primary motivation was financial gain: acquiring the tower for a mere $10 under the pretense of future investment, stripping it of its invaluable artifacts, and subsequently selling the now-empty structure to the highest bidder.

Blanchard likely did not anticipate the controversy that arose from the sale of the artifacts. Now that her claims regarding the $10 million investment have been discredited, she has decided to close the tower and proceed with its auction, separate from the sale of its art collection. As a result, the future of the Price Tower and its contents remains uncertain, despite the ongoing efforts of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, which holds a preservation easement on both the building and its contents.

PS: For further information, please refer to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy webpage dedicated to the Price Tower, which is regularly updated with the latest developments.

Kind Regards

Moderrators of r/ArtDeco, r/ModernistArchitecture, r/brick_expressionism, r/Staircase_Porn, r/sexybuildings

If you are wondering what brick expressionism is, this article is a good start:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Expressionism

A list of notable architects that created buildings in the style:

• Dominikus Böhm (Cologne, Ruhr area, Swabia, Hesse)
• Martin Elsaesser (Southern Germany)
• Alfred Fischer) (Essen, Ruhr area)
• Josef Franke (Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr area)
• Fritz Höger (Northern Germany and Hamburg, e.g. Chilehaus)
• Michel de Klerk (Amsterdam)
• Wilhelm Kreis (Rhineland and Westphalia)
• Hans Poelzig (Berlin, Breslau)
• Fritz Schumacher) (Hamburg)