FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT CHICAGO TO FALLINGWATER MAY 5-16, 2018 TOUR LEADER: DR MATTHEW LAING

Overview Academy Travel’s Frank Lloyd Wright from Chicago to Fallingwater tour offers a unique opportunity to view 16 buildings designed by Wright, including suburban homes, rural villas, churches and commercial offices. Inspired by nature, forward looking, varied and highly original, Wright’s architecture continues to astound us. A journey through Wright’s architecture is also a journey through modern America from the ‘Gilded Age’ of the 1890s to ‘mid-century modern’ when American architecture, design, art and literature dominated the world stage.

The tour also visits buildings by Wright’s predecessors, contemporaries and followers, including Daniel Burnham, Louis B Sullivan, Mies Van Der Rohe and Norman Forster. We begin with four nights in Chicago, a city brimming with fine architecture and fine art, and where Wright developed his Prairie style of architecture. We then travel north to Milwaukee visiting the SC Johnson Wax Administration Building, and on to Madison, Wisconsin to see some of Wright’s commercial work as well as Taliesin, his beloved estate. Our next stop is Buffalo, near Niagara Falls, to visit the Darwin Martin complex of houses. Travelling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we conclude the tour with a private in-depth tour of America’s most famous house, Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.

Accommodation is in comfortable four-star hotels, with breakfast daily and several meals at carefully chosen restaurants included.

Your tour leader Dr Matthew Laing has a PhD in American History from the Australian National University and is currently with Monash University. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the history of the United States, providing vital context for understanding the remarkable art, architecture and design of the 20th century.

For Matthew, the art and design of the USA has a global significance. “The United States has profoundly influenced modern architectural and design movements, and its echoes can be seen everywhere in Australia”, he comments. “From Walter Burley and Marion Mahoney Griffin's Chicago-school design for Canberra, to the William Levitt-style post-war surburbia in Melbourne, to the Frank Gehry building at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia owes much to American design ideas.”

On tour, Matthew particularly likes to point out the link between history, society and the visual arts. “Architecture and design are built expressions of historical ideas. The cutting-edge designs of today become the tangible representations of our history and thoughts.”

Refuel Continuing Professional Development Provider Academy Travel are recognised Australian Institute of Architects Refuel providers of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This tour provides a tour participant with 10.0 Informal CPD points – AACA Competency: Design. Members of the Australian Institute of Architects are recommended to complete 20 hours of CPD per annum, of which a minimum of 10 hours must be formal CPD.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT CHICAGO TO FALLINGWATER

Tour dates: May 5-16, 2018

Tour leader: Dr Matthew Laing

Tour Price: $8,970 per person, twin share

Single Supplement: $1,640 for sole use of double room

Booking deposit: $500 per person

Recommended airline: Qantas

Maximum places: 20

Itinerary: Chicago (4 nights), Milwaukee (1 night), Madison (2 nights), Buffalo (2 nights), Pittsburgh (2 nights)

Date published: June 7, 2017

Enquiries and bookings

For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Jemma York at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email jemma@academytravel.com.au

Tour Highlights

FALLINGWATER The ultimate expression of organic architecture, we enjoy an in-depth tour of Wright’s most famous design, Fallingwater, the magnificent home built for the Kaufmann family on top of a waterfall. This “weekender” reignited Wright’s career after a decade of no major commissions and within twelve months he was on the cover of Time magazine and had became the first “starchitect”. The American Institute of Architects describes Fallingwater as the “best all-time work of American architecture”

JOHNSON WAX BUILDING Commissioned by Herbert F Johnson as a beacon of modernity for the administration of his floor wax company, Wright designed such a unique office space that Philip Johnson described it as “the most beautiful room in America”. With its lily pad columns and glass tube ceiling, the building is still used today, as it was designed, even using the same design of desks and chairs. We also visit the recently restored Research Tower that Wright designed as well as the Norman Foster designed Fortaleza Hall.

TALIESIN We experience a full estate tour of Wright’s home for 30 years that was the site of many of the dramas in his life and the inspiration for many of his masterpieces. Comprising several buildings and farms set over 240 hectares, Taliesin still encompasses Wright’s vision of a self sufficient community of architects. From the Romeo and Juliet Windmill to his home and studio, which was rebuilt twice after tragedy and fire, Taliesin provides an intimate insight into his colourful life.

ROBIE HOUSE On our final night in Chicago we enjoy a private cocktail reception inside Robie House where we can wander through the house just as Frederick C. Robie did in 1909. It is considered to be the ultimate expression of Wright’s Prairie Style architecture and was his last major project before escaping to Europe with his mistress, Mamah Cheney. Typical of Wright's Prairie houses, he designed not only the house, but all of the interiors, the windows, lighting, rugs, furniture and textiles.

NIAGARA FALLS Considered one of the Wonders of the Natural World, Niagara Falls straddles the border between the United States and Canada and comprises three separate falls which combined have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world. We enjoy a relaxing afternoon wandering through the recently restored National Park and marvel as Lake Erie empties into Lake Ontario.

Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D.

Saturday May 5 arrive

Arrive in Chicago and meet your tour leader and fellow travellers for a welcome drink. Overnight Chicago

Sunday May 6 Downtown Chicago

The Great Fire of 1871 destroyed the entire Chicago CBD, leaving the way open for architects to design a new and modern city. The first steel-framed high rise building rose in 1885 and the skyline today is densely packed with skyscrapers, many by renowned architects. Our walking tour this morning takes us past some of the city’s most iconic buildings. We visit the lobby of the Rookery Building, the masterpiece of Daniel Burnham and remodelled by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905. In the afternoon we take the Chicago Architectural Foundation river cruise to gain an overview of the city’s historic and modern architectural styles. Tonight we have dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Chicago (B, D)

Monday May 7 Frank Lloyd Wright – the early years & Farnsworth House

Today we take a private coach tour of Oak Park. This Chicago suburb is where Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked and where much of his early work can still be found. We have an interior tour of Wright’s home and studio, which Wright used as his architecture laboratory for his early designs. We then view the numerous examples of Prairie Style architecture in the surrounding neighbourhood. In the afternoon, we drive west to Plano to visit Farnsworth House, the masterpiece of Modernist residential architecture by Mies van der Rohe, set in a beautiful landscape beside the Fox River. Overnight Chicago (B)

Tuesday May 8 Chicago art and architecture

We begin our day with a walk through Millennium Park. Originally occupied by railyards and parking lots, the area was redeveloped into a public space featuring an outdoor concert venue, gardens, restaurants and some spectacular art installations. From here we make our way to the highly-regarded Art Institute of Chicago, boasting a fine collection of both European and American painting and over 60 ‘decorated rooms’ – accurately reconstructed furnished interiors from a broad range of times and places. After a private guided tour, there is time to explore the collection independently and a break for lunch. In the afternoon we travel by coach for a private interior visit and cocktail reception in Robie House, perhaps the fullest expression of Wright’s Prairie Style in Chicago. Our trip takes us through the ‘White City’ – the site of the 1893 World’s Fair. Overnight Chicago (B)

Above: Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, reflecting and distorting the city's skyline in Millennium Park

Below: Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Oak Park; and American Gothic by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago

Wednesday May 9 SC Johnson Complex

We farewell Chicago and travel north to Racine, Wisconsin to visit the SC Johnson Wax Administration Building and Research Tower, a landmark in commercial office architecture. Subject to availability, we will also tour Wingspread, the expansive low lying home designed for Herbert Johnson, one of Wright’s great patrons. We continue onto Milwaukee to visit the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Wright’s modernist interpretation of Byzantine architecture. Overnight Milwaukee (B)

Thursday May 10 Milwaukee

This morning we visit the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Prairie School Archives and later tour one of Wright’s American System-Built homes. We then travel west for a private visit to Jacobs House I, considered the first ‘Usonian’ home, part of Wright’s ideal of a new world architecture free. We arrive in Madison, Wisconsin, our base for two nights and enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Madison (B, D)

Friday May 11 Taliesin

This remote site in rural Wisconsin was the architect’s home from 1911, and is of central importance to understanding Wright. Taliesin was twice burned down and rebuilt. It was also the scene of the horrific 1914 axe murder of Wright’s lover, her children and several employees. A complex of buildings, combining Prairie Style and oriental influences, it was here that Wright designed Fallingwater, the Guggenheim Museum and other key works. We tour the house, the grounds and the studio, today an important training centre for emerging American architects. In the afternoon we visit the Unitarian Meeting House, designed by Wright and recognised as one of the most innovative examples of church architecture followed by a visit to the Monona Terrace Convention Center, designed by Wright but only constructed in 1997. Tonight is a free evening. Overnight Madison (B)

Saturday May 12 Upstate New York

This morning we take a flight from Madison to Buffalo, New York. Located on the shores of Lake Erie, Buffalo rose to prominence in the early 19th century, when the Erie Canal was completed, connecting Chicago and the Mid-West with the Hudson River, New York and the world beyond. After New York City, Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state. It has many significant buildings, including Louis B Sullivan’s Garanty Building and Daniel Burnham’s Ellicott Square building. This afternoon we tour some of these sites and dine in a local restaurant. Overnight Buffalo (B, D)

Above: looking up to the chimney seeper and ceiling in Wingspread, also known as the Herbert F. Johnson House; and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Wright’s modernist interpretation of Byzantine architecture

Below: Taliesin – Wright’s home for 30 years

Sunday May 13 Wright in BUFFALo, Niagara Falls

Between 1903 and 1908 Frank Lloyd Wright built a number of fine examples of his Prairie Style houses in Buffalo, and we survey these today, and visit the Darwin D. Martin House. Most of the houses were built for executives of the Larkin Soap Factory and are located in the Parkside East Historic District, a neighbourhood laid out by renowned American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1876 (Olmstead is also largely responsible for New York’s Central Park). This afternoon we relax at Niagara Falls, one of America’s foremost natural wonders. Overnight Buffalo (B)

Monday May 14 Pittsburgh

We travel along the shores of Lake Erie to visit Graycliff, the summer home built by Wright for Darwin Martin, which is undergoing extensive renovation. We continue onto Pittsburgh this morning, a city whose name is synonymous with the coal and steel industry. The city’s wealth contributed to its rich cultural heritage and few patrons were as generous as Andrew Carnegie, a Pittsburgh-based industrialist who made his fortune out of steel and endowed many of the city’s cultural institutions. Overnight Pittsburgh (B)

Tuesday May 15 Private tour of fallingwater

We depart Pittsburgh early today and make our way to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater where we enjoy a private interior tour of the house. Completed in 1939, its dramatic setting over a river and revolutionary modernist architecture made the house instantly famous. Built for the wealthy Kaufmann family, who made their fortune in retail, Fallingwater was a private retreat until the early 1960’s, when the house and several hundred acres of land around it were entrusted to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. We also visit nearby Kentuck Knob, a private house built for the Hagen family in 1954 and a good example of Wright’s later style. The current owner, Lord Palumbo, has also installed an impressive contemporary sculpture garden on the property. We return to Pittsburgh this evening for dinner in the Terrace Room restaurant. Overnight Pittsburgh (B, D)

Wednesday May 16 Warhol and farewell

Before departing Pittsburgh today we visit the Andy Warhol Museum. The sometimes controversial artist was a Pittsburgh native, and the recently-opened museum contains a broad sampling of his oeuvre. We then head to Pittsburgh airport where our tour ends allowing for convenient flight connections home to Australia. (B)

Images left: The Unitarian Meeting House, recognised as one of the most innovative examples of church architecture; looking across Niagara Falls; and the cantilevers, with their strong horizontal and vertical lines, are a distinctive feature of Fallingwater

Hotels Hotels have been selected principally for their central location. Chicago, Kimpton Gray Hotel (4 nights)

A comfortable walk from Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago and Symphony Center. www.kimptonhotels.com

Milwaukee, The Pfister Hotel (1 night) A Historic Hotel of America opened in 1893 at the then cost of over one million dollars. www.thepfisterhotel.com

Madison Wisconsin, Madison Concourse Hotel (2 nights) Located in the heart of downtown Madison, close to the lakefront and State Capitol. www.concoursehotel.com

Buffalo, Hampton Inn & Suites (2 nights) Convenient downtown location with spacious rooms. www.hamptoninn3.hilton.com

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Omni William Penn Hotel (2 nights) The last building venture of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, the hotel is a stunning example of Art Deco style. www.omnihotels.com

Extend your stay In New York

For those interested in extending their travel to New York, we can offer a four-day package that concentrates on the city’s architectural heritage with visits to the Guggenheim Museum and Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan. Please contact us for more details.

Images right: the view from the living room towards the west terrace at Fallingwater; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kentuck Knob;

and Andy Warhol’s self portrait in the Warhol Museum

A view through a pier cluster in the Martin House, part of the highly innovative Darwin D. Martin House Complex in Buffalo

Tour Price The tour price is $8,970 per person, twin share (land content only). The supplement for a single room is $1,640 per person. A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required to secure a place on the tour.

Tour Inclusions Included in the tour price

All accommodation in carefully selected four star hotels All breakfasts, and selected lunches and dinners in

hotels and local restaurants Land travel by air-conditioned coach, rail or taxi as

required Economy class air travel from Madison to Buffalo Extensive background notes Background talks Services of Australian tour leader throughout tour All entrance fees to sites mentioned on itinerary Qualified local guides Tips for all services stated as included in the itinerary Porterage of one piece of luggage at all hotels

Not included

International air fares, taxes and surcharges (see below) Travel insurance Visa costs Meals not mentioned in itinerary Expenses of a personal nature

Air travel OPTIONS The tour price quoted is for land content only. For this tour we recommend Qantas or United who have regular flights to the East Coast. Please contact us for further information on competitive Economy, Business and First Class airfares. Transfers between airport and hotel are included for all passengers booking their flights through Academy Travel. These may be group or individual transfers.

Enquiries & bookings For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Jemma York at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email jemma@academytravel.com.au

Weather on Tour May is a great time to travel to the United States. Spring has definitely arrived, but not the summer heat and humidity. Expect daytime temperatures of 15-22 degrees Celsius, dropping to 8-10 in the evenings. It is likely to rain on a few days of the tour, so be sure to pack an umbrella and waterproof jacket.

Fitness Requirements of THIS tour

GRADE THREE

It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness required to participate on our tours, we have given them a star grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature extended walking tours and site visits, which require greater fitness than coach touring. We ask you to carefully consider your ability to meet the physical demands of the tour.

Participation criteria for this tour

This Grade Three tour is among our most physically demanding. To participate on this tour, you should be able to comfortably undertake up to seven hours of activity per day, over several days. Activities may include travelling long distances, walking on difficult terrain, climbing stairs, embarking and disembarking trains and/or boats, exposure to high altitudes and long days of touring. These tours may include one night stops and early starts. You should be able to: keep up with the group at all times walk for 5-7 kilometres at a moderate pace with only

short breaks stand for a reasonable length of time in galleries and

museums tolerate varying climatic conditions such as cold weather maintain a reasonable level of physical and respiratory

fitness tolerate a diet that can be significantly different from a

typical Australian diet, and where some dietary requirements cannot be met

walk up and down slopes negotiate steps and slopes on historic sites or paths,

which are often uneven and unstable get on and off a large coach with steep steps, train or

boat unassisted, possibly with luggage move your luggage a short distance if required

A note for older travellers

We regret that we are not able to accept bookings on a Grade Three tour from people more than 80 years old, or with restricted mobility.