CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES.

(GEOFFREY BAER) HOW DID THESE TEN BUILDINGS CHANGE AMERICA?

THIS FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSE MIGHT HAVE INSPIRED THE DESIGN FOR YOUR HOUSE.

THIS NEW YORK SKYSCRAPER JUST MAY HAVE BEEN THE MODEL FOR YOUR OFFICE BUILDING.

AND COPIES OF THIS BOSTON LANDMARK ARE PROBABLY ALL AROUND YOU.

I'M GEOFFREY BAER.

IN THIS SHOW, I'LL BE CRISS-CROSSING THE COUNTRY, TO VISIT 10 BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED THE WAY WE ALL LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY.

HOUSES, SKYSCRAPERS, A FACTORY AND AN AIRPORT, EVEN A SHOPPING MALL.

JUST TAKE A LOOK.

EACH OF THESE BUILDINGS WAS REVOLUTIONARY IN ITS TIME, AND THEN WENT ON TO BE A TRENDSETTER.

>>THIS BUILDING IS NOT LIKE ALL THOSE KNOCK-OFFS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WE'LL GO INSIDE THESE SEMINAL STRUCTURES, TO SEE WHAT MAKES THEM EXTRAORDINARY.

>>THE MOST COMPLICATED PIECE TO BUILD IS RIGHT THERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WE'LL MEET THE DARING ARCHITECTS AND ADVENTURESOME CLIENTS WHO BROUGHT THE BUILDINGS TO LIFE.

>> IF YOU'RE GOING TO BUILD A BUILDING, THEN YOU DO THE BEST BUILDING AS YOU CAN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND WE'LL DISCOVER THE SHOCKING, FUNNY, AND EVEN SAD STORIES OF HOW THESE BUILDINGS CAME TO BE.

BY THE TIME THIS SHOW IS FINISHED, YOU'LL LOOK AT BUILDINGS ALL AROUND YOU IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY.

BECAUSE THEY JUST MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THESE 10 BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED AMERICA.

CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY >> (GEOFFREY BAER) FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. ... TO MADISON, WISCONSIN... AND ALL OVER AMERICA... GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS OFTEN LOOK LIKE GREEK AND ROMAN TEMPLES.

SO, WHERE DID THIS TRADITION BEGIN?

THE ANSWER IS IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

WHERE WE START OUR JOURNEY THROUGH TIME, WITH THE OLDEST OF OUR 10 BUILDINGS.

WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON FIRST LAID EYES ON THIS BUILDING, HE WASN'T HAPPY.

>> HE IS NOT PLEASED!!!

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE FOUNDING FATHER AND SELF-TAUGHT ARCHITECT HAD DESIGNED THE VIRGINIA STATE CAPITOL WHILE LIVING 4,000 MILES AWAY.

>> JEFFERSON IS CONTACTED IN FRANCE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT WHEN HE GOT BACK TO RICHMOND.

HE FOUND HIS BUILDING HAD BEEN ENLARGED, THE OFFICES WERE MOVED TO THE BASEMENT, AND HIS GRAND FRONT STEPS WERE ELIMINATED.

>> HE COMES BACK AND HE REALIZES, THERE ARE NO FRONT STEPS.

THIS WAS ALWAYS INTENDED THAT THERE WOULD BE THESE MAGNIFICENT FRONT STEPS THAT YOU WOULD COME UP THIS HILL THERE WOULD BE THIS TEMPLE ON THE HILLTOP.

>>(GEOFFREY BAER) A DECADE AFTER THOMAS JEFFERSON PENNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THIS BUILDING WAS SORT OF LIKE HIS DECLARATION OF ARCHITECTURAL INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN.

YOU SEE, HE NEVER REALLY LIKED THE COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF VIRGINIA.

AS AN ARCHITECT IT OFFENDED JEFFERSON'S SENSE OF STYLE, AND AS A REVOLUTIONARY, IT CLASHED WITH HIS POLITICS.

THIS WAS, AFTER ALL, GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE, A STYLE IMPORTED FROM BRITAIN, AND NAMED FOR ITS KINGS.

>> YOU KNOW, EVEN THE NAME, GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE, IT WAS, WAS HORRIBLE.

JEFFERSON HATED KINGS.

AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IS ESSENTIALLY HIS DEAR JOHN LETTER TO GEORGE THE THIRD.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) JEFFERSON WAS INVITED TO CREATE A NEW FACE FOR VIRGINIA WHILE HE WAS SERVING AS AMERICA'S MINISTER TO FRANCE.

BUT HE DIDN'T FIND HIS ARCHITECTURAL INSPIRATION IN THE COURT OF KING LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH.

INSTEAD, JEFFERSON LOOKED BACK TO THE GREAT CLASSICAL BUILDINGS OF ROME, WHICH HE KNEW SO WELL FROM HIS ARCHITECTURE BOOKS.

>> HE LIKED THE CLEAN LINES; HE LIKED THE SYMMETRY AND THIS WAS HIS STATEMENT ABOUT THE NEW NATION BEING A PART OF THE WESTERN WORLD BUT NOT BEING BEHOLDEN TO GREAT BRITAIN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT RATHER THAN SIMPLY BORROW IDEAS FROM THE ANCIENTS, THOMAS JEFFERSON DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING UNHEARD OF: HIS STATE CAPITOL WOULD BE A COPY OF AN ACTUAL ROMAN TEMPLE, THE MAISON CARREE, IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.

JEFFERSON WRITES SOMEWHAT LASCIVIOUSLY ABOUT HIS FIRST FACE-TO-FACE ENCOUNTER WITH THE TEMPLE.

>> AND THE REASON WHY HE PICKS THE MASION CAREE, THE SQUARE BUILDING IS TO EMBODY ANCIENT IDEALS OF PURE GEOMETRY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE MAISON CARREE IS A ONE-ROOM, WINDOWLESS TEMPLE-- NOT AN IDEAL VESSEL FOR STATE GOVERNMENT.

SO WITH THE HELP OF FRENCH ARCHITECT CHARLES-LOUIS CLERISSEAU, JEFFERSON MADE A FEW PRACTICAL CHANGES.

WHILE THE MAISON CARREE SPORTED FANCY CORINTHIAN COLUMNS, HE THOUGHT THE WORKMEN IN VIRGINIA COULD ONLY HANDLE SIMPLER, IONIC ONES.

>> BECAUSE THE IONIC ORDER ARE MUCH EASIER TO CARVE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND WHERE IN A ROMAN TEMPLE THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A STATUE OF A GOD, JEFFERSON PLANNED FOR A STATUE OF AMERICA'S FIRST PRESIDENT.

IT LOOKS REMARKABLY DIFFERENT FROM THE IMAGE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON WE ALL KNOW.

YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK THAT'S THE SAME LIKENESS.

IN FACT THIS IS CONSIDERED THE MOST ACCURATE LIKENESS WE HAVE OF WASHINGTON.

IT WAS BASED ON AN ACTUAL MOLD OF HIS FACE.

>> HE IS NOT PRESENTED AS A KING.

NOTICE THAT THERE IS A MISSING BUTTON ON THE COAT.

THERE'S A SLIGHT SWELLING TO THE BELLY, ONE MIGHT SAY THERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) JEFFERSON MAY HAVE BEEN AN OCEAN AWAY IN FRANCE, BUT HE STILL TRIED TO MICROMANAGE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CAPITOL.

HE SHIPPED THIS SCALE MODEL BACK TO VIRGINIA, WHICH REMARKABLY, SURVIVES TODAY, PLUS THESE OBSESSIVELY DETAILED DRAWINGS.

> >THIS WAS AN OBSESSIVE INDIVIDUAL WITH MANY DIFFERENT AREAS.

HE SOMETIMES WOULD DRAW UP HIS BUILDINGS WITH MEASUREMENTS DOWN TO ONE ONE-HUNDREDTH OF AN INCH.

NOW CAN YOU IMAGINE A WORKMAN LOOKING AT THAT?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT'S LIKELY THAT SOME OF THOSE WORKMEN WERE SLAVES.

JEFFERSON SUGGESTED THAT SLAVES WORK UNDER THE DIRECTION OF AN EXPERT STONECUTTER.

THIS IS SIMILAR TO THE ARRANGEMENT HE USED TO BUILD HIS HOME, MONTICELLO.

>> SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY FAMILIAR WITH FROM HIS OWN EXPERIENCES.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT THOMAS JEFFERSON'S ATTEMPTS TO OVERSEE THE PROJECT FROM AFAR FELL APART.

HIS PLANS TOOK MONTHS TO REACH RICHMOND.

IN THE MEANTIME, LEGISLATORS GREW IMPATIENT, AND THE BUILDER BROKE GROUND ON AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT DESIGN.

>>ONCE THE PLANS DO GET OVER HERE, THEY'VE ALREADY STARTED A BUILDING; THEY'VE ALREADY GOT A FOUNDATION THERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND THAT RESULTED IN SOME OF THOSE TROUBLESOME CHANGES TO JEFFERSON'S DESIGN, LIKE LEAVING OFF HIS GRAND FRONT STEPS, WHICH WOULDN'T BE ADDED UNTIL AFTER HIS DEATH.

STILL, JEFFERSON'S BUILDING WOULD CHANGE AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE.

THE VIRGINIA STATE CAPITOL INSPIRED AMERICAN ARCHITECTS TO USE THE CLASSICAL TEMPLE FORM AS THE OFFICIAL FACE OF THIS NEW NATION.

>> THIS WAS THE FIRST REPUBLIC OF THE MODERN ERA TO TURN AWAY FROM MONARCHY PERMANENTLY AND THIS WAS RADICAL.

IT WAS NEW.

IT WAS DANGEROUS.

AND THEY ANNOUNCED ALL OF THIS WITH GRECO ROMAN ARCHITECTURE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WHEREVER YOU LIVE IN AMERICA, YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN BUILDINGS THAT LOOK LIKE THIS BOSTON LANDMARK...

CHURCHES, CITY HALLS, AND POST OFFICES WITH HEAVY WALLS OF ROUGH-FACED STONE, ROUND ARCHES, AND MASSIVE TOWERS.

THE STYLE IS CALLED RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE, AND IT WAS BORN RIGHT HERE AT TRINITY CHURCH.

THE ARCHITECT, MUCH LIKE HIS BUILDING, WAS MOUNTAINOUS.

>> HE WEIGHED IN HIS PRIME, IF THAT WAS WHAT WE CAN CALL IT, OVER THREE HUNDRED POUNDS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) HH RICHARDSON WAS A CELEBRITY IN THE 1880S, WHO FAMOUSLY DRESSED IN A MEDIEVAL MONK'S ROBE, AND LIVED A VERY SHORT LIFE.

HE GOT HIS CHANCE TO CHANGE THE FACE OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE WHEN HE WAS JUST 33: THIS INVITATION TO COMPETE FOR THE JOB OF DESIGNING TRINITY CHURCH.

RICHARDSON FLIPPED THE INVITATION OVER AND SKETCHED THIS DESIGN ON THE BACK.

>> THIS LITTLE SKETCH, IS REALLY THE EMBRYO OF THIS CHURCH.

IT'S LIKE THE CONCEPTION OF A BABY IN THE WOMB.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) RICHARDSON MADE HIS VISIONARY SKETCH WITH ONE MAN IN MIND.

PHILLIPS BROOKS WAS THE RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH.

TODAY HE'S BEST REMEMBERED AS THE WRITER OF THE CHRISTMAS SONG "O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM", BUT IN HIS TIME HE WAS KNOWN AS A SPELLBINDING PREACHER, WHO DREW ENORMOUS CROWDS.

>> THE CHURCH IS AN ENVELOPE FOR HIS VOICE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) RICHARDSON DESIGNED TRINITY AS A COMPACT CROSS, WHICH WOULD DRAW MORE THAN FOURTEEN HUNDRED PARISHIONERS AROUND BROOKS, IN A SANCTUARY ADORNED BY SOME OF THE GREAT DECORATIVE ARTISTS OF THE DAY.

>> IT'S A SPACE THAT DRAWS YOU IN.

YOU WALK IN AND YOU IMMEDIATELY FEEL THAT YOU'RE PART OF A CONGREGATION.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE OTHER KEY TO RICHARDSON'S INFLUENTIAL DESIGN WAS SOMETHING OF A HAPPY ACCIDENT.

RICHARDSON ORIGINALLY DREW UP TRINITY WITH A TALL, SPINDLY TOWER.

BUT THE BUILDING'S ENGINEERS KNEW THAT IDEA WAS LITERALLY ON SHAKY GROUND.

>> THE ENGINEER SAID, "NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT."

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) YOU SEE, THIS IS BOSTON'S BACK BAY, A MANMADE PIECE OF REAL ESTATE THAT HAD BEEN CREATED BY FILLING IN AN OLD MARSH WITH GRAVEL AND SAND.

THE ENGINEERS KNEW THE UNSTABLE GROUND HERE JUST COULDN'T SUPPORT SUCH A TALL TOWER.

SO RICHARDSON WAS FORCED TO ADOPT WHAT WOULD BECOME TRINITY'S DEFINING FEATURE: A BROAD, EARTHBOUND TOWER.

IT'S HELD UP BY FOUR PIERS...

WHICH RUN DOWN THROUGH THE CORNERS OF THE SANCTUARY, WHERE THEY WON'T BLOCK VIEWS OF THE PREACHER.

THESE PIERS ARE SUPPORTED BY HUGE GRANITE FOOTINGS BELOW THE CHURCH...

WHICH REST ON 4,500 WOOD PILINGS-- ESSENTIALLY TREE TRUNKS-- THAT WERE DRIVEN INTO THE GRAVELLY GROUND.

>> AND THEY PUSH EACH OTHER, SO THAT THEY'RE STABLE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE BROAD TOWER AND BOXY SANCTUARY CAME TOGETHER TO MAKE THAT MOUNTAINOUS FORM, WHICH RICHARDSON MARRIED WITH HIS TAKE ON THE MUSCULAR ROMANESQUE STYLE OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE.

THE RESULT WAS SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW: RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE.

>> IT'S A FANTASTIC KIND OF ARCHITECTURE.

IT'S VERY MASSIVE.

WITH THESE FANTASTIC ARCHES AND THIS ARTICULATED MASONRY THAT REALLY LOOKS AS IF IT WAS CHISELED RIGHT OUT OF ROCK ON THE SITE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT'S A STYLE WITH OLD WORLD ROOTS, TRANSFORMED INTO SOMETHING FRESH AND DISTINCTLY AMERICAN.

THIS GREW OUT OF A GOLDEN AGE AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, WHEN THE NATION'S PAINTERS, WRITERS, AND ARCHITECTS WERE ALL ENJOYING A SO-CALLED "AMERICAN RENAISSANCE".

>> RICHARDSON'S WORK AS AN ARCHITECT REFLECTED THE SENSE OF OPTIMISM AND EXUBERANCE ABOUT THE AMERICAN FUTURE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) RICHARDSON WOULD DIE AT AGE 47 JUST NINE YEARS AFTER COMPLETING TRINITY.

BUT HIS RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE LIVED ON.

THIS STYLE THAT WAS BORN IN BOSTON WAS ADOPTED BY OTHER ARCHITECTS ACROSS AMERICA.

>> RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE TOOK AMERICA BY STORM.

IT'S EVERYWHERE.

AND IT REALLY GOES FROM BUILDING TYPE TO BUILDING TYPE.

IT CAN BE A CHURCH, IT CAN BE A LIBRARY.

THESE WERE INSTITUTIONS THAT WERE BUILDING A NATION.

THEY ALL WANTED TO MAKE THAT SAME MESSAGE THAT THEY WERE THERE TO STAY.

AND I WOULD SUGGEST THAT IT WAS ITS SOLIDITY, IT'S SENSE OF HAVING BEEN THERE A LONG TIME AND LIKELY TO BE THERE A LONG TIME IN THE FUTURE.

IT MIGHT SEEM OBVIOUS: SKYSCRAPERS SHOULD LOOK TALL.

BUT THEY NEVER DID, UNTIL THIS ST. LOUIS SKYSCRAPER REACHED TOWARD THE HEAVENS IN 1891.

>>THE THING ABOUT THE WAINWRIGHT THAT'S SO EXTRAORDINARY IS, IT'S THE FIRST BUILDING THAT REVELS IN THE HEIGHT!

NOT JUST THAT IT CAN GO UP THE TEN STORIES, BUT THAT IT CAN DO THAT IN A LYRICAL WAY!

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) LOUIS SULLIVAN CLAIMED TO HAVE DESIGNED THE WAINWRIGHT BUILDING IN JUST THREE MINUTES.

BUT IN REALITY, HE WAS BUILDING ON A DECADE OF DISCOVERIES BY OTHER ARCHITECTS.

THE SKYSCRAPER WAS BORN IN THE 1880S, WHEN GROWING AMERICAN CORPORATIONS WERE COMPETING FOR PRIME DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE IN NEW YORK AND CHICAGO.

THAT DROVE REAL ESTATE PRICES THROUGH THE ROOF.

>> SO THE CLIENTS AND THE ARCHITECTS WANNA FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE BUILDINGS THAT ARE TALLER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ARCHITECTS ANSWERED THE CALL WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES; MOST IMPORTANTLY SOMETHING CALLED SKELETON FRAME CONSTRUCTION.

INSTEAD OF HOLDING UP THEIR BUILDINGS WITH THICK "MASONRY" WALLS OF BRICK AND STONE... ARCHITECTS FOUND A NEW WAY TO SUPPORT TALL BUILDINGS WITH THIN METAL FRAMES.

AND THE WALLS WERE MOSTLY THERE TO KEEP PEOPLE INSIDE WARM AND DRY.

ANOTHER INVENTION THAT MADE THE SKYSCRAPER POSSIBLE WAS THE PASSENGER ELEVATOR.

AFTER ALL WHO WANTS TO WORK IN A TEN STORY WALKUP?

10 PLEASE!

SO ARCHITECTS HAD ALL THE TECHNOLOGY THEY NEEDED TO BUILD TALL, BUT THEY STILL HADN'T FIGURED OUT WHAT TALL BUILDINGS SHOULD LOOK LIKE.

>> SO A LOT OF TALL BUILDINGS LOOKED LIKE SHORT BUILDINGS JUST MADE BIGGER.

OR, LIKE IN SOME CASES EVEN, TWO OR THREE SHORT BUILDINGS PILED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) LOUIS SULLIVAN FELT THIS NEW AMERICAN INVENTION KNOWN AS THE SKYSCRAPER, CALLED FOR A NEW APPROACH.

THE SKYSCRAPER, HE WROTE, "MUST BE EVERY INCH A PROUD AND SOARING THING."

>> HEIGHT WAS NOT JUST A FACT, BUT IT WAS ALSO AN AESTHETIC IDEA.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND YET WHEN SULLIVAN SAT DOWN TO DESIGN THIS SKYSCRAPER FOR BEER BREWER ELLIS WAINWRIGHT AND HIS MOTHER CATHERINE, THE ARCHITECT WAS REPORTEDLY STUMPED.

SO, HE WENT FOR A WALK TO CLEAR HIS HEAD.

THE FRESH AIR MUST HAVE DONE HIM SOME GOOD, BECAUSE AS SULLIVAN WALKED DOWN THIS CHICAGO STREET, THE DESIGN SUDDENLY CAME TO HIM.

HE RUSHED BACK INSIDE, AND FIRED OFF HIS FAMOUS THREE-MINUTE SKETCH.

SULLIVAN THREW THE SKETCH DOWN ON THE TABLE OF HIS YOUNG DRAFTSMAN, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

>> THE WAINWRIGHT BUILDING IN ST. LOUIS... >> (GEOFFREY BAER) MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS LATER, WRIGHT RECALLED THAT MOMENT WHEN THE WAINWRIGHT BUILDING WAS BORN.

>> HE SAID "WRIGHT, THE THING IS TALL!

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH A TALL BUILDING?"

AND THERE IT WAS, TALL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SO HOW DID SULLIVAN MAKE THIS SKYSCRAPER SOAR, DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S ONLY TEN STORIES TALL?

WELL FOR STARTERS, HE DIVIDED THE BUILDING INTO THREE PARTS-- WHAT'S KNOWN AS A TRIPARTITE DESIGN.

FIRST, THERE'S THE TWO-STORY BASE.

>> TWO STORIES VISUALLY MADE IT LOOK SOLID, BUT IT ALSO GAVE IT THAT KIND OF COMFORTABLE HUMAN SCALE.

THEN, ABOVE THE BASE, YOU HAVE FLOOR UPON FLOOR OF IDENTICAL OFFICES.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS SECOND PART IS WHERE SULLIVAN REALLY DRAWS YOUR EYE UPWARD.

THE HORIZONTAL ELEMENTS, OR SPANDRELS, ARE RECESSED, WHILE THE VERTICAL PIERS PROJECT WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, FOR SEVEN STORIES.

>> ALMOST TILL IT REACHES THE TOP OF THE BUILDING.

BUT THEN, A BUILDING HAS TO END SOMEWHERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THAT'S THE THIRD PART OF THE BUILDING.

>> AND SO THEN THESE VERTICAL LINES, AS THEY REACH THE VERY TOP, SUDDENLY BURST INTO ORNAMENT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE TERRA COTTA ORNAMENT DOESN'T FEATURE THE COLUMNS OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.

INSTEAD, SULLIVAN LOOKS TO NATURE.

ALL THE WHILE, SULLIVAN DOESN'T LET US FORGET THE TECHNOLOGY THAT MADE SKYSCRAPERS POSSIBLE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

WHILE EARLIER SKYSCRAPERS ALMOST SEEMED ASHAMED OF THEIR STEEL FRAMES, THE WAINWRIGHT BUILDING EMPHASIZES ITS SKELETON.

>> THE STEEL FRAME'S THE ESSENCE OF THE BUILDING.

IT'S WHAT MAKES IT STAND.

IT'S SYMBOLIC OF THE TIME, SYMBOLIC OF THE TECHNOLOGY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE WAINWRIGHT BUILDING SET THE TONE FOR THE NEXT CENTURY OF SKYSCRAPER CONSTRUCTION.

SKYSCRAPERS WOULD CONTINUE TO CELEBRATE THEIR HEIGHT... AND THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO SHOW-OFF THEIR STEEL FRAMES...

BUT ULTIMATELY, SULLIVAN FELT THE BEST FORM OF FLATTERY WAS NOT IMITATION, BUT INDIVIDUALISM.

>> PART OF WHAT SULLIVAN FELT WAS IMPORTANT ABOUT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WAS THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES FOR THE BENEFIT OF EVERYBODY.

AND IF YOU HAVE EACH PERSON TAKING THEIR OWN TALENTS AND BRINGING BUILDINGS VIBRANTLY ALIVE, YOU ARE CREATING AN AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WE'RE VISITING 10 BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED AMERICA IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, AND WE'VE COME TO OUR FOURTH BUILDING.

ITS ARCHITECT CALLED IT "A SOURCE OF WORLD-WIDE ARCHITECTURAL INSPIRATION."

HUMILITY WASN'T FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S STRONG SUIT.

>> YOU SEE EARLY IN LIFE I HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HONEST ARROGANCE AND HYPOCRITICAL HUMILITY.

I CHOSE HONEST ARROGANCE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE ROBIE HOUSE REALLY WAS A RADICAL DEPARTURE FROM YOUR TYPICAL MIDDLE CLASS HOUSE AT THE TIME, WHICH TENDED TO LOOK LIKE A TALL BOX.

EVER SINCE HE LEFT LOUIS SULLIVAN'S OFFICE, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HAD BEEN GRADUALLY THINKING "OUTSIDE THE BOX", IN A SERIES OF DESIGNS LEADING UP TO ROBIE.

>> WRIGHT WAS EVOLVING FROM A SORT OF TIGHTER, MORE FORMAL GABLED HOUSE TO GETTING THE GABLE AS GETTING LOWER AND MORE AND MORE LIKE THIS, AND FINALLY... AND FINALLY IT JUST BECOMES LIKE THIS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THESE BECAME KNOWN AS "PRAIRIE HOUSES".

NOT JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE LOCATED ON THE FLAT LANDS OF THE MIDWEST, BUT BECAUSE THEY SEEMED TO BELONG HERE.

>> IT'S A PART OF ITS ENVIRONMENT, AND IT GRACES ITS ENVIRONMENT RATHER THAN DISGRACES IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THESE DARING HOMES APPEALED TO CLIENTS WHO WEREN'T AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS, LIKE FREDERICK AND LORA ROBIE.

FREDERICK WAS A 28 YEAR OLD BICYCLE MANUFACTURER, WHO HAD JUST VENTURED INTO THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF AUTOMOBILE SUPPLIES.

>> HE WAS THE QUINTESSENTIAL YOUNG REBELLIOUS GUY.

HE DESIGNS A CAR THAT'S PART CAR AND PART MOTORCYCLE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WRIGHT SHARED ROBIE'S PASSION FOR THE AUTOMOBILE.

THE RESULT: HE INCLUDED AN ATTACHED THREE CAR GARAGE...

IN 1910!

>> I MEAN YOU'RE COMING OUT OF THE AGE OF THE STABLE AND THE HORSES.

NOT FOR THIS HOUSE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS PRAIRIE HOUSE WASN'T BUILT ON THE PRAIRIE, BUT IN THE CITY, RIGHT NEXT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

SO ROBIE SAID HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT PRIVACY.

ROBIE WANTED A BUILDING WHERE HE COULD SEE OUT BUT PEOPLE COULDN'T SEE IN.

>> AND YOU HAD A HOUSE WITH A LOT OF GLASS.

BUT JUST TAKE A LOOK.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WRIGHT HID THE INSIDE WITH ART GLASS WINDOWS AND A PROJECTING BALCONY.

>> CAN YOU SEE IN?

>> NO, NOT REALLY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) TODAY THE HOUSE IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC...

IF YOU CAN FIND THE DOOR.

WRIGHT RECESSED THE ENTRANCE.

THEN YOU COME INTO A DARK, CONFINED, RECEPTION AREA...

WHICH LEADS TO A NARROW STAIRWAY.

BUT AS YOU GO UP THE STAIRS, YOU TURN, AND ASCEND TOWARD THE LIGHT....

EVENTUALLY EMERGING INTO A SPECTACULAR, BRIGHT SPACE.

SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE JOURNEY, THIS PROCESSION THAT FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HAS JUST TAKEN US ON?

>> WELL, IT'S A THING CALLED DRAMA.

GOING THROUGH A WRIGHT BUILDING IS PLAYING WITH YOUR SENSES.

IT'S PLAYING WITH YOUR EMOTIONS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AS YOU MOVE THROUGH THE HOUSE, ONE ROOM FLOWS SEAMLESSLY INTO THE NEXT, UNINTERRUPTED BY WALLS OR DOORS.

>> YOU'RE IN ONE CONTINUOUS SPACE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS REVOLUTIONARY "OPEN PLAN" IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE TYPICAL HOUSE OF THE TIME, WHICH WAS DIVIDED INTO DISCREET, BOX-LIKE ROOMS.

>> IT'S LITERALLY BREAKING THE BOX.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND WHERE OLD-FASHIONED HOUSES HAD SMALL WINDOWS "PUNCHED" INTO THE WALLS AND COVERED WITH DRAPES, THE ROBIE HOUSE HAD CONTINUOUS BANDS OF ART GLASS WINDOWS.

>> THE LIGHT SURROUNDS YOU.

THE EXTERIOR SURROUNDS YOU.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND YET DESPITE ALL THE MODERN FEATURES OF THIS HOUSE, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ALSO GAVE THE ROBIE FAMILY A VERY TRADITIONAL GATHERING PLACE.

>> AND HE BUILDS FIREPLACES FOR THE REST OF HIS CAREER BECAUSE HE'S NOT TRYING TO DESTROY DOMESTICITY OR COMFORT.

HE SINCERELY WANTED THESE TO BE PLACES FOR FAMILIES.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT EVEN AS HE WAS PROMOTING TRADITIONAL FAMILY VALUES, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WAS INVOLVED IN AN AFFAIR WITH THE WIFE OF A CLIENT.

WHILE THE ROBIE HOUSE WAS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, WRIGHT AND HIS MISTRESS LEFT THEIR FAMILIES, AND FLED TO EUROPE.

>> WHICH MADE HUGE HEADLINES IN THE PAPER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE ROBIE HOUSE WASN'T GOOD FOR ROBIE'S MARRIAGE EITHER.

A YEAR AFTER MOVING IN, LORA AND THE TWO KIDS MOVED OUT.

>> THE HOUSE WAS PUT UP FOR SALE.

ROBIE, HIS GREAT DREAM HOUSE, HE WASN'T HERE BARELY A YEAR.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WOULD RETURN TO THE ROBIE HOUSE WHEN IT WAS THREATENED WITH DEMOLITION IN 1957.

THE 89 YEAR OLD ARCHITECT HAD GONE ON TO DESIGN SOME OF AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS BUILDINGS.

BUT HE FELT COMPELLED TO DEFEND THIS EARLIER WORK, WHICH HE NOT-SO-HUMBLY CALLED "A CORNERSTONE OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE".

BY THEN, IT WAS CLEAR JUST HOW INFLUENTIAL FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S IDEAS HAD BECOME.

BUILDERS HAD BEEN CRANKING OUT SUBURBAN HOMES... THAT TOOK A PAGE FROM WRIGHT'S BOOK.

>> WHAT WE WOULD CALL TODAY THE RANCH-STYLE HOUSE.

LOW SLUNG, HORIZONTAL, OVERHANGING EAVES, LOW PITCHED ROOFS, AND WINDOWS GATHERED TOGETHER IN STRIPS, WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THAT BEFORE?

I REMEMBER; FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WHEN HENRY FORD TOLD THE ARCHITECT ALBERT KAHN THAT THIS IS WHAT HE WANTED HIM TO DESIGN, KAHN THOUGHT HE WAS CRAZY.

>>KAHN WAS NOT THE FIRST ONE TO THINK THAT HENRY FORD WAS CRAZY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) KAHN COULDN'T IMAGINE WHY ANYONE NEEDED SO MUCH UNINTERRUPTED SPACE UNDER ONE ROOF.

BUT FORD WOULD NEED IT TO INTRODUCE HIS MOVING ASSEMBLY LINE.

>> REMEMBER, HENRY FORD WAS A VISIONARY AND A DREAMER AND HE SAW THINGS THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS CONCRETE-FRAMED FACTORY WAS LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF FORD'S PREVIOUS PLANT.

THE PIQUETTE PLANT WAS TYPICAL OF THE TIME WITH ITS THICK BRICK WALLS AND NARROW WINDOWS.

IT WAS DIMLY LIT, AND THE SPACE WAS BROKEN UP BY TIMBER POSTS.

HENRY FORD WAS USING THIS OLD-FASHIONED FACTORY TO BUILD A VERY MODERN PRODUCT.

HIS MODEL T HAD A USER-FRIENDLY DESIGN THAT ALLOWED JUST ABOUT ANYONE TO DRIVE AND MAINTAIN IT.

SO HE JUST COULDN'T MAKE THEM FAST ENOUGH, RIGHT?

>> EXACTLY.

HE HAD TO GET OUT OF THERE INTO LARGER QUARTERS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ALBERT KAHN WAS THE PERFECT ARCHITECT TO DESIGN A FACTORY FOR FORD.

KAHN, AFTER ALL, WAS THE GUY BEHIND THE EARLIER PACKARD BUILDING NUMBER TEN.

TODAY, IT'S ABANDONED.

BUT WHEN IT WAS BUILT IN 1905, THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SO-CALLED "DAYLIGHT FACTORIES", THEY HAD HUGE WINDOWS AND WIDE OPEN FLOOR PLANS, THANKS TO THEIR REINFORCED CONCRETE FRAMES.

>> KAHN MADE IT POSSIBLE, FOR THE KIND OF VAST OPEN SPACE THAT IS FLOODED WITH LIGHT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS IS WHAT HENRY FORD WANTED.

BUT HE AND ALBERT KAHN WOULD MAKE AN UNLIKELY PAIR.

KAHN WAS JEWISH, THE SON OF A RABBI.

FORD FAMOUSLY PUBLISHED "THE INTERNATIONAL JEW", WHICH SUGGESTED THAT JEWS WERE PLOTTING TO CONTROL THE WORLD.

DO YOU KNOW IF KAHN EVER BROUGHT IT UP?

>> KAHN NEVER BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE.

HE REALLY SAID BY IMPLICATION IT WOULDN'T DO ANY GOOD AND ALL IT WOULD DO WOULD BE TO DAMAGE MY BUSINESS RELATION WITH HIM.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES, KAHN AND FORD TEAMED UP TO CHANGE THE FACE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY JUST OUTSIDE OF DETROIT.

HIGHLAND PARK'S BROAD WALLS OF GLASS SUPPLIED PLENTY OF LIGHT AND FRESH AIR TO THE FACTORY FLOOR, WHICH WAS GOOD FOR WORKERS, AND FORD'S BOTTOM LINE.

>> IT IMPROVED WORKERS' COMFORT.

>> AND THEREFORE PRODUCTIVITY.

>> AND THEREFORE PRODUCTIVITY.

YES.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE SHEER ENORMITY OF THE COMPLEX NOT ONLY ALLOWED FORD TO MAKE MOST OF THE MODEL T IN ONE PLACE, IT ALSO GAVE THE COMPANY THE SPACE TO EXPERIMENT WITH A NEW WAY OF BUILDING CARS.

BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY LINE, EACH MODEL T HAD BEEN PUT TOGETHER ON WOODEN SAWHORSES BY TEAMS OF ASSEMBLERS WHO ALL MOVED FROM ONE CAR TO THE NEXT, AND ALL THE PARTS HAD TO BE DRAGGED TO EACH CAR BY WORKERS KNOWN AS "PUSHERS AND SHOVERS".

>> WHO WOULD SPEND A LOT OF TIME GOING TO OTHER PARTS OF THE FACTORY TO BRING PARTS FOR THE ONE CAR THEY WERE WORKING ON.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT THE VAST UNINTERRUPTED SPACES AT HIGHLAND PARK MADE IT POSSIBLE TO MOVE THE CAR THROUGH THE PLANT AND TO A LONG LINE OF WORKERS, EACH WITH A SINGLE PART, AND A SIMPLE TASK, TO PERFORM OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

>> IT SAVED ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF WASTED MOTIONS.

AND IT BROUGHT AN ENORMOUS REDUCTION IN THE COST OF MAKING MODEL TS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT HENRY FORD STILL WASN'T SATISFIED.

HE FELT THAT THE FOUR AND SIX STORY SPACES AT HIGHLAND PARK WASTED TIME AND ENERGY MOVING PARTS UP AND DOWN.

SO REMARKABLY, JUST FIVE YEARS AFTER OPENING HIGHLAND PARK, FORD ASKED ALBERT KAHN TO DESIGN AN ENTIRELY NEW SINGLE-STORY PLANT.

>> HENRY FORD WAS NOT BASHFUL ABOUT DROPPING SOMETHING HE THOUGHT WAS OUTDATED AND MOVING AHEAD WITH SOMETHING NEW!

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) OVER THE NEXT THIRTY YEARS, AS HENRY FORD CONSTANTLY IMPROVED HIS PRODUCTION PROCESS, HE WOULD CALL ON ALBERT KAHN TO DESIGN MORE THAN A THOUSAND FACTORY BUILDINGS!

AND LIKE HIGHLAND PARK, AND EVERY AMERICAN FACTORY THAT CAME AFTER IT, THESE BUILDINGS WOULD HAVE WIDE OPEN SPACES THAT WERE FILLED WITH LIGHT.

>> FORD AND KAHN WERE VERY MUCH AN UNLIKELY DUO.

AND YET KAHN'S PLAN FOR THE FORD PLANT SET THE PATTERN FOR AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) YOU MAY NOT KNOW HIS NAME, BUT YOU DEFINITELY KNOW HIS CREATION.

VICTOR GRUEN DESIGNED THE FIRST MODERN INDOOR MALL.

>> VICTOR GRUEN CONSIDERED THIS A UTOPIAN EXPERIMENT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THAT'S BECAUSE THE ARCHITECT OF SOUTHDALE CENTER WAS A SOCIALIST, AND THIS WAS HIS NEW VISION FOR SUBURBIA.

>> HE WANTED TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR CARS.

HE WAS WORRIED THAT EVERYONE WOULD GO FROM THEIR PRIVATE HOUSE, THEIR PRIVATE CAR, TO THEIR PRIVATE OFFICE AND BACK AND NEVER GET TO KNOW THEIR NEIGHBORS, NEVER HAVE ANY INTERACTION.

SO THAT WAS THE IDEA OF THE MALL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE VIBRANT COMMUNITY VICTOR GRUEN CREATED IN THIS MINNESOTA MALL WAS INSPIRED BY THE BUSTLING STREET LIFE OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA, WHERE HE GREW UP.

HE HAD STUDIED ARCHITECTURE AT THE VIENNA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, THE SAME SCHOOL THAT HAD REJECTED AN ASPIRING ARTIST NAMED ADOLPH HITLER TEN YEARS EARLIER.

WHEN HITLER'S INTERESTS TURNED MORE SINISTER, VICTOR GRUEN, WHO WAS JEWISH, FLED TO AMERICA.

>> IT IS A NEW CONCEPT FITTING TO A PARTICULAR SITUATION.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) GRUEN SOON MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN NEW YORK, DESIGNING SPECTACULAR STOREFRONTS ACROSS THE CITY.

BUT HE RECOGNIZED THE RETAIL ACTION IN POST-WAR AMERICA WAS SHIFTING TO THE SUBURBS.

AND HE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HE SAW.

VICTOR GRUEN WAS DISMAYED BY THE UNSIGHTLY COMMERCIAL STRIPS, SPRAWLING FOR MILES ON END-- WHAT HE CALLED "THE GREATEST "COLLECTION OF VULGARITY...

EVER COLLECTED BY MANKIND".

>> SO HE THOUGHT IF WE DON'T INTERVENE, WE'RE JUST GOING TO HAVE LARGE TRACTS OF DEVELOPMENT WITH NO CENTER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) GRUEN GOT HIS CHANCE TO REMAKE SUBURBIA IN 1952, WHEN THE DAYTON COMPANY HIRED HIM TO DESIGN AN INDOOR SHOPPING MALL IN A MINNEAPOLIS SUBURB.

WHILE A SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD MALL HAD BEEN ENCLOSED BEFORE, SOUTHDALE IS WHERE VICTOR GRUEN INTRODUCED THE FORMULA FOR THE REGIONAL INDOOR SHOPPING MALL.

A FORMULA THAT HAS GRUEN'S IDEALISTIC VISION WRITTEN ALL OVER IT.

LOOK AT THIS BIG, BLANK WALL HERE, WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THAT?

>> WELL VICTOR GRUEN CALLED THIS THE INTROVERTED TYPE AND WHAT HE REALLY WANTED TO DO WAS TO TAKE THE TYPICAL SUBURBAN SHOPPING CENTER WHICH FACED OUT TO THE STREET AND FLIP THAT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS WAY GRUEN COULD TAKE ALL THAT SPRAWLING COMMERCIAL CLUTTER HE HATED, AND HIDE IT IN A CENTRAL FACILITY WITH A PLAIN EXTERIOR.

>> SO THAT THE STORES FACED INWARD INTO AN AIR CONDITIONED SPACE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) INSIDE, IT WAS A SHOPPER'S PARADISE-- 72 STORES UNDER ONE ROOF.

BUT THIS WASN'T JUST A PLACE TO BUY THINGS.

AT ITS CENTER WAS THE "GARDEN COURT OF PERPETUAL SPRING", WHICH FEATURED A GOLDFISH POND AND AN AVIARY, SCULPTURES AND A SIDEWALK CAFé, THERE WAS EVEN A SMALL ZOO IN THE BASEMENT.

AT SOUTHDALE, SUBURBANITES COULD GET OUT OF THEIR CARS AND ENJOY ALL THE BENEFITS OF A DOWNTOWN, WITHOUT ALL THE TRAFFIC AND DIRT.

>> SO HE REALLY ENVISIONED MALLS AS COMMUNITY CENTERS RATHER THAN AS PLACES THAT YOU SIMPLY GO TO SHOP.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS URBAN-LIKE SETTING WAS ALSO GOOD FOR BUSINESS.

THE EXPERIENCE WAS SO DAZZLING AND FUN, CUSTOMERS STAYED LONGER, AND SHOPPED MORE.

THE WINDOWS WERE PLACED HIGH ABOVE, SO SHOPPERS WOULDN'T BE DISTRACTED BY WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

>> A LITTLE BIT LIKE A CASINO.

THEY DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY LOOK OUTSIDE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE SOCIALIST ARCHITECT HAD CREATED A CAPITALIST CASH COW.

ON THE DAY SOUTHDALE OPENED, 75,000 CURIOSITY-SEEKERS CAME OUT TO SEE WHAT LIFE MAGAZINE DUBBED "THE SPLASHIEST SHOPPING CENTER IN THE U.S." THOUGH IT DID HAVE AT LEAST ONE DETRACTOR.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT CAME FOR A TOUR AND SAID THE GARDEN COURT HAD "ALL THE EVILS "OF THE VILLAGE STREET "AND NONE OF ITS CHARM... "YOU'VE TRIED TO BRING "DOWNTOWN OUT HERE.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT DOWNTOWN, DOWNTOWN."

OVER TIME, VICTOR GRUEN HIMSELF GREW DISILLUSIONED WITH HIS GRAND EXPERIMENT.

YOU SEE, HE HAD ENVISIONED THE SHOPPING CENTER AS JUST ONE PIECE OF A LARGER PLANNED COMMUNITY, WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO INCLUDE HOUSES, APARTMENTS, OFFICES, AND SCHOOLS.

GRUEN HOPED THIS WOULD BE A COMPACT AND WELL-ORDERED ALTERNATIVE TO SPRAWL AND BLIGHT.

>> NOW THAT ALL DIDN'T COME TO PASS, AND SO IN MANY WAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF GRUEN'S VISION HASN'T BEEN REALIZED.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) INSTEAD, SOUTHDALE BECAME AN ISOLATED ISLAND OF RETAIL IN A SEA OF PARKING.

AND THIS IS WHAT LARGE SWATHS OF SUBURBAN AMERICA CAME TO LOOK LIKE, AS SOUTHDALE WAS IMITATED FAR AND WIDE.

GRUEN CALLED THESE COPYCAT MALLS "BASTARD DEVELOPMENTS".

THEY LACKED HIS LARGER SOCIAL VISION, AND INSTEAD ATTRACTED MORE OF THE SPRAWL HE HAD TRIED SO DESPERATELY TO FIGHT.

>> AND I THINK THAT THAT'S THE KIND OF, THE TRAGEDY OF IT.

WE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF HIS VISION.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT'S BEEN SO WIDELY IMITATED THAT TODAY IT ALMOST LOOKS ORDINARY.

>> THIS BUILDING IS NOT LIKE ALL THOSE KNOCK-OFFS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN 1958 THIS SLEEK GLASS SKYSCRAPER WAS GROUNDBREAKING.

>> WHEN IT WENT UP, THE ENTIRE WORLD NOTICED.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT WAS BUILT BY THE SEAGRAM CORPORATION AS ITS U.S. HEADQUARTERS.

THE CORPORATE GIANT ENDED UP WITH AN AVANT GARDE BUILDING, BECAUSE IT LET A YOUNG ART STUDENT CHOOSE THE ARCHITECT.

>> TO ME IT WASN'T A CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS; IT WAS A SKYSCRAPER IN NEW YORK.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) PHYLLIS LAMBERT WAS JUST 27 WHEN SHE LEARNED THAT HER FATHER, SEAGRAM PRESIDENT SAMUEL BRONFMAN, WOULD BUILD HIS HEADQUARTERS ON NEW YORK'S POSH PARK AVENUE.

>> I WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN ANYTHING ABOUT CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT SHE DID KNOW ABOUT ARCHITECTURE, AND WHEN LAMBERT SAW THE ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR THE BUILDING, SHE WAS APPALLED.

TO THIS DAY, IT'S HARD FOR HER TO EVEN LOOK AT A PICTURE OF IT.

>> OOH.

[LAUGHS] THAT IS SO...

UPSETTING TO EVEN LOOK AT IT.

MY STOMACH SORT OF GOES...

I WROTE MY FATHER A LONG, LONG LETTER.

AND THE LETTER STARTS OFF, 'NO.

NO.

NO.'

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WHILE THE ORIGINAL DESIGN WOULD HAVE LOOKED RIGHT AT HOME IN PRE-WAR AMERICA, PHYLLIS LAMBERT KNEW WE HAD ENTERED A NEW AGE.

ARCHITECTS WERE BUILDING SKYSCRAPERS WITHOUT ALL THE BRICK AND STONE AND DECORATION THAT HAD COVERED STEEL FRAME BUILDINGS SINCE LOUIS SULLIVAN'S TIME.

INSTEAD, THEY WERE LETTING NAKED STEEL AND TRANSPARENT GLASS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

>> IF YOU'RE GOING TO BUILD A BUILDING, THEN YOU DO THE BEST BUILDING AS YOU CAN AT THE TIME.

YOU DO THE BEST OF YOUR CIVILIZATION.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SAMUEL BRONFMAN WAS CONVINCED.

HIS DAUGHTER WOULD CHOOSE THE RIGHT ARCHITECT FOR THIS NEW AGE.

SO LAMBERT SET OUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY, MEETING SOME OF THE GREAT DESIGNERS OF THE DAY.

SHE SAYS THAT MOST OF THEM COMPARED THEMSELVES TO THE GERMAN-BORN ARCHITECT MIES VAN DER ROHE.

AND WHEN SHE MET THE MAN HIMSELF, SHE UNDERSTOOD WHY.

>> HE WAS SO MUCH MORE GENEROUS THAN ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE.

THERE WAS A KIND OF A PRESENCE ABOUT THAT MAN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT WHAT ULTIMATELY SOLD HER WAS MIES'S WORK.

HE HAD ENVISIONED GLASS SKYSCRAPERS ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE EARLY 1920S IN GERMANY.

MIES WAS PART OF A GENERATION OF EUROPEAN MODERNIST ARCHITECTS WHO USED THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO CONFRONT THE WAR AND INEQUITY THAT HAD PLAGUED THE CONTINENT.

>> YOU KNOW, THEY CAME OUT OF WORLD WAR I, AND THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT CAUSED WORLD WAR I, THIS INTENSE, INSANE NATIONALISM.

AND MIES VAN DER ROHE AND HIS GANG WANTED TO CREATE A NEW INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS "INTERNATIONAL STYLE" BECAME POPULAR WITH CORPORATE AMERICA FOR LESS IDEALISTIC REASONS.

IT MADE A COMPANY LOOK CUTTING-EDGE AND EFFICIENT.

PLUS, IT COULD BE CHEAP.

>> IT WAS VERY INEXPENSIVE TO BUILD THAT WAY.

IT'S REPETITIVE FORM.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT WHEN MIES VAN DER ROHE MET WITH SAMUEL BRONFMAN, HE QUICKLY LEARNED THAT SAVING MONEY WAS NOT ON THE AGENDA FOR THE SEAGRAM BUILDING.

>> MIES SAID TO MY FATHER, 'WHAT KIND OF MATERIALS DO YOU LIKE?'

AND MY FATHER SAID HE LIKED BRONZE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SO MIES COVERED THE ENTIRE BUILDING IN BRONZE.

>> AND BECAUSE HE USED BRONZE HE COULD CREATE A FINESSE OF DETAILS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MIES SAID "GOD IS IN THE DETAILS", AND IT'S THE DETAILS THAT SET THIS BUILDING APART, SOME DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT PHILIP JOHNSON.

THE MATERIALS INCLUDE PALE TRAVERTINE, PINK GRANITE, AND VERDE-ANTIQUE MARBLE.

>> THIS BUILDING IS SO SUBTLE AND YET SO COMPLEX.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AT FIRST GLANCE, IT MIGHT SEEM AS IF YOU'RE SEEING THE BARE BONES OF THE BUILDING.

BUT THIS IS ACTUALLY AN ILLUSION.

MIES PLACED I-BEAMS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING, WHICH SERVE LITTLE FUNCTION.

>> IT'S A DECORATIVE FAçADE.

AND THE ACTUAL STRUCTURE, THE STEEL FRAMING, IS TUCKED BEHIND IT.

>> I SEE THEM.

THERE ARE COLUMNS BEHIND THE GLASS WINDOWS.

BUT THE MOST STRIKING-- AND EXPENSIVE-- FEATURE OF THIS BUILDING IS THE HUGE EMPTY SPACE IN FRONT OF IT.

THIS WAS MIES'S SURPRISING SOLUTION TO NEW YORK'S STRICT ZONING CODE, WHICH HAD LONG PREVENTED SKYSCRAPERS FROM RISING LIKE SHEER CLIFFS THAT BLOCK OUT THE CITY'S LIGHT AND AIR.

OTHER ARCHITECTS HAD RESPONDED TO THESE RULES WITH "SETBACK" SKYSCRAPERS, WHICH GRADUALLY RECEDED FROM THE STREET.

>> WELL, MIES VAN DER ROHE DIDN'T WANT TO DESIGN A SETBACK BUILDING.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) INSTEAD, HE LEFT A PRICEY PIECE OF NEW YORK REAL ESTATE OPEN, AS A KIND OF GIFT TO THE CITY.

>> THAT REALLY SHOCKED NEW YORK.

YOU KNOW HOW YOU SHOCK NEW YORKERS?

IT'S NOT WITH VULGARISMS JUST BE POLITE TO THEM.

[LAUGHTER] AND THEY DON'T GET IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT ARCHITECTS AND DEVELOPERS CLEARLY DID GET IT.

BECAUSE THE NATION SOON SAW A PROLIFERATION OF MODERNIST BUILDINGS SET ON BROAD PLAZAS.

>>EVERYONE SAID, OH, THAT'S SO NICE THE SEAGRAM BUILDING HAS THAT PLAZA.

EVERYONE LOVES IT.

LET'S HAVE PLAZAS EVERYWHERE.

AND GEE, FUNNY THING, NONE OF THEM WERE AS GOOD.

AND IN FACT, A LOT OF THEM WERE REALLY HORRIBLE!

THEY WERE AWFUL, UGLY, CONCRETE, PRISON YARDS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND THE SKYSCRAPERS THEMSELVES COULD NEVER QUITE RECREATE THE MAGIC OF THE SEAGRAM BUILDING.

>> IT LOOKS EASY TO COPY.

I COULD JUST DO ONE FLOOR AND STACK 'EM UP.

AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF 'EM IS THE SAME FROM THERE ON.

HOW HARD CAN THIS BE?

WELL, HOW HARD IS IT TO GET YOUR PROPORTIONS CORRECTLY?

HOW HARD IS IT TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT MATERIALS?

HOW HARD IS IT TO MAKE THE PROPER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A BUILDING AND ITS SITE?

YOU'RE DAMNED RIGHT THAT'S A TOUGH BUILDING TO MAKE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WE'RE VISITING 10 BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED AMERICA IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, AND WE'VE ARRIVED AT OUR EIGHTH STOP.

TODAY IT'S ALMOST HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN GETTING ON A PLANE WAS A JOYFUL EXPERIENCE.

AND FEW AIRPORTS CAPTURED THE MAGIC OF EARLY JET TRAVEL LIKE THIS ONE.

>> IN THE 1960S, AIR TRAVEL WAS STILL A VERY SPECIAL THING.

SUDDENLY PEOPLE COULD FLY NON-STOP ACROSS THE OCEAN, ALL THESE GLAMOROUS SPOTS.

AND, EERO SAARINEN, THE ARCHITECT SUCCESSFULLY CAPTURES THAT SENSE OF EXCITEMENT AND ANTICIPATION.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) DULLES HAS ALL THE SCULPTURAL STYLISHNESS EERO SAARINEN WAS KNOWN FOR.

IN AN ERA OFTEN REMEMBERED FOR ITS UNDERSTATED GLASS BOXES, SAARINEN OFFERED A MORE EXPRESSIVE BRAND OF MODERNISM.

>> HE UNDERSTOOD THE KIND OF SPECTACLE THAT ARCHITECTURE COULD BE AND THE THEATRICALITY THAT WAS SUPPRESSED IN THE MORE RATIONAL AVANT-GARDE MODERN ARCHITECTURE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SAARINEN WAS FINISHING HIS DESIGN FOR A NEW TWA TERMINAL IN NEW YORK WHEN HE GOT THE CALL TO DESIGN DULLES, OUTSIDE WASHINGTON D.C.

BUT THIS WASN'T JUST ANY AIRPORT.

DULLES WOULD BE THE FIRST AIRPORT IN THE WORLD BUILT EXPRESSLY FOR JETS.

>> SAARINEN SAID THIS IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRANSIT.

WE ARE TRANSPORTING OURSELVES IN A NEW MACHINE AND A NEW ERA, AND WE HAVE TO REPRESENT THAT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SAARINEN DECIDED TO TAKE A HIGHLY SCIENTIFIC APPROACH.

HE STARTED BY SENDING TEAMS OF RESEARCHERS OUT TO AMERICAN AIRPORTS, ARMED WITH STOPWATCHES.

>> HOW FAST DO PEOPLE MOVE FROM POINT A TO POINT B?

WHAT ARE THEIR PATTERNS OF TRANSIT WITHIN A BUILDING?

WHY ARE THEY GOING FROM A TO B?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SAARINEN FOUND THAT PEOPLE HAD TO DO A LOT OF WALKING TO GET TO THEIR PLANES.

THAT'S BECAUSE THESE AIRPORTS HAD ORIGINALLY BEEN DESIGNED TO SERVE SMALLER, PROPELLER-DRIVEN PLANES.

AND NOW THEY WERE ADAPTING TO THE OVERSIZED NEEDS OF JETS BY COBBLING TOGETHER AN ENDLESS EXPANSE OF TERMINAL FINGERS...LOUNGES...AND NEW "TELESCOPING GANGPLANKS".

>> SAARINEN WAS REALLY EAGER TO TRY TO AVOID THOSE FINGERS, THOSE TENTACLES COMING OUT OF AIRPORT TERMINALS THAT WERE ALREADY STARTING TO CREATE SUCH A MESS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SO AT DULLES, SAARINEN DESIGNED A SINGLE, NARROW TERMINAL, WHERE PASSENGERS ONLY HAD TO WALK 150 FEET.

THEN A CONTRAPTION CALLED A "MOBILE LOUNGE" WOULD WHISK THEM AWAY TO THEIR PLANE.

>> SO A HUNDRED AND FIFTY FEET AND THEN YOU WERE READY TO RELAX AND GET READY TO TRAVEL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) A HALF CENTURY LATER, SOME OF THE MOBILE LOUNGES ARE STILL IN USE.

THESE WERE DESIGNED TO WORK LIKE ACTUAL LOUNGES.

YOU COULD RELAX IN HERE WITH A CIGARETTE AND A DRINK WHILE THE LOUNGE TOOK YOU TO YOUR PLANE.

SAARINEN WANTED THIS TO LOOK LIKE A 20TH CENTURY GATEWAY TO THE NATION'S CAPITOL.

SO HE COMBINED THE CURVINESS OF THE JET AGE, WITH THE CLASSICISM OF WASHINGTON, DC.

>> I THINK IT'S EASY TO SEE THIS FRONT PART OF THE BUILDING AS AN ABSTRACTION OF A CLASSICAL TEMPLE.

WITH THE COLUMNS.

WITH THE COLUMNS, THE COLONNADE SORT OF IN KEEPING WITH THE OFFICIAL ARCHITECTURE OF WASHINGTON, D.C. >> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE COLUMNS HOLD UP THE SWOOPING CONCRETE ROOF IN A WAY THE ANCIENT GREEKS NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

INSTEAD OF RESTING ON TOP OF THEM, THE ROOF HANGS FROM THEM, LIKE A GIANT HAMMOCK.

THE SOLID CONCRETE APPEARS TO FLOAT ABOVE THE UNDULATING GLASS WALLS.

>> IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANYTHING YOU'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT MAKES IT STAND UP.

IT'S A BIG, CONCRETE BUILDING THAT LOOKS AS LIGHT AS A HANDKERCHIEF IN THE WIND.

IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO JUST BLOW AWAY AT ANY MINUTE.

IT WON'T HURT YOU WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

IT'LL JUST KIND OF FLOAT OFF AND LAND IN SOME OTHER AIRPORT SOMEWHERE ELSE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) EERO SAARINEN NEVER GOT TO SEE THE COMPLETED AIRPORT.

HE DIED SUDDENLY FROM A BRAIN TUMOR WHEN DULLES WAS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

BUT THE WEIGHTLESS FORM HE CREATED HERE LEFT A PERMANENT MARK ON THE WORLD'S ARCHITECTURE.

SOME AIRPORT ARCHITECTS SEEM TO HAVE OVERTLY COPIED DULLES'S SWOOPING SHAPES.

OTHERS HAVE SIMPLY BEEN INSPIRED BY SAARINEN'S BROADER VISION FOR WHAT AN AIRPORT SHOULD BE: A WELL-ORDERED AND WELCOMING GATEWAY TO A CITY.

>> ESPECIALLY NOWADAYS WHEN TRAVEL CAN BE SO STRESSFUL, TO HAVE A SENSE THAT EVERYTHING'S GOING TO WORK.

THAT YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW WHERE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GO, THAT IT'LL BE A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE TO MOVE THROUGH THE BUILDING.

A LOT OF THOSE THINGS ARE VERY MUCH THE ARCHITECT'S JOB.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT'S BEEN CALLED THE FIRST POSTMODERN BUILDING.

ITS ARCHITECT THUMBED HIS NOSE AT MODERNISM'S STRICT RULES.

WHY?

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THEM?

>> I DON'T KNOW.

IT'S JUST THAT I'M KIND OF A PERVERT!

[LAUGHTER] >> (GEOFFREY BAER) MODERNIST BUILDINGS HAD ENTIRE WALLS OF WINDOWS.

>> BUT YOU'D NEVER HAVE A WALL WITH A WINDOW IN IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MODERNISTS FROWNED UPON FRIVOLOUS DECORATION.

>> AND THIS HOUSE HAS THE KIND OF, WOOD ELEMENTS ON IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND HE HEARD MODERN ARCHITECT MARCEL BREUER SAY, "YOU SHOULD NEVER PAINT A HOUSE GREEN."

>> AND SO I IMMEDIATELY SAID, "I'M GOING HOME AND PAINTING THAT HOUSE GREEN."

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ROBERT VENTURI SPARKED A BIG DEBATE WITH THIS LITTLE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF PHILADELPHIA...

WHICH HE DESIGNED FOR HIS ELDERLY MOTHER.

LIKE HER SON, VANNA VENTURI WASN'T AFRAID TO GO AGAINST THE GRAIN.

>> SHE WAS THIS COMBINATION OF SOCIALIST AND PACIFIST.

>>AND SHE REFUSED TO SEND YOU TO PUBLIC SCHOOL?

>> THAT'S RIGHT.

'CAUSE SHE WAS AFRAID I'D HAVE TO PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN OTHER WORDS, SHE WAS AN IDEAL CLIENT FOR A HOUSE THAT WOULD CHALLENGE THE MODERNIST ESTABLISHMENT.

>> SHE JUST SORT OF, LEFT IT UP TO ME.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ROBERT VENTURI'S PROBLEM WITH MODERNISTS WAS THAT THEY TRIED TO MEET THE COMPLICATED NEEDS OF OUR SOCIETY WITH GRAND SCHEMES AND RIGID RULES.

THE RESULT, HE FELT, WAS BLAND ARCHITECTURE THAT PEOPLE HAD TROUBLE CONNECTING WITH.

MIES VAN DER ROHE FAMOUSLY DECLARED "LESS IS MORE".

VENTURI SHOT BACK "LESS IS A BORE".

>> HE SAID WHY SHOULD WE BE REDUCING ARCHITECTURE TO THIS PURE, SIMPLE, MINIMALIST OBJECT?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT ROBERT VENTURI'S MANIFESTO AGAINST MODERNISM DIDN'T COME EASILY.

FOR FOUR YEARS HE DESIGNED AND REDESIGNED THE HOUSE.

>> HE STARTED DESIGNING IT WHEN WE MET.

I MET HIM IN 1960.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) HIS FUTURE WIFE AND COLLABORATOR FOUND HE WAS ALWAYS DISAPPEARING TO WORK ON HIS MOM'S HOUSE.

>> AND EVERY NOW AND THEN, I WOULDN'T SEE HIM FOR ABOUT A MONTH.

AND I THOUGHT, LOOK, THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING PERSON.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN PARTICULAR HE LABORED OVER THE UNUSUALLY TALL CHIMNEY, WHICH HE SAYS WAS AN OBSCENE GESTURE DIRECTED AT THE ESTABLISHMENT.

>> THE CHIMNEY WAS A BIT DOING THIS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE COMPLETED HOUSE LOOKS VAGUELY FAMILIAR, EVEN IF YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE.

THAT'S BECAUSE VENTURI BORROWED FAMILIAR ELEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN USED BY HOMEBUILDERS THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

INSTEAD OF AN ABSTRACT MODERNIST BOX, THIS HOUSE... LOOKS LIKE A CHILD'S DRAWING OF A HOUSE?

>> I THINK THAT'S A NICE THING TO SAY, AN APPROPRIATE THING TO SAY BECAUSE I WANTED IT TO BE A KIND OF FUNDAMENTAL, SYMBOLIC, GENERIC, HOUSE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT AS YOU GET CLOSER YOU DISCOVER THAT WHAT LOOKS LIKE A HUGE CHIMNEY FROM AFAR CAN'T POSSIBLY BE REAL, BECAUSE IT HAS WINDOWS.

THROUGH THEM, YOU SEE STAIRS, NOT SMOKE.

AND WHAT APPEARS TO BE A GABLE ROOF, HAS THE REAL ROOF HIDING BEHIND IT, ALONG WITH THE REAL CHIMNEY.

SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THIS IS REALLY A FAçADE, RIGHT?

>> YES.

IT'S VERY MUCH A FAçADE.

>> IT'S LIKE A BILLBOARD.

>> IT'S LIKE A BILLBOARD.

THAT'S RIGHT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WALKING IN THE DOOR, YOU DISCOVER THE REAL HOUSE BEHIND THE BILLBOARD.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

IN THE LIVING ROOM AN OVERSIZED FIREPLACE JOCKEYS FOR POSITION WITH A STAIRWAY.

THE STAIRS AT FIRST WIDEN...

BUT THEN THEY NARROW TO SQUEEZE AROUND THE REAL CHIMNEY.

>> IT'S AN ILLOGICAL STAIR.

>> YOU SAID IT'S ILLOGICAL?

>>IT'S AN ILLOGICAL STAIR BECAUSE IT GETS WIDER AS YOU GO UP.

REALLY, THIS CLASHING OF THINGS IS THE EMOTIONAL CENTER OF THIS BUILDING.

>> AND THEN THERE'S THIS STAIRWAY... THAT LEADS TO...NOWHERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE IDEA HERE IS THAT WHILE MODERNISTS FOUGHT SO HARD TO CREATE ORDER, THIS HOUSE RECOGNIZES AWKWARDNESS AND CONFUSION; IT EMBRACES COMPLEXITY AND CONTRADICTION.

THAT, BY THE WAY, WAS THE TITLE OF VENTURI'S INFLUENTIAL BOOK.

>> SO VENTURI MIGHT SAY, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THERE TO BE THAT CONTRADICTION, THAT THE BUILDING SHOULD ALWAYS COME AROUND AND SURPRISE YOU.

AND THAT THE IDEA THAT AN ARCHITECT HAS THE CAPACITY TO COME UP WITH THE PERFECT IDEAL FORM IS A FLAWED IDEA.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND THE ARCHITECTURE WORLD TOOK NOTICE.

NOT LONG AFTER VANNA VENTURI MOVED IN, VISITORS STARTED SHOWING UP ON HER DOORSTEP... BY THE BUSLOAD.

>> I THINK SHE ENJOYED IT.

>> AND SHE COULD SIT AND GIVE A SEMINAR AT THIS TABLE.

>> AND TELLING STORIES ABOUT HER SON WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BOY AND ALL THAT AND ALL THAT... >> (GEOFFREY BAER) SOON, MRS. VENTURI'S LITTLE HOUSE BECAME A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR THOUSANDS OF ARCHITECTS.

POSTMODERNISM AS IT BECAME KNOWN STARTED SHOWING UP EVERYWHERE FROM SKYSCRAPERS TO STRIP-MALLS.

MANY REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS SIMPLY SAW IT AS A CHEAP AND EASY WAY TO BRAND THEIR BUILDINGS, BY SLAPPING HISTORICAL REFERENCES ON A BILLBOARD-LIKE FAçADE.

>> AND SO JUST AS THE WORLD IS PLASTERED WITH EXAMPLES OF BAD MODERN ARCHITECTURE.

WELL, GUESS WHAT?

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF EXAMPLES OF POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE, THAT'S JUST AS BAD!

GOSH AWFUL WEDDING CAKE IMITATION OF HISTORY MADE TO LOOK QUASI HISTORICAL OR WORSE, ABSTRACTED INTO SOME KIND OF CARTOON VERSION OF HISTORY.

>> I WASN'T TRYING TO BE POST-MODERN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) STARTING A MOVEMENT, WAS NEVER ON ROBERT VENTURI'S AGENDA.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WHEN WALT DISNEY'S WIDOW ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WOULD HELP PAY FOR A NEW CLASSICAL MUSIC HALL FOR LOS ANGELES, MANY EXPECTED A CONSERVATIVE BUILDING.

THE ARCHITECT SAYS THE DISNEY FAMILY'S OWN LAWYER REQUESTED TRADITIONAL TOUCHES... LIKE BRASS HANDRAILS.

>> SO I PUT MORE BRASS HANDRAILS IN THAN WAS NECESSARY FOR THAT GUY.

AND I BROUGHT HIM OVER HERE AND I SAID IS THAT ENOUGH BRASS HANDRAILS FOR YOU?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) TODAY FRANK GEHRY IS ARGUABLY AMERICA'S MOST ACCLAIMED LIVING ARCHITECT, KNOWN FOR BUILDING SPLASHY CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE WORLD.

BUT BACK IN 1988 HE WAS A LONG SHOT IN THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN THIS CONCERT HALL IN HIS OWN HOMETOWN.

> >IT WAS THE LEAST LIKELIEST THING THAT I THOUGHT WOULD EVER HAPPEN TO ME IN MY LIFE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) YOU SEE, AT THE TIME GEHRY WAS KNOWN FOR HIS FUNKY, LOW-BUDGET BUILDINGS, MADE WITH THE KINDS OF MATERIALS YOU'D NEVER FIND IN A CLASSICAL MUSIC HALL, LIKE PLYWOOD, RAW SHEET METAL, AND CHAIN LINK FENCE.

>> NOBODY HAD EVER TRUSTED HIM WITH A LARGE PUBLIC BUILDING OR A LARGE BUDGET BEFORE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SO WHEN GEHRY ENTERED THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN THE WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, HE SAYS THAT DISNEY FAMILY LAWYER HAD A WORD WITH HIM.

>> HE INFORMED ME THAT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD WALT DISNEY'S NAME BE ON ANY BUILDING THAT I DESIGNED.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) UNDETERRED, HE ENTERED WITH A DESIGN THAT WAS INSPIRED BY THE POPULIST SPIRIT OF WALT DISNEY HIMSELF.

WHILE A CLASSICAL MUSIC VENUE COULD END UP FEELING STUFFY AND ELITIST, GEHRY WANTED THIS ONE TO BE INVITING AND ACCESSIBLE.

>> I ALWAYS THOUGHT WALT DISNEY STOOD FOR CREATIVITY.

I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WAS GONNA MAKE MICKEY MOUSE AND THINGS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

IT WAS THAT DESIGN THAT CAUGHT MRS. DISNEY'S EYE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) FRANK GEHRY GOT THE JOB.

>> (FRANK GEHRY) I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT BECAUSE OF A LONG STRING OF FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL PROBLEMS IT WOULD BE ANOTHER 15 YEARS BEFORE HE COULD FINISH THE BUILDING.

GEHRY USED THE TIME TO TAKE HIS WINNING ENTRY, AND EXTENSIVELY REDESIGN IT, FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

>> MY NOTION WAS THAT THERE'S A BOX.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WORKING WITH AN ACOUSTICAL CONSULTANT, GEHRY FOUND THAT A BOX-SHAPED HALL WOULD PRODUCE THE BEST SOUND.

>> LIKE THAT.

BUT WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THAT CONTAINER HE WANTED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CREATE AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE AUDIENCE AND THE ORCHESTRA.

>> INSTEAD OF SEEING THE BACK OF PEOPLE'S HEADS, YOU'RE LOOKING AT FACES, THE FACES OF THE AUDIENCE, THE FACES OF THE ORCHESTRA.

THAT'S WHAT HE WANTED.

BUT THE ACOUSTICIAN SAYS IT'S GOTTA BE A BOX.

SO HE'S WRIGGLING WITHIN THE BOX.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) GEHRY'S SOLUTION WAS TO BUILD THIS SCULPTURAL, SADDLE-SHAPED SEATING DECK, IN WHICH THE AUDIENCE COMPLETELY ENVELOPS THE ORCHESTRA.

♪♪ >> THAT FEELING DOES CHANGE THE WAY THE ORCHESTRA PLAYS.

>>BECAUSE THEY FEEL IT.

>>THEY FEEL IT.

AND WHEN THEY PLAY BETTER, THESE GUYS RESPOND BETTER, AND THESE GUYS PLAY BETTER, SO IT'S THAT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE BILLOWING SHAPES ARE ECHOED ON THE OUTSIDE IN STAINLESS STEEL.

THEY'RE INSPIRED BY GEHRY'S LOVE OF SAILING.

THESE SAILS FORM A "WRAPPER" AROUND THE BUILDING, WHICH MASKS ITS MORE MUNDANE INNER-WORKINGS.

>> WELL, THE BUILDING'S A BOX.

AND I PUT THE TOILETS AND ELEVATORS ON EACH SIDE.

>> THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING, YOU DON'T NECESSARILY SEE THAT.

>> WELL, LOOK AT, SEE THAT WALL, THOSE TWO WALLS...

...THEY'RE AGAINST THE BOX.

AND ALL I DID WAS TWEAK THE CORNER.

AND SO ONCE I DID THAT THEN THE NEXT LEVEL DOWN I DID THE SAME.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN OTHER PLACES THE ARCHITECT SAYS THE SHAPES RELATE TO THE BUILDING'S NEIGHBORS, INCLUDING THE OLD MUSIC HALL ACROSS THE STREET.

>> THAT HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT.

[LAUGHTER] >> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS BUILDING'S HIGHLY COMPLEX FORMS COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE ERA BEFORE COMPUTERS.

FRANK GEHRY'S OFFICE HAS TRANSFORMED THE ARCHITECTURE BUSINESS WITH ITS USE OF SOFTWARE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED TO DESIGN FIGHTER JETS.

>> THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF TECHNOLOGY RUNNING AROUND IN, WHAT SEEMS LIKE WHIMSICAL SHAPE-MAKING!

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) FRANK GEHRY'S UNIQUE FORMS ARE RARELY IMITATED BY OTHER ARCHITECTS.

BUT HIS PIONEERING TECHNOLOGY AND DARING SPIRIT HAVE OFFERED US A NEW MODEL, FOR HOW TO CREATE SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC BUILDINGS USING ADVENTURESOME ARCHITECTURE.

>> I THINK FRANK GEHRY HAS CHANGED ARCHITECTURE.

DISNEY HALL LIBERATES THE SPIRITS OF EVERYBODY WHO WALKS BY IT.

AND I THINK IN THE SAME WAY, THIS HAS LIBERATED ARCHITECTS TO BE BOLD.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) FRANK GEHRY IS PART OF A BOLD AMERICAN TRADITION.

IN THIS YOUNG COUNTRY SOME ARCHITECTS HAVE FELT FREE TO CAST ASIDE THE ENTRENCHED ARTISTIC TRADITIONS OF THE OLD WORLD.

IN AMERICA, ARCHITECTS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRAZENLY REDEFINE WHAT BUILDINGS SHOULD LOOK LIKE.

WHETHER BY REACHING INTO THE PAST TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO OLD FORMS... BY USING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE... OR BY INVENTING FORMS WE'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE...

THEY'VE SHOWN THAT AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE ISN'T SO MUCH A SINGLE STYLE, AS IT IS AN ENDLESS PROCESS OF REINVENTION.

>> THERE ISN'T A THING YOU POINT AT AND SAY, "AH, THAT'S AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE."

WE BEG, BORROW, AND STEAL.

WE RESHAPE, AND WE CREATE INTERESTING ARCHITECTURE.

WHETHER THAT'S THE WHOLLY ORIGINAL PERSON OF A FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, THE IMPORTATION OF A MIES VAN DER ROHE, OR THE COMPLETE FUTURISM OF A NEW FIRM.

WE REALLY RELISH AS A NATION THAT SORT OF ARCHITECTURAL FERMENT.

WE REALLY DO.

>> (ANNOUNCER) TO LEARN MORE, VISIT US ONLINE, AT PBS.ORG/10 BUILDINGS.

"10 BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED AMERICA" IS AVAILABLE ON DVD.

THE COMPANION BOOK IS ALSO AVAILABLE.

TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG OR CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS.