Architecture
Notre Dame
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Johnson Wax Headquarters
2Timothy 2:19
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
I'm Peeking out!! Where are they!Chess: "Architecture" "Notre Dame" "Cathedral"
"SC Johnson"
Johnson Wax Headquarters (1936–1939), the world headquarters and administration building of
S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. in
Racine, Wisconsin was designed by
American architect,
Frank Lloyd Wright, for the company's president, Herbert F. "Hib" Johnson. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark in 1976 as
Administration Building and Research Tower, S.C. Johnson and Son.
[2]
An example of streamlined design, the Johnson Wax Administration Building, as it is also known, has over 200 types of curved red bricks making up the exterior and interior of the building, and
Pyrex glass tubing from the ceiling and
clerestories to let in soft light. The colors that Frank Lloyd Wright chose for the Johnson Wax building are cream (for the columns and
mortar) and "Cherokee Red" for the floors, bricks, and furniture. The furniture, also designed by the architect, and manufactured by
Steelcase, Inc., echoes the curving lines of the building.
One approaches the building by walking underneath the 14-story tall Johnson Wax Research Tower (1944–1951) and through a low parking lot, which is supported by
steel-reinforced "dendriform" (tree-shaped) concrete columns. The parking lot ceiling creates a compression of space, and the dendriform columns are echoed inside the building, where they rise over two stories tall, supporting the structure's roof. This rise in height when one enters the administration building creates a release of spatial compression. Compression and release of space were concepts that Wright used in many of his designs, including the playroom in his
Oak Park Home and Studio, the
Unity Temple in
Oak Park, Illinois, the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in
New York City, and many others. The largest expanse of space in the Johnson Wax building is the Great Workroom, as Wright called it. This open area has no internal walls and was intended for
secretaries of the Johnson Wax company, while a
mezzanine holds the administrators.
Interior, "Great Workroom", of the Johnson Wax Headquarters building
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