HERITAGE
Palm Beach UNBUILT
THE STORIES BEHIND THREE UNREALIZED ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS BY MARIE PENNY
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COURTESY OF THE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION OF PALM BEACH
1. FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: FLORIDA COTTAGE, PALM BEACH, 1912 Considered the “greatest American architect of all time,” Frank Lloyd Wright needs no introduction. His largest contribution to the state is the Florida Southern College campus in Lakeland. However, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives holds a drawing of an unbuilt cottage in Palm Beach. Who was the client? Was it on the lake or the ocean? There are so many questions that a drawing alone cannot answer. The character-defining
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traits of the cottage are the flat rooflines and overhanging eaves indicative of the Prairie style, which Wright pioneered and is prevalent in the American Midwest. 2. JOHN VOLK: ROYAL POINCIANA PLAZA RESTAURANT, 1959 Volk conceived of an octagonal restaurant pavilion in the center of The Royal Poinciana Plaza. This was more than a concept, as there are several detailed drawings in the Volk collection. It would have included a buffet, a dining room, and a cocktail lounge. In accordance with the rest of the plaza (also designed by Volk), the intended pavilion was imagined in the Regency COURTESY OF THE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION OF PALM BEACH
In Palm Beach, architecture is more than just the backdrop to our daily walks: It signifies what part of town we are in and teaches us about important moments in design history. The built environment is the product of the many architects who contributed to the Town of Palm Beach, but what about the structures that never made it off the page? Here, we examine conceptual visions from the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach’s archive and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives.
THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION ARCHIVES (THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART | AVERY ARCHITECTURAL & FINE ARTS LIBRARY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK); COPYRIGHT © 2022 FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION, SCOTTSDALE, AZ. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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style, which was adapted for Palm Beach and popularized in the late 1950s. The use of classical moldings, columns, and pediments are key aspects of Palm Beach Regency. 3. BELFORD SHOUMATE: PALM BEACH PIER, 1965 After years of sustained damage, the Palm Beach Pier—the only public pier in town—was demolished in 1969. Shoumate designed several studies of the pier when ownership changed hands in the early 1960s. He envisioned a modern pier that would change the fabric of the beachfront—it even included a pool. The balance between the straight lines and strong geometric forms lends a futuristic quality to this modern concept. Marie Penny is the director of archives for the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.
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