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Price Tower

Coordinates: 36°44′52.21″N 95°58′34.23″W / 36.7478361°N 95.9761750°W / 36.7478361; -95.9761750
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For the building in Quebec City, see Édifice Price.
Price Tower
Price Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Map
General information
TypeMulti-use
Location510 S. Dewey Avenue
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, U.S.
Construction started1952
Completed1956
Height
Antenna spire221 ft (67 m)
Technical details
Floor count19
Floor area42,000 square feet (3,900 m2)
Lifts/elevators4
Design and construction
Architect(s)Frank Lloyd Wright
Main contractorHaskell Culwell
Price Tower
Frank Lloyd Wright, Price Tower
Price Tower is located in Oklahoma
Price Tower
Price Tower is located in the United States
Price Tower
LocationBartlesville, Oklahoma
Coordinates36°44′52.21″N 95°58′34.23″W / 36.7478361°N 95.9761750°W / 36.7478361; -95.9761750
Built1956
ArchitectFrank Lloyd Wright
NRHP reference No.74001670[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 13, 1974
Designated NHLMarch 29, 2007[2]

The Price Tower is a nineteen-story, 221-foot-high tower at 510 South Dewey Avenue in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States. Built in 1956, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the only realized skyscraper by Wright and is one of only two vertically oriented Wright structures extant; the other is the S.C. Johnson Wax Research Tower in Racine, Wisconsin.

Harold C. Price of the H. C. Price Company, a local oil pipeline and chemical firm commissioned the Price Tower. It opened to the public in February 1956.

History

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Harold Price commissioned the Price Tower as a corporate headquarters for his Bartlesville company. His wife, Lou Patteson Price, and his two sons, Harold Jr. and Joe, comprised the building committee. The Prices were directed to Frank Lloyd Wright by architect Bruce Goff, who was then Dean of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma, where the Price sons had studied. Wright also designed an Arizona home for the senior Prices.

Wright nicknamed the Price Tower, which was built on the Oklahoma prairie, "the tree that escaped the crowded forest," referring not only to the building's construction, but also to the origins of its design. The Price Tower is supported by a central "trunk" of four elevator shafts anchored in place by a deep central foundation as if a tree were by its taproot. The nineteen floors of the building are cantilevered from this central core, like the branches of a tree. The outer walls hang from the floors and are clad in patinated copper "leaves." The building is asymmetrical, and like a tree, "looks different from every angle."[3]

Wright had championed these design ideas, which other architects had put to use before the construction of the Price Tower, in the late 1920s in his design for an apartment complex of four cantilevered towers near St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in downtown New York City.[4] Following the effects of the Great Depression, the project was shelved and adapted by Wright for the Price Company in 1952. Wright, therefore, plucked his "tree" out of the "crowded forest" of Manhattan skyscrapers and placed it on the Oklahoma prairie where it continues to stand uncrowded by neighboring tall buildings.

The floorplan of the Price Tower centers upon an inlaid cast bronze plaque, bearing the logo of the Price Company and marking the origin of a parallelogram grid upon which all exterior walls, interior partitions and doors, and built-in furniture are placed. The resulting design is a quadrant plan—one quadrant dedicated for double-height apartments, and three for offices. The materials for the Price Tower are equally innovative for a mid-twentieth-century skyscraper: cast concrete walls, pigmented concrete floors, aluminum-trimmed windows and doors, and patinated embossed and distressed copper panels. The general geometric element is the equilateral triangle, and all lighting fixtures and ventilation grilles are based upon that form while the angled walls and built-in furniture are based on fractions or multiples of the triangular module. The lobby contains two inscriptions by Walt Whitman. One is from the concluding stanza of Salut au Monde, and the other from Song of the Broad-Axe.[5]

The St. Mark's project was for apartment houses only; however, the Price Tower was designed as a multi-use building with the H. C. Price Company as the primary occupant, in addition to business offices, shops, and apartments. Seven double-height apartments were income-raising ventures.[4] Tenants included lawyers, accountants, physicians, dentists, and insurance agents. A women's high-end dress shop, beauty salon, and the regional offices of the Public Service Company of Oklahoma occupied a two-story wing of the tower, with a drive-through passageway separating the high and low structures. The Price Company occupied the upper floors, including a commissary on the sixteenth floor and a penthouse office suite for Harold Price Sr. and later his son Harold Jr.

Current status

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The H.C. Price Company sold Price Tower to Phillips Petroleum in 1981 following a move to Dallas, where their company is presently located. Phillips Petroleum's lawyers deemed the exterior exit staircase a safety risk and only used the building for storage.[6] They retained ownership until 2000 when the building was donated to Price Tower Arts Center, and it has returned to its multi-use origins. Price Tower Arts Center, a museum of art, architecture, and design; Inn at Price Tower;[7] a restaurant; and the Wright Place museum store are the current major tenants with smaller firms leasing space.

The Inn at Price Tower is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[8] It is on the 2021 list of Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Magnificent Art Collections.[9]

In 2002, the Pritzker Prize–winning architect Zaha Hadid was commissioned to design a museum expansion for Price Tower Arts Center—a project that was included in the 2006 retrospective exhibition of Hadid's work at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City.

On March 29, 2007, the Price Tower was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior, then one of only twenty-two such properties in the state of Oklahoma.[10] In 2008, the U.S. National Park Service submitted the Price Tower, along with nine other Frank Lloyd Wright properties, to a tentative list for World Heritage Status. The 10 sites have been submitted as one site. The January 22, 2008, press release from the National Park Service website announcing the nominations states, "The preparation of a Tentative List is a necessary first step in the process of nominating a site to the World Heritage List."[11] However, after a 2016 nomination to the World Heritage List was rejected by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, a revised 2018 proposal removed the Price Tower from consideration.[12] The revised nomination of eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings was accepted in July 2019 as The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The tower was sold in 2023 for $10 to Copper Tree Inc., which had planned to restore the building.[13] By August 2024, the owners owed more than $2 million and were selling off the tower's furniture. As a result, the tower was closed effective September 1, 2024, amid financial issues and a dispute with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy regarding the sale of the furniture.[14][15] By the end of September, some of the furniture had been sold.[16] Ownership of the building was to be the subject of an online auction in early October 2024, with a starting bid of $600,000.[17] The auction was halted amid a lawsuit over whether an earlier sale agreement covering the structure was still in force.[17][18] Copper Tree sued the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy in mid-October, requesting that a judge nullify the conservancy's liens on the building.[19] If the dispute is resolved, the building is scheduled to go up for bid again in mid-November.[17][19]

Price Tower Arts Center

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The Price Tower Arts Center is the art complex at Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The center was founded in 1985 as a civic art museum and reorganized in 1998 to focus on art, architecture, and design.[20] Features includes a museum with changing exhibits. Collections include modern art, works on paper, furniture, textiles, and design. The center owns some significant pieces by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Visitors can also tour the fully restored 1956 Price Company Executive Office and Corporate Apartment.

Copies

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A tribute to the Price Tower called The Classen, designed by the architectural firm Bozalis & Roloff and constructed in 1967, can be found in Oklahoma City's Asian District, along Classen Boulevard, next door to the Buckminster Fuller-inspired Gold Dome, also designed by Bozalis & Roloff.

Hillside

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Harold Jr. also commissioned a Wright building.[21] Wright constructed Hillside, otherwise known as the "Harold Price Jr. House", in Bartlesville in the 1953-1954 timeframe.[21][22] This Usonian home has two stories and an L-shaped hipped roof.[21][22][23] It is one of only three Wright buildings in Oklahoma, along with the Price Tower and Westhope in Tulsa.[24]

Other Pieces of Work

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The nearby Bartlesville High School marching band, the Bruin Brigade, performed a marching show called "Skyscraper, The Tree That Escaped The Crowded Forest" in 2022. The Bruin Brigade performed the show in front of the Price Tower with its own miniature tower. The show was about the Price Tower because of the transfer of band directors and to honor the town of Bartlesville with its most recognizable building.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ "Price Tower". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
  3. ^ Terdiman, David (July 20, 2014). "Price Tower: Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper". CNET. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Frank Lloyd Wright. St. Mark's Tower project, New York, NY (Aerial perspective). 1927–1931 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. New York City. 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  5. ^ "Price Tower". Exploring Art. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  6. ^ Dupré, Judith (1996). Skyscrapers. Black Dog & Leventhal. p. 49. ISBN 1-884822-45-2.
  7. ^ "Hotel". Price Tower Arts Center.
  8. ^ "Inn at Price Tower, a Historic Hotels of America member". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  9. ^ "The 2021 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Magnificent Art Collections Announced". www.historichotels.org. Washington, D.C.: Historic Hotels of America. May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  10. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Listings". National Park Service. April 13, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  11. ^ "DOI Secretary Kempthorne Selects New US World Heritage Tentative List". nps.gov. January 22, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  12. ^ "Eight Buildings Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List". Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. December 20, 2018.
  13. ^ Singrey, Abigail (August 16, 2024). "Frank Lloyd Wright's Only Skyscraper Sold for $10 in 2023 and Has Been Embroiled in Controversy Ever Since". Architectural Digest. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  14. ^ "PRICE TOWER CLOSING: Bartlesville's iconic skyscraper set to closet Sept 1". KJRH Tulsa. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  15. ^ Hickman, Matt (August 16, 2024). "Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower in Oklahoma to Close Amid Controversy". Architectural Record. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  16. ^ Aguiar, Annie (September 30, 2024). "The Plan to Save Frank Lloyd Wright's Only Skyscraper Isn't Going as Planned". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c Watts, James D. Jr. (October 4, 2024). "Price Tower auction postponed at request of Bartlesville landmark's owner". Tulsa World. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  18. ^ Coyle, Bailey (October 4, 2024). "Auction of Bartlesville's Price Tower on hold amid lawsuit". www.fox23.com. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Aguiar, Annie (October 22, 2024). "Owner of Frank Lloyd Wright Skyscraper Sues Preservation Group". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  20. ^ "Visitor Information". Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2008. Price Tower Arts Center: Visitor Info
  21. ^ a b c "Harold Price Jr. Residence (Hillside)". WikiArquitectura. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Harold Price, Jr. House (1954)". FrankLloydWrightSites. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  23. ^ "Hillside – Harold Price Jr. Residence [1953]". Andrew Pielage. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  24. ^ "Westhope, the iconic Tulsa home built by Frank Lloyd Wright, now up for sale". Grace Wood, Tulsa World, April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.

Bibliography

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Articles

  • Alexander, John T. "Wright on the Oklahoma Prairie" The Kansas City Times (Feb 18, 1958).
  • Apostolo, Roberto. "La Price Tower di Frank Lloyd Wright" Frames, Portes, and Finestre (Aug.-Sep. 1992): 54–61.
  • "Bartlesville Tower Rises, Oddest Building in State" Tulsa World (Feb 21, 1955).
  • Curtis, Wayne, "Little Skyscraper on the Prairie", The Atlantic (July/August 2008).
  • DeLong, David G. "A Tower Expressive of Unique Interiors" AIA Journal 71 (Jul. 1982): 78–83.
  • Dillon David. "The Inn at Price Tower." Architectural Record (Jul. 2003): 118–125.
  • "18-Story Tower Cantilever Structure of Concrete and Glass: Dramatic Frank Lloyd Wright Design." Building Materials Digest 14 (Dec. 1954): 425.
  • "Frank Lloyd Wright: After 36 Years His Tower is Completed." Architectural Forum 104 (Feb. 1956): 106–113.
  • "Frank Lloyd Wright's Concrete and Copper Skyscraper on the Prairie for H.C. Price Co." Architectural Forum 98 (May 1953): 98–105.
  • "Frank Lloyd Wright; la 'Price Tower'." Casabella Continutà 211 (Jun.-Jul. 1956): 8-21.
  • "Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower Wins AIA Twenty-five Year Award." Architectural Record 171 (Apr. 1983): 83.
  • Gordon, Joanne. "The Skyscraper that Shocks Oklahoma Town." Kansas City Star (Mar 11, 1956).
  • "Gratte-ciel à Bartlesville, cite de 25,000 habitants, U.S.A." Architecture d'Aujourd hui 27 (Oct. 1956): 23.
  • "H.C. Price Company Had Humble Beginning." The Bartlesville Examiner (Feb 9, 1956).
  • "The H.C. Price Tower." Architectural Record 119 (Feb. 1956): 153–160.
  • Hosokawa, Bill. "Price's Tower of Independence." The Denver Post (Mar. 1956).
  • "The Lighting in Frank Lloyd Wright's Ultra Modern Tower." Lighting (Dec. 1956): 26–27.
  • Nash, Eric P. "Travel Advisory: Rooms with a View, By Frank Lloyd Wright." New York Times (Mar 16, 2003).
  • "Prairie Skyscraper." Time 61 (May 25, 1953): 43.
  • "Price Tower Completion Story." The Tie-In Quarterly 13 (Winter 1956): 2–5.
  • "The Price Tower is Wright's." Southern Living (Dec. 1990).
  • "Price Tower Will Be Built in Bartlesville." Construction News Monthly (Jun 10, 1953): 117–118.
  • Schmertz, Mildred F. "Inn at Price Tower: An Oklahoma Hotel Finds a Home in Frank Lloyd Wright's 1950s High-Rise." Architectural Digest (June 2003): 72, 74, 76-77.
  • "Tower to Provide Office, Living Space." Engineering News-Record (Jun 4, 1953): 23.
  • "Wright Completes Skyscraper." Progressive Architecture 37 (Feb. 1956): 87–90.

Books

  • Alofsin, Anthony, ed. Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower. New York: Rizzoli, 2005.
  • Futagawa, Yukio, and Martin Pawley, eds. Frank Lloyd Wright Public Buildings. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970.
  • Hoffmann, Donald. Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and the Skyscraper. New York: Dover, 1998.
  • Wright, Frank Lloyd. The Story of the Tower: The Tree That Escaped the Crowded Forest. New York: Horizon Press, 1956.
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