Racine

[low_delta]

Last weekend, I went down to the city of Racine, south of Milwaukee. I happened upon the campus of S.C. Johnson Wax, which was in part designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Very cool looking place. I also found a couple more cool buildings.


This old fire station is across the street.


This is a Pabst saloon, which dates to the days when beer manufacturers could own their own bars.


This is the Golden Rondelle Theater. It was built for the '64 World Fair, then shipped to Racine. Wright's architects designed the building it's mounted in.




There's the famous research tower.




Notice the "glass." These are the "windows." They're rows of plexiglass (originally Pyrex) tubing! 28km of it. The tower stands empty. Tours can't even go through, due to fire codes. Apparently, there's only one exit from the seventeen story tower.

It's hard to get a picture of these interesting buildings from outside the complex. Notice how rounded everything is. Even the rectangular building in the foreground has round "corners." Funny, the red brick doesn't look at all familiar. Is it possible I've never seen a color photo of it before?

Comments

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

http://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/johnson.htm

Clearly the Johnson Wax Pavilion at the 1964 world's fair had no brick. It would have ruined the illusion of entering a spaceship!

I think it's possible I was actually in that building, perhaps in 1965? It's interesting to think about what happened to all of the stuff that went into that fair. Some of it is still here, like the Unisphere, of course, and some rusting remnants which might actually get torn down, now that Shea Stadium is gone too.

I know there was a giant US Royal Ferris Wheel, made to look like a huge automobile tire, which I think is still in operation somewhere in the country. Probably near Akron, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan or Chicago, if I had to guess. and the whole "It's a Small World" thing was created for that fair, but then transplanted back to the Disney parks later.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Good link. Thanks! The film shown inside the flying saucer got high acclaim. It sounds like the observation towers will go soon.

When I was looking around last night, I found a page that told about all the constructions that were taken from the fair, but I didn't follow the links to see what was still around. I remember mention of the tire-shaped ferris wheel. And I think the audio animatronic Abe Lincoln debuted at the fair too.

After our last trip to New York, I was poking around the Google map of the city, and I found the fair grounds, but I didn't realize what it was until reading a current description of the grounds, where they said Arthur Ashe stadium was there.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

I guess it makes sense to get rid of the observation towers if no one can ever go in them! I guess that's a more cost effective solution than trying to retrofit them with the ability to have escape routes or fire proofing.

The thing about the 1964/65 World's Fair is that it was harshly criticized as being extremely commercial. There were many more pavilions for products than there were for countries, and the corporate exhibits were bigger, brighter and more attractive than the ones for anything else. And I guess Johnson helped contribute to that.

Yes, the US Open is right there, with the Mets' home, Citi Field and the remainder of the fair grounds all in that same area. Though, admittedly, I still haven't even SEEN Citi Field yet. It's been a while since I've been to that part of Queens. I take it you didn't go out that way either when you visited.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

No, we didn't even go as far as Brooklyn, this time.

It sure did seem commercial, from what I read about it. I can understand private corporations sponsoring exhibits, and having their names shown, but when the exhibits are purely promotional, I'd say the line has been crossed. At least S.C. Johnson Wax's film wasn't a promotional film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Be_Alive!

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Those are very nice photographs of the Rondelle. I really like the one with the Rondelle & Fortaleza Hall (plus, it helps me understand where that is). And the last one is lovely because you can see all of those curves on the top of the building.

I have never noticed the Pabst Saloon across the street, but I think that's because my aim has always been just to get to Johnson Wax, and that's all I have time for.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

The fire station is across the street to the west. The main entrance, by the Rondelle, is on the north, so you might not even pass the fire station. The Pabst saloon is a block to the west, from the southwest corner.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

What a contrast between old and new and I'm more drawn to the old than the new...tower and turret! The Rondelle looks like a spaceship and I never knew Johnson Wax was in Racine.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

The golden flying saucer was supposed to look all spacey. See penspusher's link, above, for pictures.

The fire station looks like it would be a great building to live in.

[specificocean.livejournal.com]

I'm a huge fan of FLW's work.

Having SAID that, I'm not sure how easy it would be to live or work in one of his houses or buildings.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I think that living or working in them would be fine. It's the upkeep that can be a pain. And the fact that you're not really supposed to change things.