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Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
Sep. 22nd, 2011 10:13 pmIt is the 50th anniversary of the opening of Frank Lloyd Wright's Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church building. They had an open house, and since the building is seldom open to the public, I jumped at the chance to see the inside. Plus, they had John Ottenheimer speak. He was the construction supervisor for the project.
I got there just as the talk began. The lower part of the church was almost full, but the spacious balcony didn't have as many people. I'd guess there were four hundred people there. The presenter began with history of the Greek congregation in Milwaukee, and then talked about the group's decision to hire Wright. He asked people to raise their hands if they attended the dedication of the church. Quite a few people did.
Then Ottenheimer spoke. He started by asking if there was anyone there who worked on construction of the church. One man did (he did tiling on the roof). Ottenheimer was one of Wright's apprentices, and after about four years, he was sent to Milwaukee to oversee construction of the church (1959 - 1961). He talked about the concrete, and how he told the concrete crew that the surface had to be clean and smooth, because he had been to New York and seen all the form marks on the outside of the Guggenheim. They lined their forms with masonite.
Another story was about how the steel bars of the reinforcing structure had to go together perfectly, or it couldn't be welded. They had it shipped in from US Steel in Pittsburgh, and the pieces didn't match. US Steel couldn't fix it, so the electrical crews said "we can fix it. We bend conduit all the time." And they did.
The presenter asked Ottenheimer about the day that Wright designed the church. He said he remembered it well. It was his job at the time, to pretty much be Wright's attendant. He would put clean paper on his drawing board and sharpen his pencils. Wright would come in in the morning, and check on everyone's work, and then would sit down at his board. He said, "I've been thinking about it for a few months, and I think I've got it." Wright took his compass and triangles and drew the church, almost exactly as it ended up being built. It took him about an hour. Ottenheimer said Wright was an excellent draftsman. After that, Wright said, "If you were going to make a very tall building, say a mile high, how would you do it?" And he began drawing his mile-high tower. It was a very productive day, I guess.
Ottenheimer was asked what Wright was really like. He got out his papers to read the answer, because he is asked that a lot. He read a long list of adjectives - Friendly, generous, funny, intelligent, down to earth, hardworking, etc. He said that he could never say anything negative about the man.
After the talk, I stayed around the church to take photos. I was one of the last people out of the building. There was a reception across the street in the cultural center. I stuck my head in there, but there didn't seem to be much going on, besides a big roomfull of people eating snacks.
I got there just as the talk began. The lower part of the church was almost full, but the spacious balcony didn't have as many people. I'd guess there were four hundred people there. The presenter began with history of the Greek congregation in Milwaukee, and then talked about the group's decision to hire Wright. He asked people to raise their hands if they attended the dedication of the church. Quite a few people did.
Then Ottenheimer spoke. He started by asking if there was anyone there who worked on construction of the church. One man did (he did tiling on the roof). Ottenheimer was one of Wright's apprentices, and after about four years, he was sent to Milwaukee to oversee construction of the church (1959 - 1961). He talked about the concrete, and how he told the concrete crew that the surface had to be clean and smooth, because he had been to New York and seen all the form marks on the outside of the Guggenheim. They lined their forms with masonite.
Another story was about how the steel bars of the reinforcing structure had to go together perfectly, or it couldn't be welded. They had it shipped in from US Steel in Pittsburgh, and the pieces didn't match. US Steel couldn't fix it, so the electrical crews said "we can fix it. We bend conduit all the time." And they did.
The presenter asked Ottenheimer about the day that Wright designed the church. He said he remembered it well. It was his job at the time, to pretty much be Wright's attendant. He would put clean paper on his drawing board and sharpen his pencils. Wright would come in in the morning, and check on everyone's work, and then would sit down at his board. He said, "I've been thinking about it for a few months, and I think I've got it." Wright took his compass and triangles and drew the church, almost exactly as it ended up being built. It took him about an hour. Ottenheimer said Wright was an excellent draftsman. After that, Wright said, "If you were going to make a very tall building, say a mile high, how would you do it?" And he began drawing his mile-high tower. It was a very productive day, I guess.
Ottenheimer was asked what Wright was really like. He got out his papers to read the answer, because he is asked that a lot. He read a long list of adjectives - Friendly, generous, funny, intelligent, down to earth, hardworking, etc. He said that he could never say anything negative about the man.
After the talk, I stayed around the church to take photos. I was one of the last people out of the building. There was a reception across the street in the cultural center. I stuck my head in there, but there didn't seem to be much going on, besides a big roomfull of people eating snacks.
