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Question: Anyone else want to see one of Howard Roark's buildings in real life!?
The descriptions of Roark's buildings and the passion he put into them were my favorite parts from The Fountainhead!. I would love to see one of them for real!. Especially the Monodnack Valley resort!. It sounds breathtaking!.

How about you!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The buildings are beautifully described aren't they!? I think so too, and have always enjoyed visualizing them myself!. My visualization has been heavily affected by a set of facts and circumstances that may interest you!.

The character and architectural philosophy of Howard Roark is generally considered to be based largely on the career of Frank Lloyd Wright!. Though many personal situations diverge hugely, others are too blatant to ignore!. Wright worked for Louis Sullivan in Chicago for example!. He built a gas station in a small Midwestern town (It still stands, I have used its bathroom)!. Several other buildings and projects in The Fountainhead parallel works of Wright's!.

I am a fan of Wright's aesthetics but I admire neither the man (my family has a marital connection to an illegitimate descendent of his, and I grew up in Wright tourist country) nor his structural engineering skills (his roofs all leak, and his houses are impossible to clean (trust me!), among more major flaws)!.

It has always been a bit of a struggle for me to separate him and his work from the way I imagine Roark's to be!. That is why I hesitated to answer this question, because I don't want to sully your vision too!. Still, with your distance you may enjoy looking into the buildings of Wright, it may make some of Roark's seem real after all!. Truly, they are beautiful, if somewhat less practical than Roark's ideal fictional versions!.

There are many sites available on Wright, here are a couple for starters:

The wiki link contains a number of other useful links:
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd!.!.!.

http://www!.delmars!.com/wright/index!.htmlWww@QuestionHome@Com

You know how people have to-do lists!? Well, I have to-read lists, myself!. The Fountainhead has been on this for some time!. That being said, I'm answering because I hate to see a good question go unanswered!. (Hopefully others with more pertinent knowledge, like reader, will answer!.)

I have seen the old Hollywood movie (big deal, right!?) and have read ABOUT* the book!. From both of those things, such as they are, I can tell you I really would like to see the buildings Roark designed!. They sound fascinating to me!.

Just thought I'd get the ball rolling!.!.!.

*Don't you wish you could put things in italics on Y! A!?Www@QuestionHome@Com