Interesting Architecture Facts That Might Surprise You (Part One)
Architecture is a constantly evolving business, which can leave some of the most interesting, unique, and little known facts about the industry lost to history. We thought we'd break up your newsfeed and share some of these unique and interesting facts.
Hello, everyone! We hope this blog finds you happy and well, and we hope you enjoyed our last blog! Did you start to create or get inspired to make your space even more comfortable and quarantine compatible? We know that the pandemic and the news has been a heavy subject for many of us over the last few months. So, we thought we'd change up our content with something a little different. We've always loved the history behind architecture. Old buildings are living pieces of history that we can walk in and around, and still live in! That's what we love about restoring old buildings into something new and unique. You get to see what happened within their walls before you walked into it, and help build the future of what's to come. It is so easy to get buried in story after story of historic architecture, and easy to go down a rabbit hole when learning about the most recent trends in architecture. This is why it can be so easy for some of the most unique and interesting facts about and connected to architecture to get lost between the lines. We thought we'd share some very unique and interesting facts and tidbits about architecture that even the most well versed might not even know!
Fact One: Building Blocks
The very talented and famed Frank Lloyd Wright was known for his uniquely modern and masterly crafted homes, furniture, and buildings. What might not be widely known is that his son John achieved some high fame of his very own. Although their relationship was not the most stable or warm throughout their lives, John's legacy and the influence his father had on him lives on through a classic toy that many of us grew up with; Lincoln Logs! Very heavily included by a trip John and Frank took to Japan together to build the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, John wanted to build something easy to use, easy to take down, but not very easy to knock over. From this idea and his experience with his father up to this point, came the birth of Lincoln Logs. According to 99% Invisible, some say that they were named for one of the most famous US presidents. Others speculate that they were named after Frank Lloyd Wright's birth name, Frank Lincoln Wright. The toys became a hit and were very popular during WW2. They found this wartime fame because the tin and metal used to make toys at the time were needed overseas. Lincoln Logs provided fun and entertainment without supply shortages. In 1999, they were inducted into the Toy Hall Of Fame.
Fact Two: Olympic Gold
The early years of the modern Olympics looked very different compared to what many of us are familiar with today. According to the Journal Of American Institute of Architects, between 1912 to 1942, many art forms were included in the Olympics. This included architecture, music, painting, sculpture, and more. Even though these events weren't athletic, many artists were inspired by sports and the world of athleticism. The United States won a silver medal at the very controversial 1936 Olympics in architecture. Architect Charles Downing Lay won the medal with his plans and ideas to remodel and redesign Marine Park in Brooklyn. The estimated cost for such a project was between 30 and 50 million dollars. It won the silver but not the hearts of the city parks department in NYC. The head of the department at the time went with a much cheaper design to redesign the park.
Fact Three: Sim Culture
Video games are becoming more and more incredible as time marches on. They look more like movies with every new release, and they can be taken anywhere with you thanks to our cellphones and to Nintendo's Switch console. But, did you know that one of the most popular computer games of all time was originally built to be an architectural simulator? That's right! After over 20 years of fame and popularity, it's come to public knowledge that this fun and wild game was first designed for educational purposes. If you guessed The Sims, you'd be right. In its first iterations, the player would design a home and then use their characters to test how well the design worked. Needless to say, the world of Sims has become much more than that!
What did you think about these facts and interesting tidbits? We always love discovering new and unique sides of our history. We loved this blog process so much that we have decided to dedicate our next blog to more unique and interesting facts. Are there any unique stories you'd like us to look into? If so, comment below and let us know. We can't wait to hear your feedback!