Building 51 | Building 51 | fifteen matching frank lloyd wright designed “geometric flower” prism glass building facade tiles – luxfer prism company, chicago, il.
9103
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fifteen matching frank lloyd wright designed “geometric flower” prism glass building facade tiles – luxfer prism company, chicago, il.

51-12394-11

Category

Frank Lloyd Wright

About This Item

fifteen matching highly sought after early 20th century antique american “flower” pattern prism-light glass tiles designed and patented in 1897 by notable architect frank lloyd wright for the luxfer prism co., chicago, il. of the 41 frank lloyd wright patented designs submitted, the “flower” pattern was the only one manufactured. the highly stylized tiles exhibit a light purple hue, caused by a reaction between the manganese oxide’s prolonged exposure to natural sunlight. prism glass tiles contain lightly embossed concentrically-arranged ornament consisting of geometric design motifs on one side, and the “saw-tooth” prisms on the other side. the tiles date to 1905-10. the tiles were fabricated by the luxfer prism tile co., chicago. prismatic glass, which was a highly successful building material in the united states between the turn of the century and the 1920s, promised to refract daylight from the facades deep into a building and thus would help to save energy, create healthier working environments, and contribute to the development of a new modern architecture. the luxfer prism companies were the inventors and most prominent producers of this material. luxfer contributed to the contemporary architectural debate by promoting the small-scale pattern of its glass installations as a competing vision of architectural modernity to that of the emerging aesthetic of steel and glass facades. in the early 1930s prismatic glass finally lost the competition with electrical lighting and new structural day lighting devices such as hollow glass blocks. priced for the entire lot.