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V. C. Morris Gift Shop
Early prototype for Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim
Category Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture
This building, on Maiden Lane in downtown San Francisco, California, is instantly recognizable as having the touch of Frank Lloyd Wright. While the celebrated architect didn't actually design the building, he did oversee a renovation in 1948.
Wright would go on to use the store as a physical prototype, or proof of concept, for the circular ramp inside of the main room at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
Xanadu Gallery, the current owner of the building, spent considerable amounts of money to restore the building to Wright's vision from the '40s. Xanadu had to retrofit the building for current amenities, like central air conditioning, without losing some of Wright's architectural touches. Even the furniture inside of the building, most of it constructed of black walnut, was designed by Wright.
In 2007, the V. C. Morris Gift Shop was listed on the American Institute of Architects' list of the group's 150 favorite buildings anywhere in America. It came in at number 126.
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- Hours Xanadu Art Gallery: Tue.-Sat.: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
- Website V. C. Morris Store
- Address 140 Maiden Lane, San Francisco, California, United States
- Cost Free.
- V. C. Morris Gift Shop: http://www.delmars.com/wright/flw8-14.htm
- Wikipedia: V. C. Morris Gift Store: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._C._Morris_Gift_Shop

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