The New Road

V.C. Morris Gift Shop

A couple of weeks ago I took Megan to the V. C. Morris Gift shop, now known as the Xanadu Gallery, up in the city.

This picture shows the entrance way to the interior of the building. The exterior is mainly a decorative brick face with a single engraved stone with the seal of the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

The signature feature of the interior building is this curving walkway that surrounds a large interior space. The floating plant is also a signature feature of this building and has been there since it opened.

This is a view onto the second floor of the building. The Xanadu Gallery is largely a collection of various trinkets from around the world. You can see some of the tapestries hanging on the far wall. The circle and half-circle designs cut into the concrete are Wright embellishments. Some have been filled with items, others not. They create some interest as you walk up the curving walkway.

This is another view on the second floor with the ceiling lights in full view. The structure of the ceiling evokes the famous lillipads of the Johnson Wax building.

Here is another view of the first floor looking back into the main circular area. Since the building is a square it is interesting to see how he embellished the edges of the square given the circular interior space.

Software Engineering is often compared to building architecture because we have co-opted terms like design patterns and architects. Perhaps they are equivalent on the surface but there are subtle nuances to building architecture for which there are no equivalents in software. For example, a building like this must be attractive from any viewing angle. In software we can get away with grungy stuff beneath the surface but a building must be built for viewing and maintenance from any angle. The hairy bits are much harder to hide.