Chapter 1
Shaping the American prairie
View / Create
Answer
Chapter 2
Living with nature at Fallingwater
View / Create
Answer
Chapter 3
Seismic design and Eastern elegance
View / Create
Answer
Chapter 4
The spiral of the Guggenheim and late works
View / Create
Answer
YOUR GOAL
Master of The genius of Frank Lloyd Wright
Ch 3 · Seismic design and Eastern elegance
torito Wright's Imperial Hotel Tokyo
With a floating base, design so keen, Wright's Tokyo gem stood strong, serene.
Fun Fact
Peacock design chairs: Wright designed custom, hexagonal wooden chairs for the Imperial Hotel's Peacock Room, introducing the concept of sitting on chairs to Japanese society.
Glossary
cantilever (noun)
A projecting beam or structure that is supported at only one end. Frank Lloyd Wright used cantilevered slabs to help Tokyo's Imperial Hotel survive the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
A projecting beam or structure that is supported at only one end. Frank Lloyd Wright used cantilevered slabs to help Tokyo's Imperial Hotel survive the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
Quiz
What innovative engineering technique did Frank Lloyd Wright use for the foundation of the Tokyo Imperial Hotel to resist earthquakes?
Quiz
What major natural disaster struck Tokyo on September 1, 1923, which the Imperial Hotel famously survived?
Quiz
How did Frank Lloyd Wright design the plumbing and heating pipes in the Imperial Hotel to prevent them from bursting during an earthquake?
Quiz
What soft, light-green Japanese volcanic stone did Frank Lloyd Wright use to carve intricate geometric patterns in the Imperial Hotel?
Quiz
For which room in the Imperial Hotel did Frank Lloyd Wright design iconic, hexagonal wooden chairs?
Quiz
Where can visitors today still see the reconstructed lobby and reflection pool of Frank Lloyd Wright's demolished Imperial Hotel?
Quiz
On what major historical day did the devastating Great Kanto Earthquake strike Tokyo, testing the Imperial Hotel's structural limits?