Price Tower
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Good article Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox building The Price Tower is a nineteen-story, Template:Convert tower at 510 South Dewey Avenue in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States. One of the few skyscrapers designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Price Tower is derived from a 1929 proposal for apartment buildings in New York City. Harold C. Price Sr., the head of the pipeline-construction firm H. C. Price Company, commissioned the Price Tower. The building was widely discussed when it was completed in 1956. In addition, the Price Tower received the American Institute of Architects' Twenty-five Year Award in 1983, and it has also been designated as a National Historic Landmark.
By the 1950s, the H. C. Price Company wanted to develop a modern headquarters in Bartlesville, and Harold Price hired Wright to design a headquarters for his company in 1952. Groundbreaking took place on November 13, 1953, and a topping out ceremony took place in March 1955. The Price Tower opened on February 10, 1956, attracting thousands of sightseers. The Price Company sold the tower in 1981 to Phillips Petroleum, which occupied the tower's offices until the mid-1980s. Phillips donated the structure to the Price Tower Arts Center (PTAC) in 2001. The arts center subsequently converted part of the building into a museum, opening a boutique hotel and restaurant on the upper stories. The Price Tower was sold in 2023 and closed the next year following financial issues and legal disputes. It was resold in 2025 to McFarlin Building LLC.
As built, the Price Tower had about Template:Convert of rentable space, split across one residential and three office quadrants. The floor plan is laid out on a grid of parallelograms with 30-60-90 triangles, arranged around a pinwheel-shaped structural core with four piers. The facade includes embossed copper spandrels and louvers, tinted glass windows, and poured stucco surfaces. The reinforced-concrete floors are cantilevered outward from the structural core. Initially, the residential and office portions of the building were accessed by different lobbies and elevators. The top three stories originally functioned as a penthouse apartment and office for the Price family. Although the exterior has remained intact over the years, the apartments have been converted to offices.
SiteEdit
The Price Tower is located at 510 South Dewey Avenue in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="CTBUH q053">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is located in Washington County in the northeastern part of Oklahoma,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 4">Template:Harvnb</ref> approximately Template:Convert north of Tulsa.<ref name="NYT 2003 e862">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Price Tower is located on a Template:Convert city block bounded by the now-closed Silas Street (formerly Sixth Street) to the south, Dewey Avenue to the west, Fifth Street to the north, and Osage Avenue to the east.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Price Tower's base occupies two land lots measuring a combined Template:Convert.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /> The walkways and driveways outside the building are painted Cherokee red.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /> There are two carports outside the building: one to the north for office tenants, and one to the south for residents.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /><ref name="AR p. 156">Template:Harvnb</ref>
The rest of the block includes a storage annex, which originally functioned as a grocery store and car dealership, as well as a parking lot.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /> The Tower Center at Unity Square, immediately south of the Price Tower, links the tower with the Bartlesville Community Center.<ref name="Bartlesville Radio 2020 k661">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Archer n954">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Work on the park began in March 2019,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the park opened in May 2020.<ref name="Bartlesville Radio 2020 k661" />
HistoryEdit
DevelopmentEdit
Bartlesville, a small city in northeastern Oklahoma, had become economically prosperous in the late 19th and 20th centuries due to the success of the local oil industry.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 4" /> Oil magnates in Bartlesville commissioned architects to design lavish residences and offices.<ref name="Brown k216">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Among these was the Price Tower, commissioned by Harold C. Price Sr. as a corporate headquarters for his eponymous company,<ref name="Arn y350">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 17">Template:Harvnb</ref> a pipeline-construction firm.<ref name="n160962906a">Template:Cite news</ref> Meanwhile, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright had wanted to develop a skyscraper ever since the early 1920s, when he drew up plans for the National Insurance Company Building, an unbuilt office tower in Chicago with cantilevered floor slabs.<ref name="AF p. 107">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="McCarter p. 191">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="DeLong p. 79">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Original New York plansEdit
The Price Tower is directly derived from Wright's unbuilt plan for the redevelopment of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in East Village, Manhattan, New York City.<ref name="AF p. 107" /><ref name="Toker2003">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="McCarter p. 195">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright had been friends with St. Mark's rector, William Norman Guthrie, since at least 1908. Guthrie wrote to Wright in October 1927, telling the architect about his intention to construct a high-rise building to alleviate the church's ongoing financial shortfalls.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 63">Template:Harvnb</ref> Negotiations over architects' fees continued over the next year. Guthrie asked Wright to waive all but $150 of his $7,500 design fee, claiming that the proposed buildings were located in an undesirable neighborhood and were thus unlikely to attract high-paying rental tenants. It was not until December 1928 that Wright sketched out designs for the St. Mark's towers.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 64">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright historian Edgar Kaufmann Jr. wrote that the St. Mark's towers were loosely based on the Romeo and Juliet Windmill, which Wright had designed for his aunts at Taliesin, his family's estate in Wisconsin.<ref name="AR p. 158">Template:Harvnb</ref> To comply with New York City building codes, Wright devised plans for towers of between 10 and 20 stories.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 68">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Wright's initial design called for severalTemplate:Efn 16-to-18-story apartment buildings between 10th and 11th streets west of Second Avenue.<ref name="NYT 1929 o088" /><ref name="p1111677385">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p542047630">Template:Cite news</ref> In contrast to the skyscrapers that predominated in Manhattan at the time, which had setbacks, Wright's designs resembled inverted cones.<ref name="NYT 1929 o088">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The floor plans, rotated 30 degrees from a rectangular ground-level site, were divided into quadrants around a pinwheel-shaped core. The rooms were laid out on a grid of 30-60-90 parallelograms and triangles.<ref name="McCarter p. 195" /> The floors would have been cantilevered outward from the core, the only part of each building anchored to the ground.<ref name="McCarter pp. 195–196" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 70">Template:Harvnb</ref> A steel-and-glass curtain wall would have been suspended from the ends of each floor slab.<ref name="McCarter pp. 195–196">Template:Harvnb</ref> The structures would have contained steel furniture and copper walls.<ref name="p1111677385" /> The apartments would have been duplex units, with 36 units in each building;<ref name="p542047630" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 70" /> the second-floor units would have run diagonally across each structure.<ref name="p1111677385" />
Wright called his design "modern—not modernistic".<ref name="p1111677385" /> Guthrie began to express doubts in Wright's plans in 1930, following objections from St. Mark's vestry,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 71">Template:Harvnb</ref> and the project was ultimately canceled during the Great Depression.<ref name="NYT 2003 e862" /> Wright attempted to resurrect the St. Mark's project multiple times without success,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /> including in his Broadacre City.<ref name="NYT 2003 e862" /><ref name="McCarter p. 198">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright continued to refine his tower design in the 1930s and 1940s. In particular, the superstructure of the Johnson Wax Headquarters' research tower (completed in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1950) is similar to that of the St. Mark's towers, except for the design of the curtain wall.<ref name="McCarter pp. 196–197">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright's next building in New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, would not be constructed until the 1950s.<ref name="Ennis n386" />
Bartlesville plansEdit
By the 1950s, the H. C. Price Company wanted to develop a modern headquarters in Bartlesville.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 17" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 71" /> At the time, the city had 19,000 residents, and its only other tall building was a 14-story structure developed by the Phillips Petroleum Company.<ref name="DeLong p. 81">Template:Harvnb</ref> Sources disagree on how Wright and the Price family came in contact. Several sources write that the architect Bruce Goff, who chaired the University of Oklahoma's (OU) school of architecture, recommended that the Prices hire Wright to design the headquarters.<ref name="Arn y350" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 71" /><ref name="n161042826">Template:Cite news</ref> According to Architecture: the AIA journal, Goff had become involved after Price's son Joe, a student at OU, had asked him for advice.<ref name="DeLong p. 78">Template:Harvnb</ref> Other accounts state that Harold Sr.'s wife, Mary Lou Price, had read about Wright and recommended him to her husband,<ref name="p292360269">Template:Cite news</ref> or that Harold's sons and daughter-in-law had recommended Wright after attending one of the architect's lectures at OU.<ref name="n161206062">Template:Cite news</ref> Initially, Harold Sr. did not believe that Wright would be interested in designing a headquarters for the Price Company, as Harold Sr. neither sought a corporate icon nor needed large amounts of space.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 71" /><ref name="n161204408">Template:Cite news</ref> His sons, Joe and Harold Jr., told their father that hiring Wright would be no more expensive than hiring any other architect to design a generic "box-type structure".<ref name="n161033997">Template:Cite news</ref>
The Prices went to Wright's Wisconsin studio,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 71" /> and Price and Wright haggled over the building's proposed height.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 72">Template:Harvnb</ref> Price had wanted a low-rise structure measuring two<ref name="Warner z826">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Dillon pp. 118, 120">Template:Harvnb</ref> or three stories tall;<ref name="Larouche 2001" /><ref name="DeLong pp. 78–79">Template:Harvnb</ref> as he said, he wanted a small building and a place to park ten trucks.<ref name="n161187430">Template:Cite news</ref> Although Price envisioned a structure with Template:Convert in total, Wright wanted a 25-story structure with 25,000 square feet per story.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 72" /><ref name="Larouche 2001" /> Price claimed a skyscraper would be "such a big building for a small town", while Wright countered that he had taken a regular low-rise structure and "stood it on end".<ref name="Dillon p. 120">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright also allegedly told Price that "I'm going to give you the building I've been trying to build for 35 years."<ref name="n161187430" /> By August 1952, Harold Price Sr. sought to develop a building that was at least 10 stories tall, which would also include some apartments.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 73">Template:Harvnb</ref> Joe Price, one of Harold's two sons, later recalled that it took Wright two hours to convince Price to agree to a 12-story structure.<ref name="n161014260">Template:Cite news</ref> As Harold Price Sr. later wrote, "We finally compromised on nineteen floors."<ref name="n161033997" /><ref name="Curtis r636" />
The final design was nearly identical to the St. Mark's design, although the dimensions of each floor at the Price Tower were smaller than those of the St. Mark's towers.<ref name="McCarter p. 198" /> The Price Company's vice president, John M. Thomas, later recalled that Harold Price "wanted that building to be a monument to the work our company had done, laying a pipeline through Alaska".<ref name="p404111646">Template:Cite news</ref> On the other hand, Price himself said that "it was not our intent to build a monument" but that, nonetheless, the tower became a point of pride for Bartlesville.<ref name="AR p. 156" /> Wright thought the Bartlesville location was ideal because he believed that skyscrapers belonged in rural areas, where they stood out from the surrounding landscape.<ref name="p1797186012">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="AR p. 154">Template:Harvnb</ref> Joe Price also asked Goff to design a house next to the Price Tower, but after Wright asked if Goff's design was meant as a joke, the planned house was canceled.<ref name="p911866821">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
ConstructionEdit
In May 1953, Price announced plans for an 18-story tower to be built on a Template:Convert site at the northeastern corner of Dewey Avenue and Sixth Street in Bartlesville.<ref name="n160945984" /> The structure was to be Template:Convert tall, with a three-story penthouse for the Price Company, eight double-story apartments, and a two-story annex for the Public Service Company.<ref name="n160945984">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n160955119">Template:Cite news</ref> Wright, who had added the apartments at the Prices' request,<ref name="Ennis n386">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> envisioned the Price Tower as a model for other mixed-use high-rises in smaller American towns and cities.<ref name="p1523233152">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Price had anticipated that the building would cost $500,000.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 75">Template:Harvnb</ref> Haskell Culwell, a company from Oklahoma City, was hired as the main contractor in July 1953.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> W. Kelly Oliver was the lighting consultant,<ref name="Storrer p. 379">Template:Harvnb</ref> L. B. Perkins was hired as the electrical engineer, and Collins and Gould served as the mechanical engineer.<ref name="PA p. 88">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="AR p. 159">Template:Harvnb</ref> Subcontractors submitted extremely high bids for materials; for example, one bidder offered to install the exterior copper for $450,000, while another bidder offered to pour concrete for $300,000.<ref name="AF p. 102">Template:Harvnb</ref> During the building's development, there were also disputes between Wright and Price over such details as chairs.<ref name="n161026864">Template:Cite news</ref>
Work was delayed for several months due to difficulties in securing materials and widening a nearby street;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in addition, it took more than a year to sketch out the design details.<ref name="DeLong p. 81" /> Groundbreaking took place on November 13, 1953,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Storrer p. 378">Template:Harvnb</ref> and site excavation was complete by that December.<ref name="n160962331">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Wright's son-in-law and apprentice William Wesley Peters was appointed as Wright's on-site representative, and several contractors from Oklahoma and Texas were hired for the project.<ref name="n160962331" /> Wright visited Bartlesville in early 1954 to discuss the tower's design with 400 college students.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Construction was temporarily halted that March due to a labor strike.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Workers installed a temporary elevator hoist, which was extended upward as the building's superstructure rose.<ref name="n160964761">Template:Cite news</ref> Simultaneously, the floor slabs were poured; the lowest stories took a month to pour, but workers became more efficient at pouring concrete as the structure ascended.<ref name="n161026864" /><ref name="n160965513" /> By August 1954, concrete work had reached the sixth story, which had been poured in a week.<ref name="n160965513">Template:Cite news</ref>
Work on the tower continued through late 1954, with workers completing one story every 12 days;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the tower had reached the 15th story by December.<ref name="n160964761" /><ref name="n161009437">Template:Cite news</ref> The developers were so heavily focused on the Price Tower's completion that they discouraged sightseers from coming, and they did not respond to he myriad of inquires about the tower's construction.<ref name="n161013477">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161013938">Template:Cite news</ref> The 19th and final story was completed in February 1955, and workers began installing interior finishes on the lowest stories.<ref name="n161013477" /><ref name="n161013395">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, workers began installing some of the windows.<ref name="n161013395" /> A topping out ceremony took place the next month, March 14, 1955,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> at which point the building was scheduled to be completed in mid-1955.<ref name="n161013938" /> Joe Price was so heavily involved with the Price Tower's development that he lived on-site while the tower was being completed.<ref name="n161026864" /> By that October, the building was still not open, but the Price Company was preparing to receive its first tenants.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 1956, in preparation for the tower's opening, Bartlesville's traffic committee voted to add parking spaces to the streets surrounding the tower.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Price ownershipEdit
Completion and early yearsEdit
The Price Tower opened for media previews on February 4, 1956,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the building officially opened five days later on February 9.<ref name="Storrer p. 378" /><ref name="Dillon p. 118">Template:Harvnb</ref> Only residents of Bartlesville were allowed to tour the structure on the first day, and the general public was allowed to visit over the weekend of February 11 and 12.<ref name="n161019185">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161020384">Template:Cite news</ref> The opening ceremonies attracted 13,000 sightseers.<ref name="n160899430">Template:Cite news</ref> A retrospective Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article claimed that the Price Tower had cost $2.4 million to construct,<ref name="p390672275">Template:Cite news</ref> while contemporary estimates ranged as high as $13 million.<ref name="n161019499">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n117334322">Template:Cite news</ref> The Price family publicly cited the building's cost as $6.5 million,<ref name="n161019499" /> and Harold Sr. wrote in an August 1956 letter that he had spent $2.1 million.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 75" /> At the time of construction, the Price Tower was reportedly the most expensive building ever constructed in Bartlesville.<ref name="n161013477" /> The structure was also among the first skyscrapers with both apartments and offices from the outset.<ref name="NYT 2003 e862" /><ref name="n161020384" /> The tower's completion also helped bring attention to the Price family.<ref name="p398003689">Template:Cite news</ref>
Harold Price was proud of the structure, placing images of it on the cover of his company's newsletter, Tie-In;<ref name="Dillon p. 120" /> the Price Company also gave free tours of the building.<ref name="n117334158">Template:Cite news</ref> The apartments were variously cited as having been rented out for $285<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7">Template:Harvnb</ref> or $325 a month.<ref name="n161026864" /><ref name="n161019185" /> The offices rented for $135 to $165 a month depending on the office's location in the building.<ref name="n161026864" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /> The Price Company initially occupied the office space on the 12th through 19th floors,<ref name="n161019499" /><ref name="p509393202">Template:Cite news</ref> employing sixty people there.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /> The Public Service Company of Oklahoma moved into the two-story annex east of the main tower.<ref name="n161019185" /> Other early tenants included the General Acceptance Company on three stories, the Claiborne Company on the 11th floor,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and an ophthalmologist's office.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building's tenants also included doctors and lawyers, as well as communications, utility, and real-estate firms.<ref name="p259472277">Template:Cite news</ref> Bruce Goff moved into the Price Tower's 9th-and-10th-floor apartment<ref name="n161204408" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" /> and maintained an office in the building.<ref name="Huxtable p411">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="DeLong p. 82">Template:Harvnb</ref> Two years after the Price Tower opened, it still attracted 40 to 50 tourists during the weekend, though two of the eight apartments were vacant.<ref name="n160899430" />
Subsequent modificationsEdit
After Wright's death in 1959, Price hired a Swiss company to manufacture a sundial in Wright's honor.<ref name="n161034425">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The sundial, which was installed next to the tower's southwest corner in November 1961,<ref name="n161034425" /> was vandalized shortly afterward.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1960, Taliesin Associated Architects, the successor firm to Wright's practice, drew up plans to convert some of the unused apartments into offices.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12">Template:Harvnb</ref> Although the Price family continued to take pride in the building's design, Joe Price said the company did not earn much from rental income;<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 20">Template:Harvnb</ref> even if the Price Tower were fully occupied, it would still earn only $24,000 a year.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 75" /> The apartments were particularly difficult to rent, since one could buy a house in rural Oklahoma rather than paying the apartments' high rents,<ref name="DeLong p. 82" /> and there was virtually no demand for the apartments.<ref name="n161200659">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Washington Post a360">Template:Cite news</ref> Goff later recalled that, though up to five of the apartments were sometimes rented simultaneously, there were times when he was the only resident.<ref name="DeLong p. 82" />
By the late 1960s, the Public Service Company had outgrown its offices in the building.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During that time, the lobby displayed a rotating exhibit of photographs that Joe Price had taken while on a safari.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Thirty-five to forty Price Company employees still worked at the Price Tower in the early 1970s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The remaining apartments were converted to office space in the 1960s and early 1970s,<ref name="DeLong p. 82" /><ref name="n161103337" /><ref name="Kirschner p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> and only the Price penthouse remained by 1972.<ref name="DeLong p. 82" /> As part of a master plan for Bartlesville, city officials announced plans in 1978 for a $10.5 million community center next to the Price Tower,<ref name="n161042826" /><ref name="n161042764">Template:Cite news</ref> which was finished in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The drive-through counter between the main tower and its annex was enclosed in the late 1970s,<ref name="DeLong p. 82" /><ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 6–7" /> and a shop in the lobby had become a reception desk by the early 1980s.<ref name="DeLong p. 82" /><ref name="n161105319">Template:Cite news</ref> The exterior remained almost entirely unchanged,<ref name="n161103337">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161105319" /> and the furniture and interior decorations remained in place.<ref name="DeLong p. 82" />
Philips Petroleum ownershipEdit
In December 1980, the H. C. Price Company agreed to sell the Price Tower to Phillips Petroleum,<ref name="n161097302">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161097056f">Template:Cite news</ref> which wanted to help preserve the building.<ref name="n161105533">Template:Cite news</ref> Phillips formally took over the Price Tower in April 1981, and The Daily Oklahoman wrote the next month that Phillips had paid $2.5 million.<ref name="n161100486">Template:Cite news</ref> Though Phillips preserved the building's interior decorations, it left the penthouse unused.<ref name="DeLong p. 82" /> During the 1980s, Phillips constructed or acquired several other buildings in downtown Bartlesville,<ref name="n161103997">Template:Cite news</ref> and by 1983 there were media reports that Phillips planned to move out of the building.<ref name="n161105533" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Phillips moved out during the middle of the decade.Template:Efn Several reasons have been cited for Phillips's relocation, including the 1980s oil glut,<ref name="Brown k216" /> the opening of the nearby Plaza Office Building in 1985, and a decline in the local labor force.<ref name="n161198860">Template:Cite news</ref> Harold Jr.'s ex-wife, Carolyn S. Price, said that even though the tower was seemingly out of place in Bartlesville, "when the Price Tower closed, people realized how much they missed it".<ref name="Brown k216" />
Phillips initially sought new tenants for the Price Tower, as the company planned to move employees to one of its other office towers nearby.<ref name="n161103145">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161102615">Template:Cite news</ref> The company received several proposals, including one plan that would have converted the Price Tower to residential condominiums.<ref name="n161103145" /> Phillips's lawyers ultimately deemed the exterior exit staircase a safety risk, and Phillips subsequently used the building only for storage.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Bartlesville Museum (later the Price Tower Arts Center, or PTAC<ref name="n161202367">Template:Cite news</ref>) opened at the Price Tower in 1990, becoming its only tenant<ref name="n161200659" /><ref name="n1611896532">Template:Cite news</ref> and occupying some ground-floor space.<ref name="n161190138">Template:Cite news</ref> Under an agreement with Phillips, the museum was allowed to occupy the building without paying rent.<ref name="p259310608">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The OK Mozart International Music Festival and the Landmark Preservation Council also moved into the building.<ref name="n161198683">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, tours of the building were given one day a week by the early 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Phillips began replacing the tower's roof in 1994,<ref name="n161198580">Template:Cite news</ref> and the building was placed for sale the next year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the Bartlesville Museum expressed interest in buying the tower in early 1996, Phillips agreed to postpone the building's sale for a year.<ref name="n161199187">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161199320">Template:Cite news</ref> Local residents formed the Price Tower Preservation Committee that May to raise $10 million for the building,<ref name="n161198683" /><ref name="n161203919">Template:Cite news</ref> including $5–6 million for maintenance.<ref name="n161198683" /><ref name="n161199320" /> Phillips agreed in August 1998 to donate the building to the PTAC after the arts center raised a $3.5 million endowment fund for the tower's future operation.<ref name="n161202367" /><ref name="n161203919" /><ref name="p259379679b">Template:Cite magazine; Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequently, the art center asked charitable foundations to donate to the endowment fund.<ref name="n161203463">Template:Cite news</ref> The spire was also restored in 1998,<ref name="n161203919" /> followed the next year by the facade.<ref name="n160904832">Template:Cite news</ref> The same year, the PTAC restored Bruce Goff's apartment, and the organization sought to raise $125,000 for furnishings and educational programming.<ref name="n160945605">Template:Cite news</ref> The family of Phillips's chief executive C. J. Silas also donated $3.2 million for the building's restoration, as well as $4 million to fund the PTAC's programs.<ref name="p259584688">Template:Cite news</ref>
PTAC takeover and renovationEdit
Phillips Petroleum donated the building to the PTAC in either 2000<ref name="Singrey d960">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Sharoff x117">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or 2001.<ref name="n161207632">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p345857833">Template:Cite news</ref> Following an extensive renovation,<ref name="n161204408" /><ref name="n161204387">Template:Cite news</ref> the tower was rededicated on February 10, 2001.<ref name="Larouche 2001">Template:Cite news</ref> As part of a second phase of renovations, the PTAC wished to convert part of the Price Tower into a hotel and a restaurant,<ref name="n161206062" /> profits from which would be used to help maintain the tower.<ref name="p1434236738">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="n161207367">Template:Cite news</ref> Wendy Evans Joseph was hired to convert the middle stories into a boutique hotel, the Inn at Price Tower, for $2.1 million,<ref name="Brown k216" /><ref name="p1434236738" /><ref name="Dillon p. 124">Template:Harvnb</ref> of which $1.9 million was raised privately.<ref name="n161207632" /> The interior layout was largely preserved, and some objects were placed into storage.<ref name="n161206722">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel opened in April 2003.<ref name="NYT 2003 e862" /><ref name="Schmertz e0983">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Joseph designed the Copper Bar and Restaurant on the 15th and 16th stories,<ref name="NYT 2003 e862" /><ref name="n161207367" /> and the PTAC renovated the lobby and penthouse suite as well.<ref name="p1434236738" />
The British architect Zaha Hadid was commissioned to design an expansion of the PTAC in 2002.<ref name="n160904240">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p222112758">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The expansion was planned to cost $15 million,<ref name="p1434236738" /><ref name="n160904240" /> and it would have covered Template:Convert<ref name="Brown k216" /><ref name="n160904240" /> or Template:Convert.<ref name="p222112758" /><ref name="p227819212">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The annex's design was inspired by that of the original building, with triangular motifs, and was boomerang-shaped.<ref name="p222112758" /> Had the annex been built, it would have included three galleries, classrooms, offices, and an auditorium.<ref name="p222112758" /><ref name="p227819212" /> Most of the art center's collection would have been moved to this annex, freeing up space in the original building for the hotel and restaurant.<ref name="p227884738">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Although Hadid's design was showcased at New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2006,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> the expansion was never completed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The PTAC proposed adding a sculpture garden next to the tower in 2004,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the office interiors were restored in the mid-2000s.<ref name="p398927626">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n161218721">Template:Cite news</ref> The penthouse was restored to its original condition, reopening in 2006 as part of the PTAC.<ref name="n161218721" /><ref name="n161214479">Template:Cite news</ref> For the penthouse suite's restoration, the PTAC received $20,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts<ref name="Brown k216" /> and $6,740 from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ambler Architects, which had helped restore the Price Tower, moved into one of the offices.<ref name="n161214202">Template:Cite news</ref> The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy gave the Silas family a preservation award in 2006 for their work restoring the Price Tower.<ref name="p259584688" /> The Inn at Price Tower became a popular attraction, with visitors from around the world, and its opening helped revive Bartlesville's economy.<ref name="n161217603">Template:Cite news</ref> The Copper restaurant closed temporarily in 2009 due to the 2008 financial crisis, but the bar remained open.<ref name="p259509716a">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The museum also struggled financially during the 2008 financial crisis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The building had 30,000 annual visitors by 2014,<ref name="Sharoff x117" /> and visitation increased in the late 2010s.<ref name="n161250484">Template:Cite news</ref> The Copper Restaurant and Bar's chefs-in-residence program, and the Pioneer Woman Museum in nearby Ponca City, Oklahoma, were credited with increasing the Price Tower's popularity.<ref name="n161250484" /> The PTAC also formed a partnership with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas,<ref name="n161250484" /> where another Wright–designed building, the Bachman–Wilson House, was being used as an exhibit.<ref name="n161251720">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2017, the PTAC received a $75,000 matching funds grant through the Getty Foundation's Keeping It Modern program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Watts f605">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The grant was used to hire a team of conservationists led by Gunny Harboe,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> who began devising plans for the building's preservation in November 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the time, PTAC director Scott Amble said the building was prone to flooding and lacked insulation.<ref name="Watts f605" />
Copper Tree ownership and closureEdit
By 2022, the Price Tower experienced financial issues due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, decreased revenue and donations, and the deaths of two Silas family members.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The PTAC voted in February 2023 to sell the building to Copper Tree Inc.,<ref name="n161254121">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which took over the tower that March for a nominal fee of $10.<ref name="Singrey d960" /><ref name="Goukassian c673">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the time, the building was reportedly $500,000<ref name="Dossett g288">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or $600,000 in debt, for which Copper Tree took over responsibility.<ref name="Goukassian h971">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Carlisle t273">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy also held an easement on the building, requiring the owners to pay insurance and maintain the building, among other things.<ref name="Dossett w722">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Watts e711" /> Cynthia Blanchard, one of the principals in Copper Tree, had planned to renovate the tower to attract technology-related tenants.<ref name="Carlisle t273" /><ref name="Aguiar 2024">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The renovation was initially planned to cost $10 million<ref name="Dossett g288" /><ref name="Aguiar 2024" /> and include upgrades to mechanical systems, elevators, and windows.<ref name="n161254121" /> Work on the renovation had not started by 2024.<ref name="Dossett w722" /><ref name="Aguiar 2024" /> The Bartlesville Development Authority also offered $88,000 in tax incentives to attract two restaurants to the building.<ref name="Aguiar 2024" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Copper Tree began selling off the tower's furniture and decorations in April 2024,<ref name="Aguiar 2024" /><ref name="n161254652">Template:Cite news</ref> despite opposition from local residents<ref name="Media j254">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Cassady n582">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the PTAC.<ref name="Watts e711">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The firm that had bought and renovated Tulsa's Mayo Hotel, McFarlin Building LLC, offered to buy the tower for $1.4 million that May.<ref name="Carlisle t273" /><ref name="Dossett y140">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
By mid-2024, Copper Tree owed more than $2 million.<ref name="Cassady n582" /><ref name="Hickman a064">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Blanchard claimed that, even though the hotel, restaurant, and bar had been truncated to three-day-a-week operation, Copper Tree was still not receiving enough revenue from rent.<ref name="n161253609">Template:Cite news</ref> As a result, in August, Copper Tree announced that the tower would close on September 1.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="n161253609" /> The hotel was closed immediately, and most employees were fired.<ref name="n161253609" /> In addition, tenants received 30-day eviction notices,<ref name="n161253609" /><ref name="Martin b179">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Copper Tree sold more furniture.<ref name="Roche x679">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Visit Bartlesville, the city's tourism agency, said at the time that the Price Tower was the city's most popular attraction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Visit Bartlesville continued to give tours of the tower's exterior while the interior was closed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Price Tower was supposed to have been sold at an auction in early October 2024,<ref name="Goukassian c673" /><ref name="McFarlin" /> which was halted amid a lawsuit from McFarlin Building LLC over whether an earlier sale agreement covering the structure was still active.<ref name="McFarlin">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> McFarlin alleged that Blanchard had agreed to sell them the building before reneging.<ref name="Dossett y140" /><ref name="n161254652" /> Copper Tree also sued the Wright Building Conservancy in mid-October, requesting that a judge nullify the conservancy's liens on the building.<ref name="Goukassian h971" /><ref name="Aguiar h248a">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The building was scheduled to go up for bid again in mid-November, but that auction was also canceled.<ref name="n161254652" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Wright Building Conservancy filed a counterclaim in December 2024, saying that Copper Tree had violated the easement, which the organization claimed was still valid.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, the building's owners owed the Oklahoma Tax Commission at least $9,000.<ref name="Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise 2024">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The utilities were temporarily shut off<ref name="Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise 2024" /><ref name="Dossett n723">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> before a judge ordered them to be reinstated.<ref name="Dossett n723" />
Sale to McFarlin Building LLCEdit
In January 2025, a Washington County judge ruled that the tower had to be sold to McFarlin for $1.4 million;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> at the time, Copper Tree and Green Copper Holdings reportedly had only $216 in assets.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That February, the judge confirmed the sale would go through, with the proceeds to be held by the court until all claims were resolved.<ref name="Bankrupt" /> Blanchard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that month,<ref name="Bankrupt">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> so a bankruptcy auction for the building was scheduled for May 6, with bidding starting on March 31.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> More than 900 potential bidders were notified of the auction, though McFarlin was the only one to submit a bid.<ref name="Maupin u427">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In early May 2025, the building was sold to McFarlin for its original bid of $1.4 million;<ref name="Maupin u427" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the new owner planned to use it as a residential building and hotel.<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The restoration was to cost $10 million, partly financed by historic-preservation tax credits.<ref name=Slanchik2025/> Shortly after buying the tower, McFarlin drained standing water that had accumulated in the basement, and it turned the power back on.<ref name=Slanchik2025>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ArchitectureEdit
The Price Tower, a 19-story building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, measures Template:Convert tall<ref name="CTBUH q053" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /> from ground level to the tip of the building's spire.<ref name="n161017297">Template:Cite news</ref> Excluding the Template:Convert spire, the building is Template:Convert tall.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="n161103337" /><ref name="n161105319" /> The main tower is divided into a two-story base and a 17-story upper section, which includes a three-story penthouse.<ref name="Storrer pp. 378–379">Template:Harvnb</ref> There is a two-story annex adjacent to the base.<ref name="n160945984" /><ref name="n161105319" />
Wright nicknamed the Price Tower "the tree that escaped the crowded forest", referring both to the building's design and to his original plans for a New York skyscraper.<ref name="Singrey d960" /><ref name="Kahn h717">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Price Tower has been described either as Wright's only completed skyscraper<ref name="n161200659" /><ref name="Singrey d960" /><ref name="Aguiar 2024" /> or one of his only two completed towers, the other being the Johnson Wax Headquarters' research tower.<ref name="DeLong p. 78" /><ref name="n161100486" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn The building is divided into quadrants, of which one originally contained double-height apartments, while the other three were for offices.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /><ref name="Ennis n386" /><ref name="PA p. 88" /> One of the quadrants is slightly smaller than the others.<ref name="n161026864" />
FacadeEdit
As designed, each elevation of the main tower measures Template:Convert wide.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="p509393202" /><ref name="n161103337" /> The building is asymmetrical, and each elevation has a different appearance.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="AR-1983-04">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The facade panels are suspended from the floor slabs,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /><ref name="p390672275" /> and most of the exterior decorations are made of copper.<ref name="n161249612">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1289220613">Template:Cite news</ref> The facade includes louvers to help shield the interiors from sunlight.<ref name="Larouche 2001" /><ref name="The Columbus Dispatch d823">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="AF p. 112">Template:Harvnb</ref> The louvers are Template:Convert wide<ref name="n161017297" /> and were oxidized into a blue-green color before they were installed.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /><ref name="AF p. 112" /><ref name="Kirschner p. 3" /> The louvers on the office sections of the building are arranged horizontally, while those on the residential section are arranged vertically.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /><ref name="PA p. 88" /> The horizontal louvers were intended to keep out the wind and rain while also blocking direct sunlight,<ref name="p509393202" /><ref name="ENR 1953 o271">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="p148571480">Template:Cite news</ref> while the vertical louvers are placed on the southwest corner, which has the most exposure to sunlight throughout the day.<ref name="n161014260" /><ref name="p509393202" /> On the 16th-story terrace are movable louvers.<ref name="n161017297" /><ref name="p509385811">Template:Cite news</ref> There are also embossed copper spandrels embedded into the ends of the concrete floor slabs,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /><ref name="DeLong p. 79" /> which are decorated with a motif loosely resembling the floor plans.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 80">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright anticipated that the spandrels would change color as they aged.<ref name="AF p. 102" /><ref name="Kirschner p. 3" />
The rest of the facade is generally made of poured concrete, which is covered with stucco. All exterior trim is made of aluminum, while the exterior lamps are made of copper.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6">Template:Harvnb</ref> The glass panes were originally tinted in gold and copper hues.<ref name="Larouche 2001" /> A reflective film was added to the windows in the late 20th century, though the film on the southeast-quadrant windows was removed in 2003.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /> Balconies on each floor provide shade to parts of the facade,<ref name="n161012998a">Template:Cite news</ref> and roof gardens were planted atop the annex and the apartment balconies.<ref name="Newman b902">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="p509385811" /> Wright, a major proponent of organic architecture,<ref name="p148571480" /><ref name="n161012998a" /> believed that the roof gardens and glass-and-steel facade would help integrate the building's interior and exterior.<ref name="p1797186012" /><ref name="p509393202" /> He envisioned the terraces as "intermediaries" that connected the indoors and outdoors.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 18">Template:Harvnb</ref> The facade also contains a Template:Convert red tile,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /> on which Wright signed his initials.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /><ref name="p509385811" />
At the ground or first story, the annex was originally divided from the main tower via a drive-through counter with vertical windows. Although the second story of the annex was physically connected to the main tower, there was no way to travel between the two parts of the building without going outside. The annex's northern wall has a rhombus window with embossed copper bands, as well as a skylight with a copper frame.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /> Between 1978 and 1979, the drive-through counter was enclosed, becoming the Taliesin Room.<ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 6–7">Template:Harvnb</ref> There is also a one-story storage shed to the east, which was built in the 1980s or 1990s,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /> in addition to canopies and loggias for pedestrians and vehicles.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="n161103337" /><ref name="n161105319" />
Structural and mechanical featuresEdit
The structural core is made of four reinforced-concrete support piers extending the full height of the tower, each measuring Template:Convert wide by Template:Convert thick.<ref name="PA p. 88" /><ref name="ENR 1953 o271" /> The piers rest on a concrete platform Template:Convert below ground, which measures Template:Convert thick.<ref name="n161018893">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Time 1953 o455" /> The piers are arranged in a pinwheel configuration around a small open area in the center, forming a hollow "X" shape as seen from above.<ref name="n160899430" /><ref name="AF p. 111">Template:Harvnb</ref> Utility pipes, wires, and ducts are embedded into these piers, and an air-conditioning system is placed within the piers and floor slabs.<ref name="p509393202" /><ref name="PA p. 88" /> The building's interior is divided into four air-conditioning zones, one for each quadrant; the ducts in each pier serve a different quadrant. The building is served by three air-cooling machines above the main tower's 15th story, as well as another machine above the two-story annex.<ref name="AF p. 102" />
The main tower's floor slabs are made of reinforced concrete, while the walls are made of glass and concrete.<ref name="n160945984" /><ref name="n160955119" /><ref name="ENR 1953 o271" /> The floor slabs taper in thickness from Template:Convert at the core to Template:Convert at the building's perimeter.<ref name="McCarter p. 200">Template:Harvnb</ref> The floors are cantilevered outward,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 5" /><ref name="PA p. 88" /> extending as much as Template:Convert from the crossbeams that connect each pair of piers.<ref name="AF p. 111" /> The cantilevered floors permitted a more flexible floor plan while also making the building one-seventh the weight of similar skyscrapers.<ref name="p508791753">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Time 1953 o455">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Conversely, since the piers in the Price Tower's core carry all of the building's weight, this limits the extent to which the central portion of each floor could be modified.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" /> Wright himself claimed that a similar-sized building in New York's Rockefeller Center weighed about as much as 6.1 buildings of the Price Tower's size.<ref name="Louchheim n865">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The upper stories were originally served by four elevators, one in each pier,<ref name="AF p. 111" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8">Template:Harvnb</ref> which could fit only two to four people comfortably.<ref name="n161026864" /><ref name="n161200659" /> Each hexagonal elevator cab covers about Template:Convert and was custom-made.<ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 8–9">Template:Harvnb</ref> One elevator was originally used exclusively by residents, while the other three were used by office tenants;<ref name="PA p. 88" /><ref name="n161019185" /> the elevators skipped certain floors based on which quadrant they served.<ref name="n161249612" /> All four elevators could be either operated automatically or staffed by an elevator operator.<ref name="n161017297" /> There was no freight elevator because Wright thought it was redundant, given that the building's furnishings were mostly built-in.<ref name="n161200659" /> The residential elevator shaft is no longer used, and the cab has been removed to make way for additional ducts and wires.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 13">Template:Harvnb</ref> The building was constructed with a single emergency-exit staircase,<ref name="McCarter p. 198" /> which is placed outdoors and is covered by a canopy.<ref name="n161019185" /> The stairway is also extremely narrow.<ref name="n161200659" /><ref name="Davis u638">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The condition of the stair may have contributed to the building's abandonment in the late 20th century, as fire-safety regulations required at least two emergency exit stairs.<ref name="McCarter p. 198" />
InteriorEdit
As built, the Price Tower had about Template:Convert<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="n161202367" /><ref name="Storrer pp. 378–379" /> or Template:Convert of rentable space.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /><ref name="Kirschner p. 3" /> Including corridors and other non-rentable spaces, the gross floor area was Template:Convert.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /> PTAC executive Michael Christopher described Wright as having planned the building as an "urban microcosm concept, where you would live, work, eat, and shop all in the same space".<ref name="p227884738" /> When the building had been designed, Wright had believed that people could live "a richer, more connected life" if residential and business uses were combined in one building.<ref name="DeLong p. 80">Template:Harvnb</ref> Each quadrant is rotated 30 degrees from the neighboring piers, except for odd-numbered stories in the southwestern quadrant's apartments.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="n161103337" />
The floor plan is laid out around a grid of parallelograms,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /><ref name="n161017297" /> each composed of four 30-60-90 triangles.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 75" /><ref name="Kirschner p. 2">Template:Harvnb</ref> The parallelograms measure Template:Convert on each side and are spaced Template:Convert apart.<ref name="n160899430" /><ref name="Storrer p. 378" /> Each floor has a usable floor area of Template:Convert.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /><ref name="AF p. 112" /> On each floor, Template:Convert were originally used for offices; the remaining space was part of an apartment. The Price Company had the 11th to 16th-floor offices, while the offices on the 3rd to 10th floors were rented out.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /> There were eight apartments, including the Prices' penthouse.<ref name="n117334322" /><ref name="Storrer p. 379" /> The hallways are low, narrow corridors,<ref name="p509385811" /><ref name="n1611896532"/> while the rooms' ceilings descend to as low as Template:Convert at the building's core.<ref name="p419910723">Template:Cite news</ref> Due to the differing thicknesses of the floor slabs, the ceilings slope up toward the building's perimeter.<ref name="p403157145" /> As seen from the side, the sloping floor slabs resembled the branches of a tree.<ref name="n161249612" /><ref name="p403157145">Template:Cite news</ref>
Wright used a different color scheme on each floor,<ref name="n1610194993">Template:Cite news</ref> and he also designed the tower's fabric and wallpaper, which were part of his Taliesin Line.<ref name="Kirschner pp. 8–9">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright designed furniture for the building and specific tenants,<ref name="n161017297" /><ref name="McCarter p. 200" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 10">Template:Harvnb</ref> which was mostly assembled on site.<ref name="Davis u638" /> The Price Tower's furniture is similar to pieces that Wright designed for his residential clients.<ref name="n161102398">Template:Cite news</ref> Paul Goldberger of The New York Times described the tower's furniture as "geometric and almost futuristic".<ref name="Goldberger d474">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The lighting fixtures, ventilation grilles, and built-in furniture fit within the building's floor grid.<ref name="p509393202" /> Mahogany, aluminum, and tarnished copper are used in furniture throughout the building.<ref name="n161019499" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 10" /> Wright designed chairs with heavy aluminum bases, sloped arms, and hexagonal seatbacks, which were custom-made by a firm from Dewey, Oklahoma,<ref name="n161026864" /><ref name="n161019499" /><ref name="Kirschner pp. 11–12">Template:Harvnb</ref> and failed to sell commercially.<ref name="n161106279">Template:Cite news</ref> He also designed hexagonal trash cans,<ref name="n161200659" /> as well as aluminum dining chairs and built-in upholstered wood benches for the residences.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11">Template:Harvnb</ref> Bruce Goff donated additional furniture for the building.<ref name="Hickman a064" /><ref name="Roche x679" />
Lower storiesEdit
The lobby was accessed from the north via a driveway from Dewey Avenue, as well as from Sixth Street to the south.<ref name="n160965513" /> The lobby contains a newsstand.<ref name="n160945984" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /> The floor is painted Cherokee red, while the fluted, light-colored walls contain low seats.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /> Inscribed on the walls are two quotes, adapted from the work of Walt Whitman;<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /> one is from the concluding stanza of Salut au Monde, and the other is from Song of the Broad-Axe.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On the lobby's double-height ceiling are triangular lamps with copper frames and opaque glass panes.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /> The second story is designed as an open-air mezzanine,<ref name="n160945984" /><ref name="PA p. 89">Template:Harvnb</ref> running from west to east.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" />
The two-story annex covers more than 10,000 square feet.<ref name="n161097056f" /> It had offices for the Public Service Company of Oklahoma, as well as a superintendent's apartment with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 6" /> The superintendent's apartment subsequently became a catering room for the Price Tower Arts Center, while the offices became a lobby and welcome center.<ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 6–7" /> When the art center moved into the building, two partition walls and a restroom were added, and the second floor was converted into exhibition space.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 13" /> In addition, there was a basement with laundry, storage, and garbage rooms, and a sub-basement with elevator equipment.<ref name="n160945984" /><ref name="n160955119" />
Intermediate storiesEdit
The 3rd to 15th floors, which contain the offices and apartments, have very similar layouts.<ref name="n161100228">Template:Cite news</ref> The southwestern quadrant was devoted to residential use.<ref name="AF p. 111" /><ref name="Storrer p. 379" /> There were seven double-story apartments on the 3rd through 16th floors, each occupying approximately Template:Cvt.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 7" /><ref name="The Washington Post a360" /> Generally, each apartment had a Cherokee-red floor, light-colored walls, and mahogany furniture. Although the main entrance of each apartment was on the lower level, the elevator provided access to both levels.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> Each apartment had a narrow entrance vestibule, with a stair leading to the upper level,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> as well as a small kitchen with various appliances, laminate counters, and a trash chute.<ref name="Perkins75">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 11–12">Template:Harvnb</ref> The lower level also had a living–dining space, closets, and a bathroom.<ref name="n161026864" /><ref name="n161017297" /> The upper level had two bedrooms overlooking the lower level,<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> in addition to a bathroom and more closets.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> A glass skylight illuminated each apartment's upper level,<ref name="n160965513" /> and Wright and his assistant Eugene Masselink decorated the upper-level balustrade with a copper artwork.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> Each apartment also had fireplaces,<ref name="n161103337" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> which were located near the core and, according to Wright, were intended to celebrate Oklahoma's oil and gas reserves.<ref name="DeLong p. 80" /> Small balconies were placed on the exterior of each apartment.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 11" /> The apartments, which were unpopular because of their small size and high prices, were later converted to regular offices.<ref name="Dillon p. 120" /><ref name="The Washington Post a360" />
The office space on the upper stories was designed so that it could be further subdivided; tenants could install partitions along the parallelogram grid.<ref name="n117334322" /> At the 16th story is an open terrace, buffet, and kitchen,<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /><ref name="n161017297" /><ref name="p509385811" /> placed on a setback in one quadrant.<ref name="DeLong p. 79" /> Because of the tower's small footprint, the Bartlesville Record wrote that "every unit of space [is] an outside unit".<ref name="n161017297" /> Wright's sketches indicate that the office spaces were to be furnished with hexagonal desks, in addition to triangular drawers with triangular knobs; at least some of these decorations were retained in the Price Company's offices.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 9">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright added swivel chairs and U-shaped desks in other offices to minimize office workers' movement.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 10" /> Wright also designed removable glass and plywood partition walls, which were placed between the different offices and were removed by the building's later occupants.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" />
By the 2000s, the 3rd to 6th floors had become offices for the PTAC.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" /> A boutique hotel named The Inn at Price Tower occupied the 7th to 14th floors,<ref name="Warner z826" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" /> with 21 units in total.<ref name="NYT 2003 e862" /><ref name="Dillon p. 118" /><ref name="Schmertz e0983"/> These include 18 single rooms and 3 duplex suites,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn the latter of which were converted from apartments.<ref name="Schmertz e0983"/> Some of the hotel units were two-story spaces with sleeping lofts on a balcony level.<ref name="The Washington Post a360" /> The hotel had earth-toned upholstery, reflecting the building's original colors,<ref name="n161206722" /><ref name="Kahn h717" /><ref name="p403157145" /> in addition to furnishings and motifs inspired by Wright's original design.<ref name="Larouche 2001" /><ref name="The Columbus Dispatch d823" /> There were Tibetan rugs, green curtains, and maple furniture,<ref name="p345857833" /><ref name="Schmertz e0983"/> along with copper-accented furniture.<ref name="Warner z826" /><ref name="Kahn h717" /> Furniture was manufactured on-site because the elevators were too small to accommodate new furniture.<ref name="Schmertz e0983"/><ref name="Kahn h717" /> The modifications were designed so they could be easily reversed if the hotel closed;<ref name="n161206722" /> for example, showers were installed in existing closets.<ref name="n161206722" /><ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 12–13" /> On the 7th to 14th floors, the apartments' original bathrooms and kitchens remain in place, but the other rooms on these stories have been modified.<ref name="NPS (2007) pp. 12–13">Template:Harvnb</ref> Tours of the tower were included with room reservations.<ref name="Warner z826" /><ref name="n161211536">Template:Cite news</ref>
The 15th and 16th stories were converted into Copper, a restaurant and bar, after the hotel opened.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" /><ref name="Kahn h717" /> This bar had a copper countertop above a maple plywood counter, an allusion to the materials used in Wright's original furniture.<ref name="Dillon p. 122">Template:Harvnb</ref> The bar's shape referenced the curved facade of the Guggenheim Museum, which Wright also designed.<ref name="Dillon p. 124" /> In addition, the barstools and chairs were made of plywood and copper.<ref name="Dillon p. 122" />
PenthouseEdit
The top three stories originally functioned as an office and a duplex apartment for the Prices,<ref name="Kahn h717" /><ref name="Storrer p. 379" /><ref name="p234942313">Template:Cite magazine</ref> occupying all four quadrants.<ref name="DeLong pp. 80–81">Template:Harvnb</ref> The former corporate office is at the middle of the 17th floor,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /> and the Price family's living room occupies the same story.<ref name="n161017297" /><ref name="Storrer p. 379" /> The corporate office includes a glass curtain wall.<ref name="p234942313" /> Another wall includes a full-height wood-burning fireplace.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 9" /> Wright designed a custom rolling chair for Harold Sr.,<ref name="p234942313" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 9" /> along with four aluminum chairs for visitors.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 9" /> There was also a bronze lamp with a pebbled glass shade<ref name="p234942313" /> and a retractable banquette under Harold Sr.'s desk.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 9" /> Wright designed a mural called The Blue Moon, a reference to the phrase "once in a blue moon", used as a metaphor for rare occurrences.<ref name="Warner z826" /><ref name="p234942313" /> Wright said at the time that it was very rare for "the perfect design, perfect architect and perfect buyer" to be present on the same project.<ref name="Warner z826" /> Outside Harold Sr.'s office was another office for his assistant, with a U-shaped desk and swivel chair.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 10" /> There is a terrace to the north and a roof garden to the south of Harold Sr.'s office.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" />
The 18th floor includes a conference room and bedrooms for the Prices.<ref name="n161017297" /><ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /> The conference room provides a secondary entrance to the Price apartment,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /> whose two bedrooms are accessed by a steep staircase.<ref name="n117334158" /> The 19th floor was used as an executive office<ref name="n161017297" /> and, unlike all the other stories, was not divided into quadrants.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 8" /><ref name="Storrer p. 379" /> Eugene Masselink designed a glass mural for the wall of Price's 19th-floor office,<ref name="Perkins76">Template:Harvnb</ref> which includes gold, copper, red, and turquoise hues.<ref name="p234942313" /> As planned, there was to be a rooftop kitchen and buffet area, an open terrace, and a television antenna above the 19th floor.<ref name="n160945984" /> The PTAC used the penthouse as a museum space after taking over.<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 12" />
ManagementEdit
The Price Tower Arts Center, the art complex at Price Tower, was founded in 1985 as a civic art museum and reorganized in 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }} Price Tower Arts Center: Visitor Info</ref> The PTAC focused on art, architecture, and design, with a particular emphasis on Wright's and Goff's architectural works.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The center provided tours of the building, in addition to displays of modern art. furniture, textiles, and design.<ref name="p390672275" /> The museum's collection included contemporary art, including Frederic Remington sculptures, in addition to architectural works by Wright and Goff.<ref name="p227884738" /> There were also many objects collected by Bruce Goff, including 7,000 phonograph records, pieces of laundry, and paintings created using toothbrushes.<ref name="Brown k216" /> In addition, the PTAC operated summer camps for art and architecture.<ref name="n161252984">Template:Cite news</ref>
Before the Inn at Price Tower closed in 2024,<ref name="Martin b179" /> it was a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Condé Nast listed the Inn at Price Tower as one of the world's 100 best hotels when it opened,<ref name="n161211536" /> and the hotel was on the 2021 list of Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Magnificent Art Collections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ImpactEdit
ReceptionEdit
ContemporaryEdit
When plans for the Price Tower were announced in 1953, Architectural Forum magazine published a ten-page article about the planned building, saying that "Never has so tall an office building been built in so small a city."<ref name="n160955518">Template:Cite news</ref> A writer for the Kansas City Times described the Price Tower as "a slender, blade-like building",<ref name="n160899430" /> and Americas magazine wrote that the Price Tower "reveals Wright's curious concept of skyscrapers".<ref name="p1797186012" /> The Bartlesville Record predicted that the Price Tower would help bring good publicity to Oklahoma.<ref name="n161015400">Template:Cite news</ref>
When the building was completed, it was one of the most widely discussed skyscrapers in the U.S.,<ref name="NPS (2007) p. 18" /> and it was depicted in magazines such as Newsweek and Fortune.<ref name="n161025184">Template:Cite news</ref> The Christian Science Monitor wrote that it was "one of the world's most modern buildings".<ref name="p509393202" /> Thomas W. Ennis of The New York Times called the Price Tower a seeming "reversal of the natural order of things",<ref name="Ennis n386" /> and the Enid Daily Eagle called the Price Tower "perhaps the most notable achievement in art in Oklahoma" during 1955.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Nowata, Oklahoma, Daily Star regarded the tower as "slim and graceful",<ref name="n161019185" /> and the Tulsa Tribune wrote that the building "adds a distinctive note" to Bartlesville's downtown.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The author Allan Temko said that, even though the Price Tower "makes use of standard parts, mass produced by machine technology", it was a good example of Wright's organic architecture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Conversely, critics likened the Price Tower to a hood ornament and a spaceship, and people derided it as "Price's folly".<ref name="Dillon p. 118" /> The British architectural writer Ian Nairn called the tower "the saddest case of an unrealized focus" because it was set back from the city's street grid and, thus, did not readily attract passersby's attention.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Bartlesville Morning Examiner wrote in 1957 that many publications had ranked the Price Tower among Wright's best works or among the best new buildings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Depictions of the tower were displayed at Expo 58 in Brussels, and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) also hosted an exhibit in Washington, D.C., with photos of the tower.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United States Information Agency displayed pictures of the Price Tower overseas as part of campaigns promoting Oklahoma.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When Wright died in 1959, Walter H. Stern of The New York Times wrote that "to attribute a single architectural style to Mr. Wright would be a misjudgment of his art", citing the contrasts between the Price Tower and Wright's Taliesin studio.<ref name="p114731285">Template:Cite news</ref>
RetrospectiveEdit
The Price Tower received the Twenty-five Year Award from the AIA in 1983;<ref name="Larouche 2001" /><ref name="AR-1983-04" /> as the AIA said, "The Price Tower is an embodiment of [Wright's] organic philosophy that buildings should grow out of the ground."<ref name="AR-1983-04" /> The Price Tower was the third Wright–designed building to receive the award, after Taliesin West and the Johnson Wax Headquarters,<ref name="n161103337" /><ref name="n161105319" /> and the first building in Oklahoma to be so recognized.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The AIA's Oklahoma chapter also voted the Price Tower as one of the state's ten best buildings,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and The Daily Oklahoman listed it as one of the few buildings in Oklahoma that had garnered national attention.<ref name="n161106049">Template:Cite news</ref> A writer for Architecture: the AIA journal said in 1982 that "The very complexity of the building [...] gives particular identity to each space within".<ref name="DeLong pp. 79–80">Template:Harvnb</ref> Although Paul Goldberger wrote that the Price Tower was "full of Wright's tense, energetic desire to break out of the box", he felt that it was not "a major building of the twentieth century" because it had languished as an unfinished project for too long.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jane Holtz Kay of The Christian Science Monitor wrote in 1983 that Wright had not been properly recognized for his work, even though the Price Tower and his other designs "make him a model for architecture's latest high-rise hipsters".<ref name="p1037992378">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2003, The New York Times wrote that the Price Tower "presides over this city of 36,000 with a strange totemic power",<ref name="Brown k216" /> while Architectural Record wrote that the building was "as much a social manifesto as a work of architecture".<ref name="Dillon p. 118" /> The architect Tadao Ando described the Price Tower as one of the most important 20th-century buildings.<ref name="p390672275" /> A writer for The Atlantic magazine described the building as "easily one of the more bizarre towers ever built".<ref name="Curtis r636">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Observers also wrote about the small sizes of spaces such as elevators.<ref name="p419910723" /><ref name="n161211536" /> Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune, reviewing the hotel rooms, felt them to be "an exemplary exercise in the art of respectful contrast" despite the cramped spaces.<ref name="p419910723" /> A writer for the Austin American-Statesman said in 2016 that the Price Tower was an "engineering marvel in the middle of the prairie" that architecture students, architects, and engineers came to visit.<ref name="Newman b902" />
MediaEdit
Shortly after the Price Tower was completed, Wright wrote a book about the building's construction, The Story of the Tower,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in which he compared the floors to the branches of a tree.<ref name="Larouche 2001" /> Joe Price, who produced a film about the tower's development,<ref name="n161014260" /> recalled that "the true building itself became visible to me" one day while the louvers were being installed on the facade.<ref name="AR p. 157">Template:Harvnb</ref> The book Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower, published in 2005, includes essays about and photographs of the building,<ref name="p199612518">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and the 2014 book Frank Lloyd Wright: Preservation, Design, and Adding to Iconic Buildings also includes an essay about the Price Tower.<ref name="p1683725685">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Wendy Evans Joseph, who designed the building's hotel, also created a pop-up book featuring the tower.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Landmark designationsEdit
The Price Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1974.<ref name="Goukassian c673" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is one of several NRHP sites in Bartlesville, along with LaQuinta, the Old Washington County Courthouse, and the Frank Phillips Home.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building was further nominated for a National Historic Landmark designation in 2006.<ref name="p390672275" /> On March 29, 2007, the United States Department of the Interior designated the building as a National Historic Landmark;<ref name="p390672275" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> at the time, it was one of 20 such sites in Oklahoma.<ref name="p390672275" /> In designating the building, the Interior Department described the structure as embodying "the powerful architectural idea of the cantilevered tower".<ref name="p390672275" />
In 2008, the U.S. National Park Service submitted the Price Tower, along with nine other Frank Lloyd Wright properties,<ref>For the list of nominated buildings, refer to: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to a tentative list for World Heritage status.<ref name="Davis u638" /> The Price Tower and ten other Wright buildings were renominated to the list in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ten buildings including the Price Tower were again nominated to the World Heritage List in 2015,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee rejected this nomination,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> the Price Tower was removed from the proposed listing.<ref name="KaminBigDeal2019">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> UNESCO ultimately added eight properties to the World Heritage List in July 2019 under the title "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright"; the Price Tower was not one of them.<ref name="KaminBigDeal2019" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Exhibits and architectural influenceEdit
After the building was announced, models of it were displayed at Tulsa's Petroleum Exposition,<ref name="Time 1953 o455" /> Bartlesville's First National Bank,<ref name="n160952818">Template:Cite news</ref> New York City's American Academy of Arts and Letters,<ref name="Louchheim n865" /> and the Guggenheim Museum during 1953 alone.<ref name="p1322356016">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> The building was also depicted in a 1954 exhibit about Wright's work at Los Angeles's Barnsdall Art Park,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the Bartlesville Museum's first exhibit in 1990,<ref name="n1611896532"/> and an exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1994.<ref name="p197313556">Template:Cite magazine; Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, a custom chair from the building was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1991,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and MoMA owns a model of the building.<ref name="n161252984" /> To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the tower's opening, the PTAC hosted a traveling exhibit on the building's history in 2005.<ref name="p398927626" /><ref name="p234956796a">Template:Cite magazine; Template:Cite news</ref> The tower itself also attracted visitors from around the world.<ref name="n161206722" />
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that the building "has been imitated but never duplicated".<ref name="Larouche 2001" /> The Price Tower's design may have inspired that of the Citizens Bank Tower (now The Classen) in Oklahoma City, which was designed by the architectural firm Bozalis & Roloff.<ref name="n161213846">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NRHP-09000978">Template:Cite report</ref> Other projects based on the Price Tower's design include a Domino's Pizza headquarters in Michigan,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as Wright's Crystal Heights towers in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Powers l289">Template:Cite news</ref> Another of Wright's buildings, Point View Residences, also used a parallelogram floor grid, though that building was not finished during his lifetime.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wright's unfinished design for The Illinois, a mile-high skyscraper, was loosely derived from the cantilevered structure of the Price Tower and Tokyo's Imperial Hotel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The concept of mixed residential and office skyscrapers did gain popularity; Paul Goldberger of The New York Times described the Price Tower's mix of uses as having been copied by buildings such as the Olympic Tower and the Galleria in New York.<ref name="p120907900">Template:Cite news</ref> The designs of other buildings, such as the interiors of the Bachman–Wilson House in Arkansas,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Arlington in North Carolina,<ref name="p217795811">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and the Morton International Building in Illinois, have been compared to that of the Price Tower.<ref name="p283089359">Template:Cite news</ref>
Harold Jr. also commissioned Wright to design a house in Bartlesville,<ref name="Perkins37">Template:Harvnb</ref> which became known as Hillside.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Frank Lloyd Wright Sites w672">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Usonian–style home has two stories and an L-shaped hipped roof.<ref name="Frank Lloyd Wright Sites w672" /> The Price Tower and Hillside are two of the only three Wright buildings in Oklahoma; the other is Westhope in Tulsa.<ref name="n161097302" /><ref name="Sale">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Price family, impressed with the Price Tower's construction,<ref name=n161762576>Template:Cite news</ref> asked Wright to design a house in the desert in Phoenix, Arizona.<ref name="n160899430" /><ref name="p115820645">Template:Cite news</ref> The neighboring Bartlesville Community Center was designed by William Wesley Peters;<ref name="Perkins37" /><ref name="n161101513">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> the city's decision to hire Peters was influenced in part by the presence of the Price Tower.<ref name="n161100228" /><ref name="n161101513" /> Reproductions of the tower's furniture have also been sold.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See alsoEdit
- List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Oklahoma
ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
CitationsEdit
SourcesEdit
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- Template:Cite report
- Template:Cite Wright Companion
- Template:Cite magazine
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:Official website
- Travel Oklahoma: Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower & Arts Center – official State of Oklahoma website
Template:NRHP in Washington County, Oklahoma Template:Frank Lloyd Wright