The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy announces that registration is now open for its 2003 annual conference, which this year will be August 31–September 7 at Frank Lloyd Wright’s San Francisco home, the historic St. Francis Hotel. This year’s conference will focus on Wright’s late work, his contemporaries and apprentices, and those Modernists who continue in his influence.

The format includes three days of lectures, and a pre-conference “Wine Country and Modern Architecture” excursion. More than 20 architecturally significant structures and locales in and outside San Francisco will be toured or hosting conference events. Some of the buildings included were designed by Wright; some were designed by such notable architects as Bernard Maybeck, Aaron Green, Arthur Erickson, and Jerrold Lomax.

Conference lecture sessions will focus on defining the position of Wright’s work within currents of mid-century Modernism as they emerged in the San Francisco region. Highlights will include:

• Lectures that explore utopian concepts that continued a dialogue between American and European Modernism
• An in-depth look at the construction of the Marin County Civic Center
• Breakout sessions to discuss technical and other thematic issues related to the conservation and appreciation of Wright’s work
• A special homeowners and apprentices panel to provide an immediate tie to Wright and his work
• The keynote address by Dr. Paul Turner, Stanford University, about the restoration of the Hanna House, now part of the Stanford Campus.

There will be a dinner at the famed City Club, where Wright and Aaron Green, his West Coast colleague, would dine during Wright’s San Francisco visits. Entertainment will include a special presentation of the critically acclaimed “F.L.L.W., The Tragedies & Triumphs of Frank Lloyd Wright,” a theatrical experience written and performed by John Crowther.

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