“We hired you because of your vision, James,” said the senior partner. “We gave you an opportunity here. You knew the importance of this project to the firm.”
“And this is what you bring us,” said the junior partner. “This…I don’t know what to call it.”
The drawing lay unrolled on the conference table between them. James could see the angry red pencil marks, circles and x’s.
James wanted to tell them about Frank Lloyd Wright’s cherished vision, the mile-high Chicago tower.
He wanted to tell them about the dream he’d had. But he said nothing.
They wouldn’t understand.
More about 900 Michigan Avenue here
More about Frank Lloyd Wright’s unbuilt mile-high skyscraper here
Dear Josh
The title made me choke and nearly spew my coffee. Visionaries are so often misunderstood, aren’t they? So much said in so few words. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
That said, Wright was known for leaky roofs and cracked foundations. They had good reasons to not trust his idea of a mile-high building, I think. ;-)
There are so many ways to be wrong and so few to be Wright
Your reply is Wright on.
Great title and story. I love most FLW architecture, although I’ve never had to live in any…
There’s something so very scary about really tall buildings. I can’t even begin to contemplate a mile high building. Nicely done.
I like style and art but there’s something to be said for structural engineering and stability. After all, who’s going to pay for San-Francisco’s tilting, sinking Millennium Tower?
A great bit of fiction with a nod to fact.
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Kind of gorgeous, that design, and kind of terrifying too! What might have been, eh? Nicely written slice of history Josh
Beautifully written scene.
Great title. Visionaries are never understood in until it’s too late for them to be truly appreciated.
I almost knew where you were heading with the title… some of the boldest projects never gets built… and sometimes there’s a good reason for it,
I guess the next words were, “You’re fired!”
He wanted to tell them about the dream he’d had. But he said nothing. How many dreams die this way? Your really captured disappointment and hope in this piece.
When no one else shares the dream, no one else has the vision, it’s pretty tough to sell it. Kind of a sad story.
You can’t make people like your ideas but I thought the mile high tower is impressive. Cute!
Ahead of their time, Frank and James both. Great title!
Dreams sometimes are just ahead of there time. Liked your take on the prompt photo
Nice take on the prompt. Thanks for the links, I learned a lot.
Although I know nothing about Frank Lloyd Wright I really enjoyed this piece. I loved the dialogue and the ‘angry’ drawings.
Clever story!
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Travel, Fiction and Photos
Short but powerful (the story not the building).
Here’s hoping James went on to have a thriving practice in the Middle/Far East where money and aspirations mean the sky really is the limit.