Usonian Build-Off Update: Cast your votes!

In the hours leading up to the Usonian Build-Off competition deadline, construction continued at a furious pace. Some homes were complete, while others were fighting lag to finish before the deadline.

I’ve spent the past two days driving around the site (and only once did I nearly run over Museum CEO Frey Brevin), talking to the builders and staff to get an idea of what the Usonian vision means to them. Many spoke of the beauty and simplicity of Wright’s designs, but for many, the Usonian ideal was an entirely new concept.

There was a great deal of lively activity from the start, and more than a little friendship and comraderie.  While touring the sim yesterday morning, Prim Perfect Photographer PJ Trenton and I we were warmly welcomed  to the site of Pro Builder Marcan Aridian by some of his friends.  “Good Morning!” shouted a lively Thorn Aridian, “We are having a coffee/building party!”  Marcan later told me that he built the castle in which he and his friends all live.  Their other friend Buttercup Doolittle was also keeping them company, and speaking of Thorn, she clarified “He’s not a builder but he’s the comedy relief; I am just a pain in the ass that hangs out here.”

The sense of community they shared was evident in not just in their friendly banter, but in the pottery wheel Thorn had set up on the lawn.  He was throwing pots on site that will decorate the house, carrying on the Arts & Crafts spirit of community and collaborative design which also influenced Wright.

A different sort of work party was underway at Kessa Corvale’s site.  Every time I walked by her build, I saw her dancing away as she rezzed huge prims and moved them about.  When I stopped in to chat, she was joined by two friends who joked and, more importantly, were keeping her appraised of sports scores while she worked.

Other builders worked in a more solitary fashion.  I was particularly enchanted by Janey Enderfield, the Duchess of Deerglade Hall Estates.  The down-to-earth Duchess described her creative working style to me: “Well I’ve been designing it on the spot as I go, so to speak… didn’t put anything down on paper or plan it till I got started… sat and looked at the land… used my imagination and it happened from there.”

The time constraints also add pressure and excitement to the competition.  Many builders were underway as soon as the opening fireworks went off.  But when I walked by Janelle Quandry’s site late yesterday afternoon, it was vacant.  Yet by this morning, not only was there a lovely build, but she was working on some stunning, Japanese-inspired furnishings.

I caught up with Janelle this afternoon, and she explained her very good reason for her late start.  “My husband is in the military, and I had a last minute chance to go see him.  So unfortunately I put off the competition for a day… and when I got here I just knew I needed to get to work.”  Janelle is also working on another fascinating project which shows in her Usonian interpretation: “I am a part of Ichizoku Seikiji, a Japanese-styled House, and I have been helping rebuild their half sim.  The Ryuoshu, or head of the House, has given me the opportunity to help him out greatly.  He supplied the textures, and I would go to town with building blocks and put things together. Currently there is a game pavilion I put together, a meditation area, a waterfall, and a small bridge.   I am helping him with a walk through garden next, so I’m really excited.”

So with all of this coming to a frantic close, what will the judges be looking for? “Well, I like the creative spark the most,” said Ethan Westland, FLWVM Board Member, Architect, and the owner of the Taliesin Design Center of architects and builders specializing in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. “Wright pulled most of his designs out of thin air, he drew Fallingwater in less than three hours… I have to take into consideration whether the design holds true to Usonian values but at the same time, they should show a measure of creativity.”

But the Usonian ideal was about more than just creativity, as one of the most important aspects was economic viability.  Westland noted that “Usonian [homes] were noted to be cost-effective structures,  so Wright had to find creative ways to make them echo his larger, more grandiose structures.”  It occurred to me while I was chatting with some of the builders that in SL, this translates not so much in keeping the Linden cost down, but in staying within prim limits.  The builder’s were given a ceiling of 300 prims (a number I struggle to stay under in my little two-room house).  If they want to furnish and landscape their homes, they must show an economy of materials in their design.

The official competition period ended at 6pm SLT today, but the site will remain open for visitors all day tomorrow as well.  Make sure to stop by the fountain to cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award, voting closes at noon on Monday.