Price Tower
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Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Year Completed: 1956
Location: 510 Dewey Avenue, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Style: Modern
The Price Tower is the only skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that was ever built. Wright based the tower on his 1929 plans for the St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie apartment building that was proposed for New York City, but never constructed. The Price Tower was built for the H.C. Price International Pipeline Company. Mr. Price hired Wright on recommendation of his son Joe Price.
The first three pictures above are of the exterior of the building. The other pictures are from our stay in one of the hotel rooms in November 2004.
The original building was a combination of residential and commercial space. he design was based on a primary shaft in the center that housed the plumbing, elevators, and air conditioning. The floors were offshoots of this core shaft, and divided into four quadrants. The floors were generally made up of one quadrant for apartment space and three quadrants for office space. The top two floors housed a penthouse apartment. The exterior of the building continues the tree theme and is made of concrete, copper and glass.
The building was used by the Price company until 1981 when it was sold to Phillips Petroleum Company. Phillips used the building for a few years, but by the mid-1980s no longer needed the office space. The building sat essentially vacant for many years before being reinvented as the Price Tower Arts Center in the late 1990s. While maintaining the arts center, the building was renovated in 2003 into a 21-room boutique hotel and restaurant. Wendy Evans Joseph, based in New York City, was the architect for this renovation.
Future plans call for an proposed expansion by leading architect Zaha Hadid.
Tours of the Price Tower are given Tuesday through Sunday and the Inn at Price Tower is open seven days a week. For more information, visit their web site at www.pricetower.org