Johnson Wax Headquarters

Infobox_nrhp | name =S.C. Johnson and Son Administration Building and Research Tower
nrhp_type =nhl

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caption =Exterior, viewed towards the east, of the Johnson Wax Headquarters building
location= Racine, Wisconsin
lat_degrees = 42 | lat_minutes = 42 | lat_seconds = 48.64 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 87 | long_minutes = 47 | long_seconds = 26.55 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1936
architect= Frank Lloyd Wright; Peters,Wesley W.
architecture= Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements, Other
designated=January 7, 1976cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1521&ResourceType=Building
title=Administration and Research Tower, S.C. Johnson Company
accessdate=2008-06-30|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = December 27, 1974
governing_body = Private
refnum=74002275 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2006-03-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Johnson Wax Headquarters (1936-1939), the world headquarters and administration building of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. in Racine, Wisconsin was designed by American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, for the company's president, Herbert F. "Hib" Johnson. An example of streamlined design, the Johnson Wax Administration Building, as it is also known, has over 200 types of curved red bricks making up the exterior and interior of the building, and Pyrex glass tubing from the ceiling and clerestories to let in soft light. The colors that Frank Lloyd Wright chose for the Johnson Wax building are cream (for the columns and mortar) and "Cherokee Red" for the floors, bricks, and furniture. The furniture, also designed by the architect, and manufactured by Steelcase, Inc., echoes the curving lines of the building.

One approaches the building by walking underneath the 14-story tall Johnson Wax Research Tower (1944-1951) and through a low parking lot, which is supported by steel-reinforced "dendriform" (tree-shaped) concrete columns. The parking lot ceiling creates a compression of space, and the dendriform columns are echoed inside the building, where they rise over two stories tall, supporting the structure's roof. This rise in height when one enters the administration building creates a release of spatial compression. Compression and release of space were concepts that Wright used in many of his designs, including the playroom in his Oak Park Home and Studio, the Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and many others. The largest expanse of space in the Johnson Wax building is the Great Workroom, as Wright called it. This open area has no internal walls and was intended for secretaries of the Johnson Wax company, while a mezzanine holds the administrators.

that meets the lily pad, cracked (crashing the 60 tons of materials to the ground, and bursting a water main 30 feet underground). After this demonstration, Wright was given his building permit.

Additionally, it was very difficult to properly seal the glass tubing of the clerestories and roof, thus causing leaks. This problem was not solved until rubber gaskets were placed between the tubes, and corrugated plastic was used in the roof to seal it, while mimicking the glass tubes. And finally, Wright's chair design for Johnson Wax originally had only three legs, supposedly to encourage better posture (because one would have to keep both feet on the ground at all times to sit in it). However, the chair design proved too unstable, tipping very easily. Herbert Johnson, needing a new chair design, purportedly asked Wright to sit in one of the three-legged chairs and, after Wright fell from the chair, the architect designed new chairs for Johnson Wax with four legs; these chairs, and the other office furniture designed by Wright, are still in use.

Despite these problems, Johnson was pleased with the building design, and later commissioned the Research Tower, and a house from Wright known as Wingspread. The Research Tower is no longer in use because of the change in fire safety codes. The Johnson Wax buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Administration Building and the Research Tower were each chosen by the American Institute of Architects as two of seventeen buildings by the architect to be retained as examples of his contribution to American culture. In addition, the Administration Building and Research Tower were both designated National Historic Landmarks in 1976.

Popular culture

In the anime series TEXHNOLYZE, the "Great Workroom" is featured in episode 19 and onward, possibly as a symbol. It serves as a work place for the character Sakimura and other members of the surface world. It is unknown to what the work room may symbolize but it is possible that it symbolizes the failure of industry, as in one scene a boss in the work room ignores Sakimura's report of an army's invasion.As well as this; in the film Men In Black, the main atrium in the MIB's headquarters bears a striking resemblance to the office floor in the factory, particularly the pilotis on throughout the space as well as the balconies around the perimeter, this design ties in with the pseudo-modernist appearance of much of the Headquarters building.

References

Also, in the film "Superman Returns" the offices of the "Daily Planet" are very similar to the Johnson Wax Building.

External links

* [http://www.scjohnson.com/ S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. official website] .
* [http://www.racinecounty.com/golden/wright.htm SC Johnson: The Golden Rondelle] website includes links to tour information for the Johnson Wax building.
* [http://www.peterbeers.net/interests/flw_rt/Wisconsin/johnson_wax/johnson_wax.htm Johnson Wax Building] , is a page from an independent website, [http://www.peterbeers.net/index.html Frank Lloyd Wright Roadtrip] concentrating on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Includes photographs.
* [http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Johnson_Wax_Building.html Johnson Wax Building] at Great Buildings Online
* [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~struct/resources/case_studies/case_studies_cantilevers/wright_johnson_wax/wright_johnson_wax.html A page discussing the structural engineering of the Johnson Wax Research Tower] .