Gordon Strong
Automobile Objective

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Perspective for the Gordon
Strong Automobile Objective,
Sugar Loaf Mountain, Maryland,
ca., 1925-1929
Graphite and colored pencil on Japanese paper
Prints & Photographs Division
Gift, Donald D. Walker, 1986 (141.9)

Issues of mobility and landscape became paramount in Frank Lloyd Wright's concept for the Automobile Objective. It was his first project to explore circular geometries as a means of fully shaping architectural space. Gordon Strong (1869-1954), a Chicago businessman, captivated by Sugarloaf Mountain, met with Wright in 1924 to discuss schemes for the development, of "a structure on the summit" that would "serve as an objective for short motor trips." Strong ultimately rejected this design, feeling it inappropriate, and built a more conventional park instead. Wright, however, apparently captivated by the spiral, continued to develop its potential in several later projects, of which the Guggenheim Museum is the most well known.