Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on Ending its Second Life Partnership: The Virtual Replicas Weren't Wright Enough

I recently noted that the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation had ended its licensing relationship with the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum in Second Life, run by the registered non-profit Virtual Museums Inc, which recreated a number of Wright's buildings and other designs in Second Life. Educator Ignatius Onomatopoeia contacted the Foundation, which manages the great architect's intellectual property, and received a lengthy official reply, including this clincher:

The Foundation terminated the license agreement with VMI for numerous reasons, including the fact that several of the buildings as constructed in Second Life and displayed by VMI did not accurately reflect the buildings as actually designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

This seems quite different from what VMI board members have said about the termination; for instance, one asserted that a key conflict was over the sale of unapproved Wright knock-offs in the SL marketplace. My sense is we're not getting the full story from either side, as is often the case. In any event, it's unfortunate the Wright museum in Second Life is evidently no more.

Image credit: In a Strange Land.

Comments

[Arcadia Codesmith]

It's a pity they couldn't come to an agreement.

Kudos to Iggy for getting the other side of the story.

[Rowan Derryth]

This is a form letter that has gone out to several people - I had seen it multiple times elsewhere before Iggy posted it. Before this, I did clarify in my article that the complaint I mentioned (regarding the Marketplace) was the perplexing one, but that it was not the ONLY reason. We cannot, understandably, publish the entirety of the the C&D Order, just as they cannot. But you are correct in that it was a complicated and unfortunate issue from both sides.

I will say that to my knowledge we were never contacted by the Foundation regarding their concerns, nor given the opportunity to correct them, as we would have post-haste. Nor were we given access to the original materials needed to plan accordingly in the first place, as we would have liked to. The texture issues which I've seen mentioned elsewhere was something we all agreed needed improved, and which we hoped to rectify with access to the Foundation archives.

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

For what it's worth, Rowan, I found the quality of the builds outstanding. Perhaps the Foundation is as picky as its namesake.

Wright had the stone retaining wall at Fallingwater torn down and rebuilt repeatedly, much to the chagrin of his clients and to the delight of the paid-by-the-hour stone masons building it.

[Rowan Derryth]

Thanks Iggy, and I'm SURE they are as picky - and they should be. It should be made clear (and I tried to emphasize this on the Designing Worlds interview we did: http://treet.tv/shows/designingworlds/episodes/frank-lloyd-wright) that we support the Foundation's efforts to protect the intellectual property of Wright. Somehow though we had a massive communication breakdown, and I cannot blame either side for that entirely.

[Galena Qi]

Color me unsurprised. If you have ever visited the retreat at Taliesin and taken a tour from one of the long-term residents you'll understand that the foundation is basically a cult. Personally, I found the adulation they surround Wright's memory with quite uncomfortable. But it's understandable, since many of the people running the foundation are his original students and preserving his reputation is central to their mission.

[c3]

LOL...

The cult of Philip and the cult of Frank- collide.

Really Priceless. And possibly one of the few things that both Philip and Frank would have agreed upon.