|
Designed between 1912-1922, the Imperial Hotel put Frank Lloyd Wright on the map as a nascent global architect. The Hotel immediately became an important landmark when it survived the great Kanto earthquake the first day the hotel opened its doors in 1923. For decades the Hotel served as an architectural icon for the city of Tokyo until it was demolished in 1968. Fortunately, the main entrance and the Hotel lobby were preserved and reconstructed at the Museum Meiji-mura, an open-air architectural museum and theme park near Nagoya in Aichi prefecture, Japan. The designs on this puzzle are portions of a painted and partially carved Oya stone mural for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Wright saw Oya, a native igneous rock, used in Japan, was intrigued by its mottled quality, and had it carved in a multitude of patterns for the highly ornamented hotel. |