Karen Sweeney This is Me

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1. 1. www.oldhousejournal.com

   www.oldhousejournal.com/17th_s - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/12/2008   Last Visited: 8/12/2008

   Karen Sweeney, the restoration architect for the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, says, Ribbon window placement was an important part of Prairie-style architecture that tried to create buildings with horizontal lines.There's no doubt that Wright's use of ribbon windows inspired other people to use them, too.These window banks also allowed for a wide-ranging outdoor view from an inside vantage point, especially when they continued around the corner of a building.Wright used ribbon windows to break open the box and open up rooms so they seem bigger, says Sweeney.

2. 2. www.oldhousejournal.com

   www.oldhousejournal.com/Keepin - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/11/2008   Last Visited: 8/11/2008

   The ongoing restoration of the 1910 Robie House in Hyde Park, Illinois, has recently included upgrading the mechanical systems, according to Karen Sweeney, architect with The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
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   That's what it takes for the tight temperature and humidity levels we're trying to maintain, says Sweeney.

3. 3. Memphis Daily News - Art and Architecture - 9/26/2006

   www.memphisdailynews.com/Edito - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/26/2006   Last Visited: 9/26/2006

   ON TAP: Historical preservationist Karen Sweeney is scheduled to speak tonight at Grace-St.Luke's Episcopal Church in conjunction with Architecture Month. -- PHOTO COURTESY OF KAREN SWEENEY
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   Preservationist Karen Sweeney will give a lecture on the status of a home Wright designed in Chicago at 7 p.m. at Grace-St.Luke's Episcopal Church, 1720 Peabody Ave.
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   Lecture by Karen Sweeney
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   Karen Sweeney, director of restoration and facilities for the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, will use a PowerPoint presentation tonight to discuss the 10-year, $8 million restoration that's gone into shoring up the Robie House, which was given to the University of Chicago by a developer in 1963.
   
   'A work in progress'
   
   Today, the house is a museum operated by the preservation trust, which has a lease from the university and is in charge of operating and taking care of the home.Sweeney's lecture is titled "Robie House Restoration: A Work in Progress."
   
   "It's really a national historic landmark, as well as a state and city landmark," Sweeney said."That's mainly because of its place in architecture, as far as it being kind of the end of the prairie style and the beginning of modern architecture in the U.S."
   
   The preservation trust she works with is nearing the completion of its massive, 10-year restoration project, so Sweeney likely will discuss some of the major hurdles they've leaped in restoring the iconic building.One problem, for example, is that the restoration required a large amount of custom-made handiwork.
   
   The Robie House has custom-made clay shingles on its roof, she said, special bricks created to match those on the exterior and custom-mixed mortar on the outside.The home's decks had to be heavily restored, not to mention the task of making the building safe for daily crowds of visitors.
   
   "You have, for example, 1910 wiring and electrical, gas and water lines, so it involves getting those up to modern-day code," Sweeney said.
   
   The home also has large overhangs with cantilevers, and on the edge sits a distinctive copper eave - yet another feature that required extra care to touch up.
   
   "We actually hired sculpture conservators to come in and conserve that copper eave," Sweeney said.