d a cantilevered method so that each building was on its own support system and they were linked together. This left the hotel to lay on top of the soil but not attached to it. Now the hotel could move freely around and earthquakes would have no effect on it. Wright also used lead pipes, with easy bends in the pipes so that the earthquakes wouldnt break them, for plumbing. There was also a large pool in front of the hotel that could be used for water if the hotel caught fire after an earthquake. Wright did have problems with converting western techniques to those that the natives knew. Also, Frank had to conduct many tests in order to use new techniques that he had developed. While Wright was in Japan he walked the streets and entertained in his spare time. He had a hobby of collecting Japanese prints, when making a trip to the United States he would bring his new prints home with him. On a trip home Howard Mansfield, a treasurer at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, asked if Wright could get some original prints for him. Wright made it known in Japan that he wanted original prints and he soon got them and went back to give them to Mansfield. After Mansfield had inspected them and they found that they were fake, Wright was so embarrassed that he invited Mansfield to come to Taliesin II and pick some from Wrights own collection. In September 1923, Wright got a telegram telling him that Tokyo had its worst earthquake in history. He later got word that the Imperial Hotel was standing and was housing hundreds of homeless people, and the only thing that was wrong was that a few stone statues from the gardens had sunk into the ground. Wright had done it, he had constructed an earthquake proof structure. Wright later started a school for apprentices where they taught not only the principles of architecture but also the principles of life. In the summer the school was in Wisconsin, at Taliesin II. In the winter, the school w...
