15

SUNDAY

In an alternate Washington, people are regularly reminded of the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the exuberant (and unapologetically high-rise) Crystal Heights at the intersection of Connecticut and Florida Avenues NW in 1939. But in this Washington, that ambitious multiuse project was never constructed, leaving Columbia University art-history Professor Hilary Ballon considerably less to discuss in her lecture “Frank Lloyd Wright in Washington.” Wright, perhaps in part because his own ideas didn’t flourish here, was a vociferous critic of Washington-style neoclassicism. But the architect did design the innovative Pope-Leighey House—a rare example of his moderate-income “Usonian” housing—which was erected in Falls Church around 1939 and moved to Woodlawn Plantation, near Mount Vernon, in 1965. Ballon’s talk begins at 2 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art’s East Building Auditorium, 4th and Constitution Ave. NW. Free. (202) 737-4215. (Mark Jenkins)