Frank Lloyd Wright Cassina midway 2 and 3 enameled steel dining set gray red SQUARE.

Wright designed midway chair 1 (wood) and Midway chair 2 (steel) in 1914 for the indoor and outdoor spaces of Midway, respectively. (The original FLW sketch for Midway 2 is included as Image 12). Unfortunately the project ran out of funds by the time it came to furniture production and so FLW's designs were not realized at the time. In 1986, the FLW Foundation and Cassina worked together to produce the midway 2 chair in a limited edition. Enameled steel rod, available in either white, orange-red, dark grey (available here) and blue. It was available without or without the padded. The matching tables were sold with round or square crystal glass tops. Each numbered and stamped by manufacturer and FLW foundation. Here we have a set of two midway 2 chairs, in charcoal grey, original finish and fabric, original SQUARE glass top, padded back, red textile, signed and numbered. Extremely rare to come across a full set in original condition including table and glass.

More info about Midway Gardens:

Location: Chicago

Built: 1914

Demolished: 1929

A true renaissance architect, Wright designed buildings of all shapes and sizes during his long career: homes, hotels, office buildings, museums, schools, churches, chapels and synagogues, and even a doghouse. In 1913-1914, he was commissioned by his friend Edward C. Wallar to design a German-style beer hall and entertainment center known as Midway Gardens in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Midway Gardens and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo were FLW's largest commissions up to that point (1913-1914) and were designed in this particularly fruitful 24 month period.

Opened to a huge amount of fanfare on the site of the former Sans Souci amusement park with a performance from the National Symphony Orchestra, Midway Gardens was an upscale, indoor-outdoor complex built in the popular-at-the-time Prairie School style. It served as a venue for concerts, dance performances, fine dining and, of course, heavy drinking.

Midway was a complicated structure - or series of structures, indoor and outdoor spaces, that is difficult to summarize. I would suggest Paul Kurty’s “Frank Lloyd Wright and Midway Gardens” 1998, as an essential resource for understanding this elaborate work of art. There are also great video resources online that help bring Midway to life (Unfortunately I cannot link to those videos here). Midway was comprised of a music pavilion and stage, arcades on either side of the terraced summer gardens, an indoor lobby, club, tavern, two belvederes, promenades, cigar concession stands, two sunken gardens and pools, dance floors, cantilevered balconies, terraces, gardens, and courtyards.

Not only did Wright design the building itself, but he also oversaw the creation of the furniture, interior fixtures, artwork, and even the dishes and napkin holders. Wright also co-designed a series of concrete sculptures named “sprites” with Italian-born sculptor Alfonso Ianelli (a collaboration that, true to Wright style, ended in a squabble over artistic ownership). In keeping with Wright's style, the building also featured rows of art glass and hidden entries. In his 1932 autobiography, FLW states that "in the Midway Gardens, painting and sculpture recovered their original position in architecture."

In 1916, Midway Gardens changed hands and became Edelweiss Gardens. Under new ownership, the complex was less highbrow with a new emphasis placed on vaudeville and cabaret acts. After (barely) surviving Prohibition, the former Midway Gardens changed hands yet again in 1921 and was renamed Midway Dancing Gardens by its new owner, E. C. Dietrich Midway Automobile Tire and Supply Company.

Finally, after 15 years of financial struggle, Midway Gardens was razed and bulldozed into Lake Michigan as a breakwater. It’s rumored that the building was so solidly constructed from bricks and concrete blocks that the demolition sent two wrecking companies out of business and a third into bankruptcy.