Architects I Admire Part One — Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8th 1867 — April 9th 1959) was the world’s first ‘Starchitect’ and his iconic buildings are timeless.
He designed more than 1,000 buildings, 532 of which were completed. Wright believed in designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment — a philosophy he called Organic Architecture.
Wright’s designs raise the question: “How can something be contemporary, timeless, and modern?
Wright was the pioneer of the Prairie School movement of architecture and he also developed the concept of the Usonian home — his unique vision for urban planning in the US.
As well as houses, Wright also designed offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums and other structures. He often designed interior elements for these buildings as well, including furniture and stained glass.
Frank Lloyd Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as “the greatest American architect of all time”.
Wright’s colourful personal life often made headlines, most notably for leaving his first wife Catherine Lee “Kitty” Tobin for Marmah Borthwick Cheney. The murders at his Taliesin Estate in 1914, his tempestuous marriage and divorce with his second wife Miriam Noel. And his relationship with Olga (Olgivanna) Lazovich Hinzenburg who he married in 1928.
According to Wright’s autobiography, his mother declared when she was expecting that her first child would grow up to build beautiful buildings.
She decorated his nursery with engravings of English cathedrals torn from a periodical to encourage the infant’s ambition. She also gave her son a series of educational blocks created by Friedrich Wilhelm August Frobel.
The blocks, known as Froebel Gifts are geometrically shaped and could be assembled in various combinations to form three-dimensional compositions. In his autobiography, Wright described the influence of these exercises on his approach to design:
“For several years I sat at the little Kindergarten table-top… and played… with the cube, the sphere and the triangle — these smooth wooden maple blocks… All are in my fingers to this day… “
Frank Lloyd Wright
In 1893 Wright started his own architectural practice in Chicago. Between 1900 and 1901 he completed four houses which have since been called the onset of the “Prairie Style”.
Wright’s residential designs of this era were known as “prairie houses” because the designs complemented the land around Chicago.
Prairie style houses often have a combination of these features: One or two-stories with one-story projections, an open floor plan, low-pitched roofs with broad overhanging eaves, strong horizontal lines, ribbons of windows (often casements), a prominent central chimney, built-in stylized cabinetry, and a wide use of natural materials — especially stone and wood.
Wright also designed the Geneva Inn (1911) in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the Midway Gardens (1913) in Chicago, Illinois the Banff National Park Pavilion (1914) in Alberta, Canada and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1922)
In 1922 Wright conceived a new type of dwelling that became known as the Usonian House.
Designed on a gridded concrete slab that integrated the house’s radiant heating system, the house featured new approaches to construction, including sandwich walls that consisted of layers of wood siding, plywood cores and building paper, a significant change from typically framed walls.
Usonian houses commonly featured flat roofs and were usually constructed without basements or attics, all features that Wright had been promoting since the early 20th century.
Usonian Houses were Wright’s answer to the transformation of domestic life that occurred in the early 20th century when servants had became less prominent or completely absent from most households.
Wright developed houses that were progressively more open plan and the focal point of the living areas had a fireplace. Bedrooms were typically isolated and relatively small encouraging the family to gather in the main living areas.
On April 4, 1959, Wright was hospitalized for abdominal pains and was operated on April 6. He seemed to be recovering but he died quietly on April 9. He had been practicing architecture for over 70 years.
One of Wright’s sons, Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr (known as Lloyd Wright) was also a top architect based in Los Angeles, California. Lloyd Wright’s son, Eric Lloyd Wright is currently an architect in Malibu, California.
Another son and architect, John Lloyd Wright invented Lincoln Logs in 1918 and he practiced in San Diego, California.
His daughter, Elizabeth Wright Ingraham was an architect in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her daughter Christine is an interior designer in Connecticut and her other daughter Catherine is a Professor of Architecture at the Pratt Institute.
Fallingwater
Perhaps one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous buildings was Fallingwater (1935) which has been called “the best all-time work of American Architecture”.
Wright designed the home above the waterfall, rather than below to afford a view of the cascades as expected.
For the cantilevered floors, Wright and his team used upside-down T-shaped beams integrated into a monolithic concrete slab which formed both the ceiling of the space below and provided resistance against compression. The contractor, Walter Hall, also an engineer, produced independent computations and argued for increasing the reinforcing steel in the first floor slab. Wright refused the suggestion. While some sources state that the contractor quietly doubled the amount of reinforcement, others say that the consulting engineers redrew Wright’s reinforcing drawings and doubled the amount of steel specified by Wright.
The strong horizontal and vertical lines are a distinctive feature of Fallingwater
The interior of Fallingwater depicting a sitting area with furnishings designed by Wright
The original estimated cost for building Fallingwater was $35,000. The final cost for the home and guest house was $155,000, which included $75,000 for the house; $22,000 for finishings and furnishings; $50,000 for the guest house, garage and servants’ quarters; and an $8,000 architect’s fee. From 1938 through 1941, more than $22,000 was spent on additional details and for changes in the hardware and lighting.
The total cost of $155,000, adjusted for inflation, is equivalent to about $2.7 million in 2017. The cost of the house’s restoration in 2001 was estimated to be $11.5 million (approximately $15.9 million in 2017).
Drone footage of Fallingwater
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1943–59)
The Guggenheim Museum, for which Wright received the commission in 1943 is one of only two Wright buildings in New York City (the other is a small house on Staten Island).
While Wright was commissioned to house and highlight Solomon Guggenheim’s significant collection of modern art, he decided instead to create a museum that would itself compete with the art as the actual showcase. Its design of a main gallery that consists of a spiral ramp encircling a sky lit atrium was a radical departure from all previous museums, and allowed Wright to finally explore a form — the spiral.
I can see the Guggenheim building in the mind’s eye as plainly as though it were to be built tomorrow. That’s how all buildings should be done. If not, they’re better not built. Frank Lloyd Wright
Horizontal lines that magnify the horizon — especially noticeable in homes surrounded by rolling hills or rock formations — were a hallmark of Wright’s designs. This use of horizontal lines remains a staple of today’s modern architecture. His departure from “boxy” design is another theme that endures.
In the world of home design Wright’s influence is still seen today. He devised a number of widely adopted Architectural Principals including the concept of open plan floor plans and cantilevered floors.
One hundred and fifty seven years after his birth Frank Lloyd Wright remains the one Architect whose name and signature style is well known to most Americans and internationally.
I love Architecture. I think it’s vital to talk about all aspects of Architecture — whether it be planning, construction, design or green building. I have written 3 E-Books & over 110 articles. Please feel free to let me know if you have any queries regarding architecture, planning & construction & I will assist you.
I am originally from the UK and moved to South Africa in 1999. I started Blue Designs in 2004 after working as a driver for Avalon Construction on a luxury home in the Featherbrook Estate. In my spare time I am an artist and writer (The Naked Architect).
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Other Articles I have written include :-
https://medium.com/the-naked-architect/will-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa-fall-over-d9488f24fefd
https://medium.com/the-naked-architect/copycat-architecture-is-booming-in-china-87b2f4b9f628
https://medium.com/@clairecardwell/green-buildings-are-healthier-5ed1471344b2
Sources :-
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/frank-lloyd-wright
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/frank-lloyd-wright-facts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-wright-frank-lloyd-artworks.htm
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/frank-lloyd-wright-photographer-andrew-pielage
https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/frank-lloyd-wright-150-influence/
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