FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

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FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
William Fremd High School American Studies Mr.
Anderson/Mr. Palmer
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Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center,
Wisconsin, on June 8, 1867, and died in Phoenix,
Arizona, on April 9, 1959, at the age of 91. (He
often gave his birthdate as 1869, but records
indicate that he was actually born in 1867.)
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• Mr. Wright's "organic architecture" was a radical
  departure from the traditional architecture of
  his day, which was dominated by European styles
  that dated back hundreds of years or even
  millenia. While most of his designs were
  single-family homes (ranging from small homes for
  families of modest incomes, to mansions like his
  unbuilt design for Henry Ford), his varied output
  also includes houses of worship, skyscrapers,
  resorts, museums, government offices, gas
  stations, bridges, and other masterpieces showing
  the diversity of Frank Lloyd Wright's talent.

Florida Southern College
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Prairie houses were characterized by low,
horizontal lines that were meant to blend with
the flat landscape around them. Typically, these
structures were built around a central chimney,
consisted of broad open spaces instead of
strictly defined rooms, and deliberately blurred
the distinction between interior space and the
surrounding terrain. Wright acclaimed "the new
reality that is space instead of matter" and,
about architectural interiors, said that the
"reality of a building is not the container but
the space within."
Robie House Chicago, Illinois (1909)
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Basic Principles of Wright Designs

• Organic Colors
• Simple Geometric Shapes
• Integration of Building with Natural Surroundings
• Strong Horizontal Lines
• Hidden Entries

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Oak Park,
Illinois (1889)
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Which of these basic principles do you see in the
Arthur Heurtley House in Oak Park, Illinois built
in 1902?
Organic Colors?
Simple Geometric Shapes?
Integration with Natural Surroundings?
Strong Horizontal Lines?
Hidden Entry Way?
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Here are some other views of the same house
Exterior View
View from the Door
Music Room Notice how the same principles are
in effect in the interior.
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Some of Wrights earliest homes are in Oak Park.
They show a blend of Victorian and Prairie School
elements. These are sometimes called bread and
butter houses. (On your field trip, youll be
asked to explain why they might be referred to
that way.)
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"Fallingwater is a great blessing - one of the
great blessings to be experienced here on earth.
I think nothing yet ever equalled the
coordination, sympathetic expression of the great
principle of repose where forest and stream and
rock and all the elements of structure are
combined so quietly that really you listen not to
any noise whatsoever although the music of the
stream is there. But you listen to Fallingwater
the way you listen to the quiet of the
country..." Frank Lloyd Wright, 1955
Fallingwater (Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1937) is
generally considered to be Wrights residential
masterpiece.
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Another extraordinary Wright home in Oak Park is
the Nathan Moore house (1895, rebuilt in 1923
after a fire). Most observers think its
stunningly beautiful, or a hideous monstrosity.
Wright himself thought it was unattractive.
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Although Wright continued to design residences
for the rest of his life, his later career
included commissions to design some remarkable
public buildings.
The Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art New York, New
York, 1959
An ideal American architecture should develop in
the image of trees. Frank Lloyd Wright
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The Marin County (California) Civic Center (1962)
is basically a courthouse and community gathering
place.
We know that the good building is not the one
that hurts the landscape, but is one that makes
the landscape more beautiful than it was before
that building was built. In Marin County you have
one of the most beautiful landscapes I have
seen, and I am proud to make the buildings of
thisCounty characteristic of the beauty of the
County." Frank Lloyd Wright
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Wright designed Unity Temple in Oak Park (1905)
as a place of worship for the Unitarian faith.
This is his original drawing of the building.
As is consistent with the Unitarian faith, the
building is stately, solid, and devoid of
religious iconography.
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Here are two more exterior views of Unity Temple.
Notice the solid concrete construction, as well
as the incorporation of other typical Wright
elements.
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Unity Temples interior completes Wright vision
of a marriage of spiritual beauty and
architectural perfection.
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Frank Lloyd Wright designed the First National
Bank of Dwight, Illinois (population 4,300) in
1905. Of three banks designed by Wright, it is
the only one still functioning as a bank. Notice
how it contrasts to the building next door, built
at roughly the same time.
Detail of Exterior Light Fixture
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The Johnson Wax building in Racine, Wisconsin
(1939) is Wrights vision for a corporate
environment.
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The interior of the Johnson Wax building features
this distinctive lily-pad design which allows
light to filter to different floors.
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Architecture is the triumph of Human Imagination
over materials, methods, and men, to put man into
possession of his own Earth. It is at least the
geometric pattern of things, of life, of the
human and social world. It is at best that magic
framework of reality that we sometimes touch upon
when we use the word order. - Frank Lloyd
Wright, 1930
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Now well visit the Oak Park web site to get a
more in-depth look at the neighborhood well be
visiting.
William Martin House Oak Park, Illinois (1905)