Through the turn of the century, Wright's distinctively
personal style was evolving, and his work in these years foreshadowed
his so-called "prairie style," a term deriving from the publication in
1901 of "A Home in a Prairie Town" which he designed for the Ladies' Home Journal.
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." The
W.W. Willits house, built in Highland Park, Illinois in 1902, was the
first house that embodied all the elements of the prairie style. His
masterpiece of the prairie style is the Robie House, built in Chicago
in 1909.
Wright did not aspire simply to design a house, but to
create a complete environment, and he often dictated the details of the
interior. He designed stained glass, fabrics, furniture, carpet and the
accessories of the house. Legend has it that, in at least one case, he
even designed the gowns of his client's wife.The controlling factor was
seldom the wishes of the individual client, but Wright's belief that
buildings stongly influence the people who inhabit them. He believed
that "the architect is a molder of men, whether or not he consciously
assumes the responsibility."
Non-Residential Buildings, 1900-1920
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Wright's basic philosophy of architecture was stated
primarily through the house form, and he had few major commissions for
public buildings, office buildings or skyscrapers in the early years.
The Larkin Administration Building in Buffalo, New York (1903) was his
only large-scale structure prior to the Midway Gardens in Chicago (1913)
and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo ( 1915-16). None of these buildings is
standing today.
Nevertheless, two of Wright's non-residential works of
this period are among the most widely admired and imitated architectural
works of the century. The Larkin Administration Building in Buffalo and
Unity Church in Oak Park, Illinois (1904) are considered highly
important works, and, with the prairie houses, earned him acclaim in
Europe where exhibitions of his work hastened the demise of Art Nouveau
and stimulated younger architects to seek a new direction.
The Twenties
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In the decade following World War I, Wright's level of
production declined. Although he worked on a series of projects, some of
which later provided the basis for executed buildings, the number of
buildings actually constructed during this period was minimal when
compared to the work of the preceding years.
In the 1920's, Wright explored the use of poured
concrete and abstract sculptural ornamentation in residential
construction. He developed a type of construction using precast
"textile" concrete blocks which were bound together by steel rods and
poured concrete. This "textile-block" construction method found its best
expression in a series of four houses built in the hills around Los
Angeles, California.
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The Thirties
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Despite the Depression, Wright began to secure important
commissions and to make a contribution in the field of low-cost
housing. During the early 1930's, when commissions were few, he turned
to writing and lecturing for income and developed his plan for Broadacre
City, an integrated and self-sufficient community of detached housing
with built-in industries. The plan for Broadacre City was never
executed, but it did enable Wright to advance his ideas on city planning
and to develop the concept of the "garden town" with detached houses
within natural surroundings.
The small Malcolm E. Willey House, designed in 1933 and
constructed the following year in Minneapolis, marked the beginning of
what amounted to a second career for Wright. Modest in size, the Willey
House was low and L-shaped with little ornamentation and represented a
revolutionary change in domestic planning; i.e., the living room and
dining room were completely unified in a single space, and the kitchen
("workspace") was only separated from the living area by a range of
shelves. This house is said to be the "bridge" between the prairie
houses and the Usonian houses, the first of which was erected in 1937
near Madison, Wisconsin. With the Usonian houses, Wright achieved his
goal of providing a small, modestly priced and easily built house for
the average middle-class family that possessed the aesthetic, organic
and spatial characteristics of the prairie style house.
Wright's most important buildings constructed in the
1930's were Fallingwater (the Edgar J. Kaufmann House) at Bear Run,
Pennsylvania and the Administration Building of the S.C. Johnson and Son
Company in Racine, Wisconsin. Both were designed in 1935-36 and each
makes bold use of concrete, but the two buildings are worlds apart in
style and character. Combining features of the prairie houses and the
California concrete block houses, Fallingwater has been described as
"the apotheosis of the horizontal." Its cantilevered terraces soar
dramatically over a natural waterfall, and the interior of the house
blends seamlessly into the surrounding woods. The Johnson Building,
resembling a "gigantic and beautiful machine," is based on the curve
rather than the cantilever and turns inward upon itself, ignoring the
existence of the outside world.
The Forties
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As the decade of the forties began, Frank Lloyd
Wright's practice began to grow. In 1940-41, the Museum of Modern Art
held a retrospective exhibit where he received several awards and
honors. During World War II, he was an outspoken pacifist and
encouraged conscientious objector status for some of his apprentices,
prompting the FBI to investigate whether he was obstructing the war
effort. The war brought most construction to a standstill, and only a
handful of Wright's designs were built between 1941 and 1945.
Nevertheless, the Second World War interrupted Wright's career less than
the First, and various projects initiated during the war years came to
fruition soon after the war was over when construction actively
resumed.
Though well into his seventies by now, Wright's work of
this decade provides evidence of the continuing vitality of his powers
of invention. In addition to rectangles, triangles, hexagons and
octagons as the basis for residential floor plans, the circle and the
helix appeared in his constructed work. The Jacobs House, designed in
1943, was the first of a series of houses that he built with curved
plans. This "solar hemicycle" has a two-story living area that bends
around a circular sunken garden court with the bedrooms opening off a
balcony above. The other side of the the house is half buried in the
hilltop, over which rises the walls. Circles and spirals were also used
to spectacular effect in the S. C. Johnson Research Tower (1944), the
Morris Gift Shop (1948), and the Guggenheim Museum which he was
commissioned to design in 1943.
The Fifties
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After the age of eighty, Frank Lloyd Wright was busier
than he had ever been, outpacing members of the next two generations. He
undertook projects all over the world, seldom declining a commission.
At the same time, he became a media superstar who divided his time
between the spotlight and the drawing board, and he could not give
his work the attention it required. Many projects of his last decade
have been criticized as vulgar and repetitive, inappropriate for the
site, superficially developed, and far removed from the principles of
organic architecture that characterized his earlier work.
These criticisms notwithstanding, three of Wright's
buildings from this decade were designated by the American Institute of
Architects to be retained with fourteen others as examples of his
architectural contribution to American culture --the Price Company Tower
(1952), the Beth Sholom Synagogue (1954), and the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum (1956). Many of the houses constructed during the
fifties are notable for their siting, their materials and the
geometrical themes of their design. His Usonian houses continued to
exemplify affordable housing at its best.
Frank Lloyd Wright died on April 29, 1959, in Phoenix,
Arizona. It is said that the project on his drawing board was a simple
and affordable prefabricated concrete-block house.
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Seventeen Buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright
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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has
designated seventeen American buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to
American culture. Click on image for more about each building.
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1.Frank Lloyd Wright Residence (1889), Oak Park, Illinois.
Wright constructed this house for himself and his family while working
for the Chicago firm of Adler and Sullivan. Surfaced with wood shingles,
it is the oldest extant building attributed wholly to Frank Lloyd
Wright. |
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2.William H. Winslow House (1893), River Forest, Illinois
The Winslow House was Wright's first independent commission after
leaving the offices of Adler & Sullivan. Although the design is
related to his work with Adler & Sullivan, some scholars think the
Winslow House is his first "mature and original" building. |
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3.Ward W. Willits House (1901), Highland Park, Illinois
The Willits House was the first house to embody all the classic elements
of the Prairie style. Wright believed that the "space within the
building was more important than its enclosure," and, with this house,
he "opened the box." |
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4.Unity Church (1904), Oak Park, Illinois
Unity Church was the "first significant American architectural statement
in poured concrete." Wright's use of concrete was truly original, and
Unity Church introduced this type of construction on a grand scale. |
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5.Frederick C. Robie House (1906), Chicago, Illinois
The Robie House is considered Wright's masterpiece of the Prairie Style.
Concealed, cantilevered steel beams create long, uninterrupted spaces
that extend through windows onto porches and balconies, making walls
disappear. |
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6.Hollyhock House (1917), Los Angeles, California
The Aline Barnsdall "Hollyhock House", built about 1920, was named for
its ornamental forms. The structure's monumentality and decorative
elements evoke the architecture of the Maya which Wright admired as
"mighty, primitive abstractions of man's nature." |
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7.Taliesin III (1925ff), Spring Green, Wisconsin
The residence of Wright and his family and, later, the summer home of
the Taliesin Fellowship, Taliesin rests on the brow of a hill
overlooking a valley of the Wisconsin River. Taliesin has been described
as the architect's "autobiography in wood and stone." |
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8.Fallingwater (1935), Bear Run, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania
In Fallingwater, which was built as a weekend retreat for Edgar J.
Kaufmann, we see Wright's greatest expression of "organic
architecture" --the union of the structure and the land upon which it is
built. Fallingwater is considered Wright's masterwork. |
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9.Honeycomb House (1936), Stanford, California
This Usonian house built for Paul R. Hanna is planned on a hexagonal
grid system with most walls meeting at 120-degree angles. Many interior
walls are wood and can be easily assembled or disassembled for
reconfiguration of living space. |
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10.S. C. Johnson Administration Building (1936), Racine, Wisconsin
The "great workroom" of the Johnson Building has been called one of
Wright's most "astonishing" spaces. The slender, hollow concrete
columns are each capable of supporting six times the weight imposed on
them. |
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11.Taliesin West (1937ff), Scottsdale, Arizona
Taliesin West, the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin
Fellowship, appears to be part of the surrounding desert and mountain
landscape. It is considered his "most dramatic assimilation of a
building into a natural environment." |
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12.S. C. Johnson Research Tower (1944), Racine, Wisconsin
Utilizing principles of design and construction that he initially
conceptualized in the 1920's, the Research Tower was Wright's first
cantilevered high-rise structure. Together with the earlier
Administration Building, it is considered one of his greatest designs. |
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13.Unitarian Church (1947), Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin
Wright believed that light and a "geometric type of space" allowed a
structure "to achieve the sacred quality particular to worship." The
plan and roof of this church are triangular and impart a reverential
quality "without recourse to the steeple." |
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14.V. C. Morris Gift Shop (1948), San Francisco, California
The fortress-like facade of the rectangular structure that surrounds
this retail space protects the contents within, yet invites visitors to
enter. The interior's circular mezzanine, spiral ramp and sensuous
surfaces contrast dramatically with the simplicity of the exterior. |
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15.Price Company Tower (1952), Bartlesville, Oklahoma
With the Price Tower, which rises 221 feet above the Oklahoma prairie,
Wright expresses the organic ideal of the tree. A tap-root foundation
solidly anchors the building to its site, and cantilevered floors hang
like branches from the structural core of reinforced concrete. |
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16.Beth Sholom Synagogue (1954), Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
The glass walls of this tent-like structure are suspended from a
steel tripod frame that allows the sanctuary to soar to a height of
100 feet without internal supports. Wright wanted to create the "kind
of building in which people, on entering it, will feel as if they were
resting in the hands of God." |
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17.Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1956), New York, New York
Of the museum's interior Wright said, "We are not building a cellular
composition of compartments, but one where all is one great space on a
continuous floor... no meeting of the eye
with angular or abrupt changes
of form..." It has been called one of the great architectural spaces
of the 20th century |
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Frank Lloyd Wright (born Frank Lincoln Wright, June 8,
1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, interior designer,
writer and educator, who designed more than 1000 structures and
completed 532 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were
in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by his design for Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture. Wright was a leader of the Prairie School movement of architecture and developed the concept of the Usonian home, his unique vision for urban planning in the United States.
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