Frank Lloyd Wright

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

(1867-1959)

For my first investigation, I decided to write about Frank Lloyd Wright. Yes, I know, everyone has heard of him and know of his works quite well (especially those in the department), but he happens to be one of my favorite architects/designers I have learned of and is responsible for peaking my interest in such fields in the first place. He was not only a groundbreaking innovator in the fields of architecture and design, but was also an established writer and teacher, leaving his legacy in over 1100 projects that he had designed.

Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 8th, 1867. His mother was Anna Lloyd Jones, a teacher in Wisconsin. His father was William Carey Wright, a preacher and musician. He had two sisters, Jane and Maginel, all together forming a family that was always on the move. When the Wright family eventually settled in Madison, Wisconsin, young Frank began to spend more and more time in the countryside with his uncle, where he eventually began to develop a stronger appreciation for nature.

His parents divorced in 1885, so Wright got a job with the dean of the University of Wisconsin's engineering department. It was here where he started studying civil engineering and got the chance to work with some real architects, absorbing valuable information that he would take with him for the rest of his life. He took this information with him when he moved to Chicago in 1887, eventually getting a job with the Adler and Sullivan firm, where he worked very closely with Louis Sullivan. He learned much of his style from Sullivan, who believed that American architecture should be based on American themes, rather than European influences or old traditions. This new, innovative way of thinking inspired Wright, who would later develop it further.



Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio - Chicago



In 1889, Wright fell in love and married Catherine Tobin. He built their home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, where it is now known as the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. It was in this home that Wright and Tobin had six children.

Wright's first breakthrough piece was the Winslow House in 1893. Wright developed this house with nature in mind, giving it a very open, expansive feel in order to try and establish a direct link with the natural surroundings. "Organic architecture" was what Wright began to call his work. It was this house that boosted him into becoming a notable figure in the field. It was around this time that Wright began to give public lectures about his feelings and thoughts on architecture.

Taliesin

In 1911, after spending a year in Europe, Wright returned to Wisconsin to begin construction of his new home, "Taliesin",  in Spring Green. Over the next few years, his career really began to take off as he was doing projects in Japan, Chicago, and California. In 1928, Wright began to focus more on writing, publishing "An Autobiography" and "The Disappearing City", both of which books influenced many in the field of architecture. Wright and his wife at the time, Olga Lazovich, established an apprenticeship program at Taliesin, called the "Taliesin Fellowship".

In the 1930's, when Wright was considered to have come and gone, he staged a monumental comeback. With projects such as Falling Water, Taliesin West, and the SC Johnson Wax Administration Building, it was clear that Wright was still the great architect he was once thought to be. A flood of new commissions came pouring in for Wright, as he was still pumping out project after project.

In the last decades of his life, Wright was awarded many medals for his innovation in the field. He started one of his largest projects, the Guggenheim museum in New York City, and also began many projects for city buildings, instead of residential housing. It marked the last leg of his career, as he passed away on April 9th, 1959. As an innovator, writer, teacher, artist, father, and husband, Frank Lloyd Wright has changed the world of architecture and design forever with his groundbreaking new ideas of American architecture.



Falling Water





Taliesin West



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