The Life Of Frank Lloyd Wright

Architecture is that great living creative spirit which from generation to generation, from age to age, proceeds, persists, creates, according to the nature of man, and his circumstances as they change. That is architecture - Frank Lloyd Wright, 1937 Frank Lloyd Wright: Innovator in American Architecture "...having a good start, not only do I fully intend to be the greatest architect who has yet lived, but fully intend to be the greatest architect who will ever live. Yes, I intend to be the greatest architect of all time." - Frank Lloyd Wright 1867-1959 It appears that from the very beginning, Frank Lloyd Wright was destined by fate or determination to be one of the most celebrated architects of the twentieth century. Not only did Wright possess genius skills in the spatial cognition, his approach to architecture through geometric manipulation demonstrates one aspect of his creativeness. Forever a great businessman, Wright seemed to know how to please his clients and still produce some of the most innovative and ridiculed buildings of the early century. While the United States appeared to be caught up in the Victorian style, Frank Lloyd Wright stepped out in front to face the challenge of creating "American architecture" which would reflect the lives of the rapidly growing population of the Midwest United States. Howard Gardner in his book "Creating Minds" does not make any mention of Frank Lloyd Wright, an innovator who drastically influenced architecture of the twentieth century around the world. CHILDHOOD Born in 1867 Wisconsin, Frank Lincoln Wright grew up in the comfort and influence of a Welsh heritage. The Lloyd-Jones clan, his mother's side of the family, would have great influence on Frank throughout his life. Unitarian in faith, the extended family lived within close proximity to each other thus enabling a strong support system for those born or married into the clan. Great themes within the Lloyd-Jones clan included education, religion, and nature. Wright's family spent many evening listening to William Lincoln Wright read out loud the works of Emerson, Thoreau, and Blake. Uncle Jenkins was the family minister while Aunts Nell and Jane would open a school of their own which following the philosophies of, German educator, Froebel. With truth and unity stressed, Wright was brought up in a comfortable, but certainly not warm household. His father, William, moved from job to job, dragging his family across the United States. Financial troubles plagued the William Wright family and eventually they would return to the support of the Lloyd-Jones clan in the hills of Wisconsin. Despite reluctance from the clan, his parents divorced when Frank was still young. Wright would change his middle name to Lloyd. His mother, Anna (Lloyd-Jones) Wright, relied heavily upon her many brothers and sisters to help raise her children. Frank spent many hours working in the fields with his uncles, and was intellectually guided by the Aunts and his mother. Before her son was born, Anna had decided that her son was going to be a great architect. Using Froebel's geometric blocks to entertain and educate her son, Anna appears to have struck on a genius her son possessed. Use of the imagination was encouraged and Wright was given free run of the playroom filled with paste, paper, and cardboard. On that door were the words, SANCTUM SANCTORUM. Wright would have his self-promotion (demonstrated by the opening quote), along with his mother's support, pushing him to achieve great things in the field of Architecture for decades to come. Frank was seen as a dreamy and sensitive child, and cases of him running away while working on the farmlands with some uncles are recorded. This pattern of running away appears to continue throughout his lifetime. FIRST BREAK: CHICAGO In 1887, at the age of twenty, Frank Lloyd Wright, broke from the comfort of his childhood in Wisconsin and moved to Chicago. Chicago during the late nineteenth century was an exciting place. The fire of 1871 destroyed most of the old city allowing for it to be rebuilt in the new industrial age. Skyscrapers were the all the rage in architecture, using steel and glass to create "shrines" piercing the sky. This complimented the trend in residential homes where Victorian influence created pointed gables, lace-like ornamentation,

plaster walls, and wooden structures. With education in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Wright found a job as a draftsman in a Chicago architectural firm. It is rumored that Uncle Jenkins (the family minister), now in Chicago guiding a growing Unitarian community, helped his nephew Frank to find the position. During his short time with Silsbee, Frank began his first project, the Hillside Home for his Aunts Nell and Jane. Maybe because he wanted to break away from the Lloyd-Jones clan's aid, or because he was impatiently moving forward, Frank left his first job within a year and found a position with one of the best known firms in Chicago at the turn of the century, Alder & Sullivan . Sullivan was to become Wright's greatest mentor. With the new industrial age, came a growing suburban population, and a division between home and work. While the firm of Alder & Sullivan concentrated on the demand for downtown commercial buildings, Wright was assigned the residential contracts. His work soon expanded as he accepted jobs outside the firms assigning. Sullivan discovered this in 1893 and called Frank on a breach of contract. Rather than drop the "night jobs", Wright walked out of the firm. Once again, Wright would leave the confines of comfort to strike out for himself. THE ARCHITECT ON HIS OWN Using the Lloyd-Jones' philosophies of unity, truth, harmony, and simplicity; and Sullivan's approach of "form follows function", Wright quickly built up a practice in residential architecture. At one point in his career, Wright would produce 135 buildings in ten years. Patience, concentration, attention to detail, and constant revision marked Frank Lloyd Wright's work in the studio; things that would be lacking in his personal relationships. Many stated that Wright had a great amount of nervous energy, and allowed no interference or suggestions from his clients. Wright took an integral approach to architecture by designing the interior furnishings of the building as well as the structure. He seemed to possess a skill of site memorization, and would visit the grounds sometimes only once before creating a building which blended with and complimented the site. His own houses were continuing experiments, especially the first one in Oak Park to which his studio was attached. Using nature as inspiration and geometric abstraction, both obvious influences from his childhood in Wisconsin, Wright created a unique type of architecture which would become known to the general public as the Prairie style. Marked by horizontal lines, this form would dominate his work from 1900-1913. Wright included the technology of the cities into the suburban residences of his design. Wright would continue to pass through at least two more recognizable stages in his architectural design, the textile block (1917-1924), and the Usonian (1936-1959). In 1909 Wright took off for Europe, once again walking out of a comfortable home life including a wife and six children and a well established business. His European travels brought him fame across the sea at a greater level than that he had received in his native homeland. Wright did not stay long in Europe, returning in 1910 to Chicago and Wisconsin where he began construction on his second home, Taliesin in 1911. The year 1913 brought Frank a contract for Midway Gardens in downtown Chicago, an entertainment park on the south side of Chicago which exists today only in the original plans and drawings. In 1914 disaster struck Wright's personal life and work on one fateful day, when Taliesin, completed by this time, burned and his present mistress, her two children, and four of Wright's leading workmen, were murdered by a raging servant. Wright again ran away. This time it was across the Pacific to Japan. THE SECOND ERA The Imperial Hotel project provided Wright with an engineering problem as well as an architectural challenge. Finished in 1922, the Imperial hotel was criticized for its aesthetic design, but when it survived a 1923 earthquake, which left the majority of Tokyo in rubble, it found praise. Wright had managed to design a "floating foundation" for the building which combined oriental simplicity, in modern world comfort. This was one of the few periods in Wright's life were his financial situation was at a positive level. Returning to the United States in 1922, Wright pursued the use of a new material in residential homes, concrete. Most of these "textile block" houses were built in California with a Mayan and Japanese influence. Though some claimed that Wright had peaked in 1910, with the Prairie houses, others claimed that in 1924 Wright's development was only just beginning. RESURRECTION A 1932 autobiography sparked new interest in the architect and pulled Wright out of a plateau in his work with two of his most famous buildings: Fallingwater, Edgar J. Kaufmann's home in Bear Run,

Pennsylvania, and the Johnson Wax Company Administration Building in Racine,Wisconsin. Wright's last "style", Usonian, was caused by a shift in society in the 1930's. Adapting architecture to the simple and economically tight lives of families in the 1930's, Wright used down scaling to bring the house to a more appropriate human level and reflect the informal and comfortable lives of the average American family. The Wright Fellowship was opened in 1932, welcoming apprentices to live, learn, and work at Taliesin, an idea comparable to that of a medieval manorial estate, and reflective of Aunt Nell's and Aunt Jane's Hillside House. Wright taught principles and philosophies of architecture, not a style. Many apprentices came out of the large, caring, and often chaotic community to complete successful career's in the world of architecture. During the thirties, Wright formed a social vision, associating the evils of society with the modern city. This was expressed through his design of Broadacre City, a section of an idealistic decentralized and restructured nation resembling not a city and not an agrarian community, but something in between. Wright continued to produce work into the forties and fifties including houses, churches, theaters, and stores. The Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan is said by some to be his last great work, as he passed away in April 1959, six months before the museum opened. Wright left behind hundreds of plans that are being pursued today. Ground breaking for Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin occurred not three months ago. This Wright design, conceived fifty years ago, includes government offices, an auditorium, and rail terminal all in one mammoth civic center. THE CREATIVE GENIUS By the time of his death in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright had produced architecture for more than seventy years. What is even more remarkable is that Wright had redesigned American architecture for at least a century and created an area of the domain which America could claim as it's own. As early as 1894, Wright was defining his philosophy of architecture. In a 1927 essay entitled "In the Cause of Architecture" Wright presented an outline stressing architectural design as truthful and obedient to purpose, site, occupants, and materials. He believed that buildings should be integral units, simple, unique, serving civilization and eliminating the "box" effect of the past. Space in Wright's design was fluid, free, and informal. His scales were brought down to create comfort for the occupants and a feeling of oneness with the house and the natural settings. Wright used materials which would blend the house into the setting, and limited the variety of materials within a project. Stone, brick, wood, stucco, concrete, copper, and glass were all manipulated by Wright in a distinct way, that had never been done before. His exteriors and interiors of a buildings varied little, as he philosophized that one should move naturally into a shelter, feeling a certain flow rather than an abrupt transition. Wright often used the colors of autumn in the Midwest, however red was his signature especially in 1930's. For light he relied heavily upon the sun's power, and many of his building included skylights or subtle electrical lighting. The ornamentation should compliment all this, not distract from it . Treating the building as a integral unit, Wright often designed down to the littlest detail including all dining ware, furniture, and statues. His geometric designs were interpretations of nature. In furniture, textiles, and accessories, all designed by Wright, simplicity, respect for nature, and dignity if the individual was considered. His was an architecture of democracy for an era of political freedom. It is apparent Wright felt no constraints from the popular culture and faced harsh criticism many times for his works. RELATIONSHIPS OF WRIGHT Like many of Howard Gardner's choices in his book "Creating Minds", Frank Lloyd Wright's personal life, proved to be chaotic in comparison to his professional one. Although Frank's father failed to contribute much stability to his childhood, he did provide Frank with exposure to a wide musical background which later fed Frank's interest and appreciation of classical composers. Later on Wright would make comparisons to music and architecture in relation to the mathematical aspects of both. Women appeared to be both blessings and curses throughout Wright's life. Anna Wright's support and devotion to her son made up for the instability caused by the continuous financial problems and uprooting. This love of Anna's proved troublesome for Frank later in life as she saw any other woman to be a rival and treated them so. Anna followed Frank to Chicago after he had become established in his Oak Park house with his wife Catherine Tobin, or Kitty. Kitty and Frank had married in 1889 despite protest from both families saying they were to young. Kitty was described as practical and mature for her eight-teen years. For 20 years they lead a quite life in Oak Park along with their six children. It was hard for Kitty to admit that the marriage was over when Frank left for Europe in 1909 with his new mistress, Mamah Cheney. Kitty would not grant Frank a divorce until 1923.

Mamah Cheney ushered in not only a new personal life for Wright, but a change in his architectural work. Mamah Cheney was the wife of one of Wright's former clients. Some say the affair started while Wright was working on a home for the Cheney's. Intellectual, individualistic, and eccentric, Mamah proved to be quite a contrast to Kitty's personality. It was discovered that while in Europe, Wright and Mamah had registered as Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Expectedly this caused a scandal in the States. Mamah officially moved into Taliesin in 1913. On August 15th, 1914 Wright received a call in his office at Midway Garden's sight. Taliesin was burning and Mamah had been murdered. Wright received many letters of condolence as his love and his home lay in ashes. One letter he received was of particular importance. Maude (Miriam) Noel had written Frank around Christmas of 1914 offering sympathy for his disaster by relating them to hers. They met in person soon after and a summer at Taliesin in 1915, was followed by Miriam escorting Frank to Japan for his work on the Imperial Hotel. When the Hotel was completed they returned to the States and in 1923, after being officially granted a divorce, Wright married Miriam. She was his second wife. Their time together was not blissful by any means. Miriam's addiction to morphine is often thought to be the cause of bouts of maniac fantasy. She left Wright in 1924, less than one year after their marriage. Olgivanna Hinzenburg came into Frank Lloyd's life in November of 1924 when they met at a ballet. Olgivanna was a member of the Gurdjieff movement and was born in Montenegro, Yugoslavia. It is speculated that Wright was attracted to the exotically alien background of Olgivanna and her cultural elegance. In 1925 she moved into Taliesin and proved devoted to Wright. The peace and happiness found in their married life did not come easily. They fought for many years against suits wrought upon Wright by the now rejected Miriam. Immigration officers pursued the Olgivanna and her daughter from a previous marriage, Sveltana, claiming the two had broken immigration laws. The situation concluded in 1928 with Wright's marriage to his third and final wife, Olgivanna Milanoff Hinzenburg. Together they had one daughter, Iovanna, who proved to be the apple of her father's eye, and built a home, Taliesin West, in Arizona where they lived out their last days together. SUPPORT WITHIN THE DOMAIN Wright's relationships outside of the home differed greatly. When arriving in Chicago in 1887, Wright was not alone in innovative thinking. Social reformer, Jane Addams (Hull House); John Dewey, reformer of education; the historian Frederick Turner, William Jennings Bryan, and Carl Sandburg had all congregated in the Midwestern States, specifically Chicago, by the turn of the century. It was a mecca for independent thinkers and reformers of the times. Wright had contact with many of these leaders and had been a known visitor at Hull House. Throughout his life Frank Lloyd Wright depended on many individuals to help through his economic troubles. Fortunately Wright had a gift of interpersonal relations. Despite his arrogance and unpredictable ways, Wright had many acquaintances and former customers which would support him even when he proved unable to manage finances. Many of these people would retain friendships with Wright during good times and bad times. Wright loved to entertain. Louis Sullivan: Lieber Meister However it was Wright's second employer that influenced the young architect in a way that would change the course of American architecture forever. Wright referred to him as his "Lieber Meister" and admired Louis Sullivan's talent for ornamentation, and his skill of drawing intricate plans and designs. Wright picked up on the philosophy of Sullivan and was so loyally devoted to his employer that he soon moved ahead of Alder in importance within the firm. Sullivan was extremely critical of classicism which was appearing across the USA during the 1990's in reaction the 1893 Chicago World's Fair exhibits. Wright's relationship with his employer caused great amounts of tension between Wright and fellow draftsmen, and well as in-between Sullivan and Alder. When Wright left the company, Sullivan's quantity of contracts declined quickly. Sullivan had reached his peak of innovation, and without a young prodigy to carry it on into the new century, many potential clients turned away. Wright would call on his "Lieber Meister" when Sullivan ran into economic and personal troubles. His international reputation had dwindled by 1920 and Wright found him rejected, ignored, penniless, and dealing with alcoholism. Sullivan died in 1924 without regaining the glory of that the firm held when during Wright's early years in Chicago.

WRIGHT IN RELATION TO GARDNER'S MODEL It surprises me that Howard Gardner in his book "Creating Minds" did not choose Frank Lloyd Wright as a subject, let alone mention him. When you compare the life trends of Gardner's choices and that belonging to Frank Lloyd Wright, it is rather obvious that by Gardner's standards Wright is a creating mind of the modern era. Beginning in the early stages of childhood, Wright, like others Gardner choices, showed prodigious tendencies which were nourished, later developing from mastery into creative innovation. The development of Wright's skill and creative output continued throughout his life, which is a rather extraordinary occurrence, since he lived for ninety-two years and produced for over seventy years. This length of time and the rate at which Wright produced buildings, addresses a question raised during the class discussion time of whether a prolific individual has a better chance of hitting on a product considered creative. Certain trends which I picked up on from Gardner's model relate directly to Wright's childhood of comfort rather than warmth including a touch of estrangement, distance from society but not ignorance, a value of learning and achievement, and high expectations for oneself or from another. In reference to the retention of childlike qualities, it could be argued that Wright's lack of concern in financial situations and his habit of running away from comfortable situation represents this in a negative sense. In a positive light, Wright rejoiced in the creative essence of daily life through his productions. Often his inspirational breakthroughs would not come at night, rather he would be in the fields working or awake in the middle of the night. The concept of marginality also applies to Wright's case and is best explained by the LloydJones motto "Truth Against the World" which he placed above the fireplace of his houses. Many of Gardner's choices went through a period of both religiosity and despondency . Wright's Unitarian background and his marital behavior are examples of contradictory manners throughout his lifetime. Wright exhibits the pattern of stubbornness, pride, and self-confidence in Gardner's choices. He often saw himself as a misunderstood and persecuted genius. Wright's move to Chicago directly coincides with the migration to a metropolis in adolescence where the creative individual found a support group of peers. Often times of Gardner's choices became isolated from the supportive peers after discovering a problem in the domain, which for Wright could be seen as the popularity of classicism, and his falling out with fellow draftsmen. It is difficult to pin-point Wright's creative "breakthroughs" for reasons relating to the field of architecture and to Wright's personal philosophy that all houses should be site appropriate and unique. Time often passed from the creation of a building on paper and the actuality of it in stone, brick, etc. Also, many of Wright's designs were created and not built for years or decades. An example of this is a civic center currently under construction in Madison, Wisconsin of Wright design, although the creator passed away three decades ago. Though many of his buildings can be fit into a period of his production, such as the previously mentioned Prairie houses, textile block houses, and the Usonian houses, the period's (Frank Lloyd Wright refuted that his architecture was about a certain style, rather it reflected a philosophy) edges are gray, and many projects overlapped on creation and production. The trend I recognize in Wright's development may be comparable to a series of waves. There tends to be a peak where one of Wright's buildings "defines" the period of architecture that he used as a base, and could be (and sometimes is) considered as the model . From perusing his personal life I would have to agree that the financial difficulties that continuously faced Wright, and the disasters of his personal relations could be seen as his Faustian bargain. The destruction of Taliesin twice by fire and constant revisions were major burdens placed on Wright's financial situation because of his creative lifestyle. There appears to be only one period when Wright was financially stable. This was after completing the 4.5 million dollar Imperial Hotel in 1921. It is remarkable that the sometimes devastating financial situations troubled Wright little. Like other creators, he welcomed challenges. Creative life was not supposed to be comfortable for Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was a fighter in relation to his work. Boulton marks Wright's toleration of disorder at the core of his creative lifestyle. So again I address the question, why not Wright? The only deviance from Gardner's model is Wright's geographic location. While all the other members of Gardner's model were greatly influenced on the European continent, Wright defied this by creating an American architecture based on the environment surrounding and the lifestyles affecting the people of the United States during the first half of the century. The time frame is right, the geographical position is wrong.

To conclude my study of Howard Gardner's creative mind model and Frank Lloyd Wright in reference to Howard Gardner's model, I ask a series of questions. Why did Gardner choose creative geniuses of Europe during this time when it appears that Chicago had the same draw for reformers during the modern era? Specifically in reference to Wright, I wonder what his production would be if he was still alive today. Would Wright's work have continued to evolve as the lifestyle of the US citizen and the environment surrounding their habitats had changed? What would Wright think about computers roles in the field of architecture and how would he incorporate this new technology into the home? Is it ethical to build a Wright design from the 1930's in the society of the 1990's? Would Wright have wanted this? Should those now owning Wright designed homes maintain the decor and at all costs or discomforts should the integration be maintained? The is a question which could be addressed to the work of various creative individuals thorughout time. It is a question of respecting the creative work versus the natural evolution of the domain and deterioration of materials. Would Wright have wanted the houses to be revised with the changing lifestyle ? Did Wright change architecture forever? Most of these questions are being addressed by those in architecture today, and will be for as long as the name of Frank Lloyd Wright is associated with the title of Greatest American Architect.

Why is Frank Lloyd Wright important? Do you have a living room in your house? or a carport? Does your house have an "open" floor plan? If so, then the way you live is being directly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's innovations in residential architecture. "Drawing inspiration from his native midwestern prairie, he coaxed Americans out of their boxlike houses and into wide-open living spaces that suited the American lifestyle" (Carla Lind, The Wright Style) 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. He contributed the Prairie and Usonian houses to the vernacular of American residential design, and elements of his designs can be found (at least to some small degree) in a large proportion of homes today. 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. Frank Lloyd Wright's views on architectural space, ornamentation, and relationship to site, and concerning the place of architecture in art, life and philosophy have inspired generations of architects and artists all over the world. Frank Lloyd Wright's career was notable in several areas: Practicing Architect. He designed several hundred buildings, of which around 500 were built . Architectural Theoretician/Academic. He wrote several books on architecture, and founded and ran a successful school in the field, training many architects. Artist (Draftsman). His drawings of his buildings and other plans were beautiful and notable in themselves. The L.A.Times said he was a "productive artist whose imagination continued to outpace even his long lifetime of work". Interior Design and Furniture. Mr. Wright's design went beyond the building to the finest details of the interior space, including furniture, art glass, and other aspects of interior design. Frank Lloyd Wright's views on architectural space, ornamentation, and relationship to site, and concerning the place of architecture in art, life and philosophy have inspired generations of architects and artists all over the world. Explore "All-Wright Site" (and the other sites linked from it) to find out about different aspects of the life and work of a man considered by many to be the greatest architect who ever lived .

Seventeen works: 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. The Frank Lloyd Wright Home, 428 Forest Ave., was constructed in 1889 and is surfaced with wood shingles. Adjacent to the house on the north, at 951 Chicago Ave., is Wright's shingles-and-brick studio, constructed in 1898. The Wright Home is the oldest house constructed by the architect that still exists today and was built for himself and his bride-to-be with money borrowed from his employer, Louis Sullivan. Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked here from 1889 until 1909. He and his first wife, Catherine, raised six children in this home which received several additions and modifications, including the barrel-vaulted playroom on the second floor which served as a gymnasium, kindergarten, concert hall and theater. In the adjacent studio, Wright developed the Prairie style and formulated the principles of an organic architecture that he would continue to develop during the rest of his career. The Frank Lloyd Wright home has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings designed by Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture.

west facade

west facade of Wright Home with Studio in north yard

diamond paned window detail, west facade

north facade of Studio, Wright Home behind

Studio drafting room is on left with reception hall connecting drafting room to library on right; Wright Home is behind Studio

detail of entrance to Studio reception hall

south facade of Wright Home

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. The William H. Winslow Residence, 515 Auvergne Place, was built in 1893. Designed for the publisher of House Beautiful, the Winslow Residence was Wright's first independent commission after leaving the employment of Adler & Sullivan and is constructed of brick with stone and plaster. This house has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings designed by Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture.

3. Ward W. Willets 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." The Ward H. Willits Residence, 1445 Sheridan Rd., was constructed in 1901 and is the first house in true Prairie style. This house has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings designed by Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture.

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. Unity Temple (1905) is one of the earliest public buildings to be constructed of reinforced concrete poured in place into wooden molds. Wright's design was constructed between 1906 and 1908 at a cost of approximately $60,000. The structure is composed of two basic cubes of concrete --the larger one, for religious services, is separated by an entrance foyer from the smaller Unity House, for secular activities of the congregation. In designing this great public space, Wright allowed the needs of the congregation to shape the structure, letting "the room inside be the architecture outside." This structure has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings designed by Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture.

Unity Temple, west view

west view

window detail, west view

corner detail, west view

entry area

window area, Unity House

view of lectern and oak grille, from lower balcony

view of lectern and oak grille, from lower balcony

view from lower balcony

view from lower balcony

view from upper balcony

view from upper balcony

detail of lectern from floor

view from floor 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. Construction of the Frederick C. Robie House began in 1908 and was completed the following year. The house was built on a narrow corner lot in

Chicago and is considered Wright's best expression of the Prairie style masonry structure. Built at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, the house was commissioned by a successful young inventor who asked Wright to incorporate the newest technology in his design for a contemporary house that had everything in it, from furnishings to modern utilities. Robie House is a national landmark and has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings designed by Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture. Called "the house of the century" by House and Home magazine in 1958, Robie House is now owned by the University of Chicago.

looking northeast

west end

west end

south front

entrance court with garage area on right

living room, looking west toward "prow" or bay of art glass windows; art glass doors on each side of prow open onto porch

view of west end living room windows from porch

detail of window on south wall of living room

east end of dining room

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."

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."

"I knew well that no house should ever be put on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other." ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

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. The Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Residence, better known as "Fallingwater," was built in 1936 over a waterfall on Bear Run near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Considered by some to be the most famous non-royal private home in the history of the world, Fallingwater is one of the seventeen buildings designated by the American Institute of Architects to be retained as an example of Wright's architectural contribution to American culture. The house, its contents and its surrounding nature reserve were presented to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. in 1963. The only remaining great Wright house with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact, Fallingwater is open to the public for guided tours during most of the year.

the classic view of Fallingwater "Fallingwater is a great blessing --one of the great blessings to be experienced here on earth. I think nothing yet ever equaled 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 athough 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 "It has served well as a house, yet has always been more than that, a work of art beyond any ordinary measure of excellence. Itself an ever-flowing source of exhilaration, it is set on the waterfall of Bear Run, spouting nature's endless energy and grace. House and site together form the very image of man's desire to be at one with nature, equal and wedded to nature." ~Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.

approaching down the trail from the Visitor's Center

nearing the bridge over the stream and the entry to the house The Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Residence, better known as "Fallingwater," was built in 1936 over a waterfall on Bear Run near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Considered by some to be the most famous non-royal private home in the history of the world, Fallingwater is one of the seventeen buildings designated by the American Institute of Architects to be retained as an example of Wright's architectural contribution to American culture. The house, its contents and its surrounding nature reserve were presented to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. in 1963. The only remaining great Wright house with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact, Fallingwater is open to the public for guided tours during most of the year.

the classic view of Fallingwater "Fallingwater is a great blessing --one of the great blessings to be experienced here on earth. I think nothing yet ever equaled 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 athough 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 "It has served well as a house, yet has always been more than that, a work of art beyond any ordinary measure of excellence. Itself an ever-flowing source of exhilaration, it is set on the waterfall of Bear Run, spouting nature's endless energy and grace. House and site together form the very image of man's desire to be at one with nature, equal and wedded to nature." ~Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.

approaching down the trail from the Visitor's Center

nearing the bridge over the stream and the entry to the house 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.

Copyright

© 1998 The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, AZ.

The plan of the Hanna Residence is a variation of the L-shaped Usonian plan and is based on a hexagonal grid system which results in more flexible interior space than a system based on the square or rectangle.

The hexagons upon which the system is based prompted the name "Honeycomb House". The house is not a hexagon, but has a free-flowing plan that curves around the hillside it rests upon. Walls are set at 120-degree angles which are much more open than the 90-degree angles found in typical residential structures.

The non-masonry walls of the house could be easily assembled or disassembled, allowing for flexible alteration of interior space. The Hanna Residence is located in Stanford CA and is maintained by Stanford University.

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.