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Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Centre, Wisconsin on June 8, 1867. His parents, William Cary Wright and Anna Lloyd-Jones, originally named him Frank Lincoln Wright, which he later changed after they divorced. When he was twelve years old, Wright\'s family settled in Madison, Wisconsin where he attended Madison High School. During summers spent on his Uncle James Lloyd Jones\' farm in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Wright first began to realize his dream of becoming an architect. In 1885, he left Madison without finishing high school to work for Allan Conover, the Dean of the University of Wisconsin\'s Engineering department. While at the University, Wright spent two semesters studying civil engineering before moving to Chicago in 1887.
In Chicago, he worked for architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Wright drafted the construction of his first building, the Lloyd-Jones family chapel, also known as Unity Chapel. One year later, he went to work for the firm of Adler and Sullivan, directly under Louis Sullivan. Wright adapted Sullivan\'s maxim \"Form Follows Function\" to his own revised theory of \"Form and Function Are One.\" It was Sullivan\'s belief that American Architecture should be based on American function, not European traditions, a theory which Wright later developed further. Throughout his life, Wright acknowledged very few influences but credits Sullivan as a primary influence on his career. While working for Sullivan, Wright met and fell in love with Catherine Tobin. The two moved to Oak Park, Illinois and built a home where they eventually raised their five children. In 1893, Sullivan and Wright ended their business relationship. Wright opened his own firm in Chicago, which he operated there for five years before transferring the practice to his home in Oak Park.
Wright\'s early houses revealed a unique talent in the young, aspiring architect. They had a style all their own, mimicking that of a horizontal plane, with no basements or attics. Built with natural materials and never painted, Wright utilized low-pitched rooflines with deep overhangs and uninterrupted walls of windows to merge the horizontal homes into their environments. He added large stone or brick fireplaces in the homes\' heart, and made the rooms open to one another. His simplistic houses served as an inspiration to the Prairie School, a name given to a group of architects whose style was indigenous of midwestern architecture. Later he became one of its chief practitioners. Some of his most notable creations include the Robie House in Chicago, Illinois and the Martin House in Buffalo, New York.
In 1909, after eighteen years in Oak Park, Wright left his home to move to Germany with a woman named Mamah Borthwick Cheney. When they returned in 1911, they moved to Spring Green, Wisconsin where his mother had given him a portion of his ancestors\' land; it was the same farm where he had spent much time as a young boy. In Spring Green he constructed Taliesin. They lived there until 1914 when tragedy struck. An insane servant tragically murdered Cheney and six others, then set fire to Taliesin. Many people thought this horrific event would be the end of Wright\'s career. He proved them wrong however, with his decision to rebuild Taliesin.
Over the next 20 years Wright\'s influence continued to grow in popularity in the United States and Europe. Eventually his innovative building style spread overseas. In 1915, Wright was commissioned to design the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. It was during this time that Wright began to develop and refine his architectural and sociological philosophies. Because Wright disliked the urban environment, his buildings also developed a style quite different from other architects of the time. He utilized natural materials, skylights and walls of windows to embrace the natural environment. He built skyscrapers that mimicked trees, with a central trunk and many branches projecting outward. He proclaimed that shapes found in the environment should be not only integrated, but should become the basis of American architecture. A great example is the Larkin Company Administration Building in Buffalo, New York (1903), and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City (1943), which resembles the structure of a shell or a snail.
In 1932, Wright opened Taliesin up as an architectural fellowship where young students could pay to work with and learn from him. Thirty apprentices came to live with him at Taliesin. Through the Taliesin Fellowship, Wright created masterpieces such as Fallingwater (the Kaufmann House) in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, and the SC Johnson and Son Wax Company Administration Center in Racine, Wisconsin. During this time, he married and separated from Miriam Noel and met his third wife, Olivanna Milanoff. The two lived happily at Taliesin for five years and raised a child there. As the couple grew older, the Wisconsin winters became too much for them. In 1937, Wright moved his family and fellowship to Phoenix, Arizona where he built Taliesin West and spent the last twenty years of his life.
At Taliesin West, because of the comfortable year-round climate, Wright was able to integrate the outdoors with his indoor spaces. He designed high sloping roofs, translucent ceilings, and large, open doors and windows that created a subtle distinction between the home and the environment. Both Taliesin and Taliesin West were continuous living experiences for Wright as they constantly remained under construction. As his fellowship grew and the need for a larger facility became necessary, Wright continued to create additions and expansions on both homes.
On April 9, 1959 at age ninety-two, Wright died at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. By the time of his death, he had become internationally recognized for his innovative building style and contemporary designs. He had created 1,141 designs, of which 532 were completed. His name had become synonymous with great design, not only because of the form of his designs, but also because of the function. In the end, he showed not just what to live in, but more importantly he influenced the very nature of how we lived.
Quotes
· \"Youth is a quality, not a matter of circumstances.\"
· \"An expert is a man who has stopped thinking-he knows!\"
· \"Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.\"
· \"The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.\"
· \"Early in life, I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change.\"
· \"Form follows function- that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.\"
· \"No house should ever be 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.\"
· \"Architecture is life, or at least it is life itself taking form and therefore it is the truest record of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived.\"
· \"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.\"
· \"If you foolishly ignore beauty, you\'ll soon find yourself without it. Your life will be improverished. But if you wisely invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.\"
The Home and Studio
To his personal residence in Oak Park, Wright added a studio in 1898. The extraordinary Home and Studio complex served as Wright\'s architectural laboratory from 1889 to 1909, the years that launched his career. Here he conceived the Prairie style of architecture, testing ideas that found their fullest expression in many of the surrounding homes he designed for clients.
The Home and Studio served as the private residence and architectural office of Wright during the first 20 years of his professional career. In 1889, Wright borrowed $5,000 from his employer Louis Sullivan to build the home where he and Catherine Tobin began their married life and raised six children.
Wright used the Home and Studio as a laboratory in which to experiment with space, form, light, materials, furnishings and decorative arts. The building was constantly in transition, showcasing the architect\'s evolving design philosophy. In 1895, Wright expanded the living space of the home, and in 1898, he added the studio.
From the studio complex, Wright designed more than 150 structures over the next decade. During this time, Wright developed a uniquely personal approach to residential design and imparted his principles to the architects who worked with him, ultimately fostering the Prairie School of Architecture.
Although Wright left Oak Park in 1909, he did not sell the Home and Studio until 1925. Subsequent owners divided the complex into as many as seven apartments, and by 1974, the building had seriously deteriorated. In the same year, The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation was formed to acquire, restore and operate the property as a historic house museum and centre for education on Wright. A committee of preservation architects developed a master plan for restoration for the building. In consultation with architectural historians, this committee selected 1909 as the restoration target date.
The project was an enormous undertaking, comprising some 15 planning, design and construction phases. The foundations, masonry, sheathing, shingles, trim, art glass, skylights, roofing and other components were substantially deteriorated, in some cases required replacement, in others, restoration and repair. In addition, the electrical and heating systems needed to be modernized. As many as 28 coats of paint covered the original plaster and some of the woodwork, while 10 layers concealed the murals decorating the interior walls.
During the exterior restoration, the rubblestone foundation walls of the home were excavated and waterproofed. The studio was raised on concrete caissons to excavate a basement, and a concrete foundation was poured to support the structure. The rotted exterior walls were reframed and sheathed. The varied texture of the home\'s exterior was recreated with cedar shingles, brick and limestone, as was the intricate, board-and-batten styling of the studio facade. The cedar shingled roof of the home and the flat roofs of the studio were replaced. Handicapped access to the studio was facilitated by the addition of a ramp.
The restoration of the interior included inserting steel-and-wood beams between the first and second floors to reinforce the framing. The sand-finished texture of the original plaster was recreated on all the wall surfaces. Wright used wood extensively throughout the building for trim, built-in seating and storage. Recreating these elements required the reconstruction of historic sections of oak, basswood and pine. The Wright-designed lighting fixtures and decorative arts were reproduced. Ninety four art glass windows were recreated, using the original glass whenever possible; one skylight alone required 350 hours to restore.
Three semicircular murals in the home were conserved. The studio\'s chain-harness tension ring, a unique structural support system was uncovered and restored. Modern electrical and heating systems were integrated into Wright\'s original design to conform with present-day standards and codes.
Overall, the project involved some 30 architects and other design professionals, 80 contractors, craftsmen and major suppliers, more than 350 individuals from the building industry, the support of 100 board members, 50 staff members, in excess of 1,000 volunteers, and the financial contributions of more than 300,000 visitors, members and other donors since 1974. The structure was open for daily tours throughout the restoration process. In 1987, the American Institute of Architects recognized this exemplary restoration effort with a prestigious National Honor award.
SC Johnson Administration Center
Since its opening on April 22, 1939, the SC Johnson Administration Center has been a \"Mecca\" for tourists, architects and Frank Lloyd Wright devotees from all over the world. Artists and photgraphers have captured the building\'s sweeping curves and geometric designs on canvas and film. And thousands of people have delighted in the spectacular \"bird-cage\" elevators. What began as a new office building for SC Johnson Wax has become a testament to the foresight of H. F. Johnson, Jr. and the vision of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wright decided the Administration Center to be a functional building. He studied the daily work flow and believed that the most important criteria for his designs were the people. Wright also considered the corporate hierarchy. The clerical staff had office areas on the main level, the manager\'s offices were on the mezzanine level surrounding the clerical staff, and the executive offices on the third or Penthouse level, over-seeing everyone below.
The Great Workroom, which covers nearly one-half acre, is the main office area. Though it has many unique features, two of the most prominent are the slim, dendriform columns which support the roof and the glass tubing which replaces conventional windows. Neither of these features had been used before.
The bricks used in the building are also unusual. More than 200 sizes and shapes of bricks were made to form the angles and curves used by Wright. Even their color, Cherokee Red, was specified by Wright. To complement the warm tone of the brick, a lighter colored Kasota stone was used as trim. And to continue Wright\'s idea of fluidity and movement, the mortar in the horizontal brick joints was recessed or raked out.
Johnson\'s interest in Frank Lloyd Wright continued, and in 1947 construction began on the Research and Development Tower. The 14-floor tower is one of the tallest structures ever built where there is no visible support under the outer walls. Wright designed the Tower using the cantilever principle which is similar to the root, trunk and branch system of a tree. This design allows the tower to appear to hang, suspended in the air. The interior levels alternate round and square floor levels. Wright\'s intention was to allow for easy communication between floors via the \"open corners.\" The architect again used glass tubing instead of windows to allow for even, shadowless light and to prevent any view of outside distractions.
Connecting the Administration Center to the Research Tower, is a Wright designed bridge, enclosed completely by plate glass and glass tubing. And to further ensure the comfort of the employees in the cold Wisconsin winters, he also created a system of interconnected, underground tunnels to access each building.
The genius of Wright did not stop with the design of the building. He also designed the furniture, again, to complement the work flow and needs of the employees. The now-famous three-leg chairs prompted good posture.
Fallingwater
Fallingwater is recognized as one of Wright\'s most acclaimed works, and in a 1991 poll of members of the American Institute of Architects, it was voted \"the best all-time work of American architecture.\" It is a supreme example of Frank Lloyd Wright\'s concept of organic architecture, which promotes harmony between man and nature.
For Fallingwater, designed in 1935 for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh, Wright responded to the family\'s love for a waterfall on Bear Run, a rushing mountain stream. Mimicking a natural pattern established by its rock ledges, Wright placed the house over the falls in a series of cantilevered concrete \"trays,\" anchored to masonry walls made of the same Pottsville sandstone as the rock ledges. Although the house rises over 30\' above the falls, strong horizontal lines and low ceilings help maintain a sheltering effect. Almost as much floor space is taken up by outdoor terraces as indoor rooms.
Fallingwater is the only great Wright house open to the public with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact. Almost all of the original Wright-designed furnishings are still in place. Fine art, textiles, objets d\'art, books, and furnishings collected by the Kaufmann family from the 1930\'s through the 1960\'s are on view, and represent the eclectic tastes of a sophisticated, world-traveled family. Included in the collections are works by Audubon, Tiffany, Diego Rivera, Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Richmond Barthe, and woodblock prints by Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai - gifts from Frank Lloyd Wright to the Kaufmanns.
\"There in a beautiful forest was a solid, high rock ledge rising beside a waterfall, and the natural thing seemed to be to cantilever the house from that rock bank over the falling water....Then came (of course) Mr. Kaufmann\'s love for the beautiful site. He loved the site where the house was built and liked to listen to the waterfall. So that was a prime motive in the design. I think that you can hear the waterfall when you look at the design. At least it is there, and he lives intimately with the thing he loves.\" -- Frank Lloyd Wright in an interview with Hugh Downs, 1954.
Seventeen Buildings
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.
1 Frank Lloyd Wright Residence (1889), Oak Park, IllinoisWright 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.
2 William H. Winslow House (1893), River Forest, IllinoisThe 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.
3 Ward W. Willets House (1901), Highland Park, IllinoisThe 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\".
4 Unity Church (1904), Oak Park, IllinoisUnity 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.
5 Frederick C. Robie House (1906), Chicago, IllinoisThe 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.
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.
7 Taliesin III (1925ff), Spring Green, WisconsinThe 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.\"
8 Fallingwater (1935), Bear Run, Ohiopyle, PennsylvaniaIn 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.
9 Honeycomb House (1936), Stanford, CaliforniaThis 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.
10 S. C. Johnson Administration Building (1936), Racine, WisconsinThe \"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.
11 Taliesin West (1937ff), Scottsdale, ArizonaTaliesin 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.\"
12 S. C. Johnson Research Tower (1944), Racine, WisconsinUtilizing 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.
13 Unitarian Church (1947), Shorewood Hills, WisconsinThe plan is composed of two equilateral triangles, set back-to-back. The rear triangle, where the ceiling is at its lowest, contains the entry area, a kitchen and a fireplace. The sanctuary occupies the front triangle, and here the ceiling rapidly rises from both the back and sides. All light enters the sanctuary through the glass wall surrounding the pulpit.
14 V. C. Morris Gift Shop (1948), San Francisco, CaliforniaThe 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.
15 Price Company Tower (1952), Bartlesville, OklahomaWith 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.
16 Beth Sholom Synagogue (1954), Elkins Park, PennsylvaniaThe 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.\"
17 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1956), New York, New YorkOf 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.
Sources: www.wrightplus.org | www.delmars.com | www.greatbuildingsonline.com
Vocabulary
divorce - scheiden
Dean - Dekan
drafted - skizierte
chapel - Kapelle
revised - revidierte
throughout - durch und durch
acknowledged - anerkannt
relationship - Beziehung / Verhältnis
revealed - aufgedeckt
aspiring - ehrgeizig
mimicking - nachahmend
attics - Dachstuben
pitch - werfen
uninterrupted - ununterbrochen
merge - fusionieren
simplistic - vereinfachen
indigenous - eingeboren
practitioners - Praktiker
ancestors - Vorfahren
tragedy - Unglück
struck - schlug
servant - Diener
horrific - entsetzlich
spread - ausbreiten
overseas - Übersee
refine - verfeinern
commissioned - beauftragte
dislike - Abneigung
skylight - Deckenbeleuchtung
embrace - umarmen / einschließen
trunk - Stamm
branches - Zweige
outward - nach außen
proclaimed - proklamierte
shapes - formt
integrated - eingebaut
resembles - ähnelt
shell - Muschelschale
snail - Schnecke
couple - Verbindung
sloping - schief
translucent - durchsichtig
subtle - feinsinnig
distinktion - Auszeichnung
synonymous - gleichbedeutend
contemporary - zeitgenössisch
furnishing - Ausstattung
transition - Übergang
showcase - Kasten
evolving - Entwicklung
approach - annähern
imparted - gewährte
fostering - aufziehend
subsequent - folgend
deteriorate - verschlechtern
acquire - erwerben
restore - restaurieren
operate - bedienen, betätigen
property - Anwesen, Eigentum
preservation - Erhaltung
consulation - Beratung
undertaking - Unternehmen
comprising - umfassend
foundation - Grundlage
masonry - Mauerwerk
sheating - Ummantelung
shingles - Schindeln
trim - zurechtstutzen
substantially - wesentlich
require - benötigen
coat - Anstrich
plaster - Putz
concealed - überspielte
murals - Wandgemälde
interior - innen
exterior - aussen
excavate - baggern, ausheben
caisson - Senkkasten
poured - gegossen
rotted - verfaulte
reframed - umformen
cedar - Zeder
intricate - kompliziert
batten - Latte
storage - Lagerung
oak - Eiche
basswood - Tiefenholz
pine - Kiefer
chain - Kette
harness - Geschirr
tension - Spannung
contractor - Bauunternehmer
supplier - Lieferant
board - Brett
contribution - Spende
donor - Spender
prestigious - pregstigevoll
canvas - Leinwand
clerical stuff - "normale" Büroarbeiter
executive office - Chefbüro
column - Säule
mortar - Mörtel
recess - unterbrechen
cantilever - Kragarm
root - Wurzel
trunk - Stamm
branch - Ast
employees - Angestellte
prompt - führen zu
acclaim - feiern
pattern - Muster
anchore - verankern
masonry - Mauerwerk
shingle - Schindel
wholly - völlig
embody - verkörpern
poured - eingegossen
evoke - erinnern, wachrufen
brow - Rand
slender - schlank
hollow - hohl
rectangular - rechteckig
sensuous - sinnlich
tripod - Stativ, Gerüst
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