FRANK LLYOD WRIGHT

 

Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1956), an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, had a creative period of 70 years. He designed 1141 structures of which 532 were completed by his death. His philosophy was to design structures in harmony with humanity and its environment and is best exemplified by “Falling Waters (1935)”, best all-time work of American Architecture.

Born on June 8, 1867, in the town of Richland Center, Wisconsin, Frank was always interested in making structures with wooden building blocks which came in different geometrical shapes, this geometrical clarity can be seen in his buildings. Wright attended Madison High School, but there is no evidence he graduated. In 1886, he was admitted to University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a special student, but left in 1887 without taking a degree and moved to Chicago and joined an architectural firm, Joseph Lyman Silsbee, later he worked for Adler and Sullivan.  

Wright played a key role in architectural movements of the 20^th century, and influenced design styles not only in America but also in Europe and Asia and has influenced three generations of architects worldwide through his works.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

·       Organic colours                                                         

·        Simple geometric shapes

·        Integration of building with natural surroundings

·        Strong horizontal lines

·        Hidden entries

PHILOSOPHIES

·       Wright described vernacular architecture as folk building growing in response to actual needs, fitted into environment by people who knew no better than to fit them with native feelings.

·       He believed that design and form acquired a symbolic meaning.

·        His design solution was to view all details of a structure as a product of a single independent mind, including all major and minor ornamental and symbolic elements.

PRAIRIE HOUSES

·       Low horizontal lines that were meant to blend with the flat landscape around them.

·       Broad open spaces instead of strictly defined rooms.

·       Deliberately blurred the distinction between interior spaces and surrounding terrain.

One of his most famous designs of Prairie Houses is the Robbie House, Chicago, now a U.S. National Historic Landmark. He made innovative use of new building materials like precast concrete blocks and glass bricks, and is one of the first architects to design and install custom made electrical fittings, including some of the first electric floor lamps.

COMMUNITY PLANNING

His thoughts on suburban design were different from straight rows of houses on a parallel street and were focused on houses on small square blocks of four equal-sized lots surrounded by roads on all sides. More ambitious designs of entire communities were exemplified by his entry into City Club of Chicago Land Development Competition in 1913.

On April 9, 1959 Wright took his last breath. Some of the buildings were built after his death like Monona Terrace, a convention centre in Madison was built in 1997 and The clubhouse at Nakoma Golf Resort, Plumas County, California was opened in 2000.