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Frank
Lloyd Wright
in front of Taliesin, WI1 |
Frank Lloyd Wright is recognized as one of the United
States' most influential architects. His career spanned more than 50
years, producing buildings that were modern beyond their years. Throughout his
illustrious career, Wright created more than 1,100 designs, of which 532 were
constructed. Found throughout America, a large number of these buildings welcome
visitors to take tours and learn about Wright.
THE LIFE OF WRIGHT
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in 1867 in the small community of Richland
Center, Wisconsin.
Wright realized his love of architecture early, leaving high school to pursue
his dream at the University of Wisconsin. By 1889, Wright had established his
own architectural firm in Oak
Park, Illinois.
Wright's firm flourished and his ideas caught the eyes of many, leading him
to close the Oak
Park Studio in 1909 and travel to Europe. He returned to America in
1911 and erected a new home and studio in Spring
Green, Wisconsin. As the Depression gripped the world in the 1930s,
Wright's design ideas evolved into homes for middle-class families to live in.
In 1932, Wright and his third wife, Olgivanna, started an apprenticeship program
known as the Taliesin Fellowship, which allowed them to develop their ideas
with hands-on work to the Wright's Spring Green property. In 1937, Wright bought
land in Scottsdale,
Arizona, to
escape the cold Wisconsin winters. Soon after, Wright and his wife moved themselves
and the Fellowship to the new location. Some of Wright's best-known buildings
were designed while living in Arizona, including the SC
Johnson Wax Administration Building (1939) in Racine,
Wisconsin, and Wingspread
(1938-1939) in Wind
Point, Wisconsin. Wright died at the age of 92, leaving behind a legacy
of buildings and forever changing the landscape of architecture.
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Taliesin
Wisconsin: Spring Green, WI2 |
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RESIDENCES
Taliesin Wisconsin
Construction of Taliesin
Wisconsin began in 1911 and was continuously being changed by its owner,
making it the longest ongoing architectural project of his career. Wright's
mother left him the land in Spring Green, Wisconsin, where Wright spent much
time as he was growing up. With the help of two fires—one intentionally set
by a servant in 1914, killing seven people, and one from faulty wiring in 1925—Taliesin
Wisconsin went through three major design phases and was under constant transformation.
Today this home remains well-preserved by his trust, providing tours of the
many structures on the grounds and offering a glimpse at the brilliance of Wright's
ideas.
Filled with Wright's innovative designs, the property includes a 37,000 sq
ft (3,500 sq m) estate, farm buildings and landscaped grounds with ponds and
roads. Inside the house, furnishings and decorations created from their owner's
imagination sit, many of which remain intact and on display for visitors to
see on tours of the estate. Tours operating from Taliesin take visitors to some
of the first buildings designed by Wright, including the Unity Chapel and Hillside
school, which he made for members of his family.
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Taliesin
West: Scottsdale, AZ3 |
Taliesin West
In order to escape the cold Wisconsin winters, Wright established Taliesin
West in Scottsdale, Arizona. Created out of the desert with rock collected
by Wright and his students, the buildings are designed to blend in with their
surroundings. For 22 years, this property was in constant change, as it was
the project of the aforementioned Taliesin Fellowship. When the project was
finished in 1956, Taliesin West had amassed into much more than a home, but
contained student residences, theaters, studios and project rooms. Wright lived
in this home until his death in 1959 and while the property is listed on the
National Registry of Historic Places, it still serves his vision as a learning
place for students and architects to work together.
Critics regard Taliesin West as an architectural marvel for its use of textiles
and plastics to make the complex connect with its surroundings. At the end of
the mile-long driveway, Wright set up his office, which is made of stone, concrete,
steel and wood, with a translucent roof that allows in plenty of light and appears
to rise out of the earth like a giant rock. From there, Wright built a series
of interconnected buildings for his studio, kitchen and dining room. Also on
the grounds are homes for the students, as well as additional work and recreation
areas, which continue to house students today. Visitors can examine Wright's
work throughout the year on tours of the Arizona estate, learning about Wright's
theories, the life in the Taliesin Fellowship and the history of Taliesin West.
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Frank
Lloyd Wright's Kentuck Knob:
Chalk Hill, PA4 |
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Usonian Homes
While Wright was pursued by the top companies in the United States to create
unique buildings, his passion remained in creating affordable homes for middle-class
and lower-income families. The idea of these homes, both aesthetically pleasing
and space conscious, came about around the time of the Depression. In 1936,
Wright set out to build a series of these Usonian homes. In theory they were
to cost about $5,000, but after construction they ended up being twice that
amount. Altogether, 140 such homes were built throughout the States, including
his first Usonian house, the Herbert Jacobs House, in Madison,
Wisconsin. Sticking to the premise that form follows function, these residences
contain no basements, no attics and have little wasted space. Wright wanted
to keep the designs original and pleasing to the eye, unlike the cookie-cutter
brick homes that were popular during the time. By giving people homes of their
own, Wright believed it would improve their democratic values. In a way, the
root of their name encapsulated that very essence, as the word Usonia was derived
by Wright as an abbreviation for the United States of North America and the
freedoms it stands for.
Organic Architecture
Believing that buildings should be integrated with their surroundings, Wright
created his idea of organic architecture. Out of this design-style came two
acclaimed buildings—Fallingwater
(1935) and Kentuck
Knob (1953)—both located in the Pennsylvania
countryside, blending in with the trees, rocks and natural features around them.
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Fallingwater:
Mill Run, PA5 |
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Sitting on a rock ledge above a waterfall, Fallingwater appears to hover over
the water as it balances on concrete trays with water flowing from beneath it.
The house was built for Edgar Kaufmann, founder of Kaufmann's, a Pittsburgh-based department store,
who had fallen in love with western Pennsylvania. To balance both nature and
residence, Wright designed the house to contain nearly as much floor space as
outdoor terrace area. The inside was filled with Wright-created furniture that
would be suitable for the organic style of the building and its surroundings.
Many of these pieces remain in the home, which is open to the public for tours.
After seeing the final masterpiece of Fallingwater, acquaintances of the Kaufmann's,
the Hagan family, approached Wright to build a house for them. Wright made this
house in 1953 out of tidewater red cypress and fieldstone, with a copper roof.
Windows run around the hexagonal-shaped home, which is surrounded by a sculpture
garden and offers magnificent views of the Youghiogheny River Gorge. Its original
owners lived here until 1986, before selling it to Lord Peter Palumbo of London,
England. Tours of the
home are available with a reservation.
CHURCHES
Beth Sholom Synagogue
After hours of conversations with Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen, Frank Lloyd Wright
created a design for the Beth
Sholom Synagogue in Elkins
Park, Pennsylvania. Wright sought to use many religious symbols of the
Jewish faith in this building and moved away from the European structures to
a more contemporary American design. Completed in 1954, the synagogue had a
hexagonal base said to resemble two hands joined together. From there it rose
to resemble a mountain, which many have come to interpret as Mount Sinai, a
sanctuary of the Old Testament where Moses is said to have received the 10 Commandments
from God in the desert. At night, this dome glows with light and during the
day it allows lots of natural light to enter. This building is said to be Wright's
most expressive house of worship, incorporating all sorts of symbols, designs
and artifacts that are important to the Jewish faith.
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| Inside
the Unity Temple: Oak Park, IL6 |
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Unity Temple
Raised in a family that followed the Unitarian religion, Wright was able to
express the beliefs of this faith during the construction of the Unity
Temple in Oak Park, Illinois. Completed in 1908, this church was regarded
as highly modern for its time and received praise and awards from many architectural
groups. Wright wanted the building to act not only as a place of worship, but
also a place for the congregation to gather. From there he made it so that the
rooms could easily muffle sounds and would receive most of the light naturally
through skylights. With a limited budget, Wright was able to design a structure
that kept in mind the Unitarian principles of unity, truth, beauty, simplicity,
freedom and reason.
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
Another impressive place of worship, the Annunciation
Greek Orthodox Church in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, was detailed by Wright in 1956. Like the previous churches Wright
designed, he was able to take the building away from the traditional, and more
complex, Byzantine style by combining colors and symbols of the Greek Orthodox
faith. Featuring a bright blue dome and gold trimming, the church is a city
landmark.
LANDMARKS
Price Tower Prairie Skyscraper
Bartlesville,
Oklahoma,
is home to Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper: the Price
Tower Prairie Skyscraper. Remaining true to his natural design theories,
he decided that the building would resemble a tree. Wright had actually planned
the building 25 years earlier as an apartment for the vestry of St. Marks-in-the-Bouweie,
in New York City, New
York, but when the project fell through, Wright's plans were put on
hold until 1954. Using concrete and glass, the Price Tower contains a service
core that travels up the center of the building. From there, the floors make
their way out, similar to branches on a tree. Upon completion, the structure
was recognized throughout the world for its use of modern technology and tree-like
design.
Arizona Biltmore Hotel
Often referred to as the Jewel of the Desert, the Wright-inspired Arizona
Biltmore Resort in Phoenix,
Arizona, spans across 39 acres (16 ha) of land and is filled with pools, cabins,
spas and other buildings, which are examples of Wright's use of natural design.
Wright collaborated with a former student, Albert Chase McArthur, in the creation
of this Arizona landmark in 1929. Like so many of his buildings, the resort
is made with concrete, glass and other indigenous materials, lending it the
appearance of blending in with the desert landscape. Even after renovations,
the resort continues to support Frank Lloyd Wright's design premise, even in
the guest rooms, which feature sandy tones and mission-style furniture.
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Inside
the Guggenheim Museum:
New York City, NY |
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Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Although Frank Lloyd Wright was asked to design a building for the Guggenheim
Museum in 1943, he would never lay eyes on it once it was completed,
as he passed away a few months before it opened in 1959. Conflicts and struggles
between Wright, the clients, city officials, artists and the people of New York
City delayed the completion of the building for more than 15 years. New York
City did not appeal to Wright because he thought it was overpopulated with far
too many uncreative buildings. Keeping this in mind, he chose a location for
the Guggenheim Museum that would be close to Central
Park in Manhattan,
the closest thing to nature available in the Big Apple.
With a legacy of creative, naturalistic and brilliant designs preceding him,
Wright would not be outdone due to a lack of nature. He went on to create a
contemporary building that was shaped in an inverted ziggurat, a temple resembling
a rounded pyramid from Babylonian roots. Rather than hallways that led through
the building from entrance to exit, Wright made it so museum-goers would be
taken up to the top of the museum by elevator to start their tour. From there,
a slanted ramp would gently take them down again. Each gallery was in a self-contained
room, interconnected with the ramp in little cells, similar to the individual
sections of oranges or grapefruits. Critics worried that the design would overpower
the art inside of the building—a problem that was solved by simply leaving the
interior unpainted so that the art would stand out from the natural-colored
walls, floors and ceilings.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Kalita Humphreys Theater
The Kalita
Humphreys Theater in Dallas,
Texas, was built
from plans made by Wright in 1915 for a different project that was never built.
Wright said he would work with the committee only if they used this design,
as he was a very busy man. Completed in December 1959, the theater design was
declared to be innovative and fresh, while still maintaining Wright's belief
that form should follow function. To avoid the usual proscenium-style stage
set up, where the audience sits in front of the stage, Wright designed the Kalita
Humphreys Theater to appear to blend the audience in with the stage. Using concrete,
Wright made a drum-shaped, cantilevered stage that was supported with a dressing
room in the back, giving a more intimate feel for the audience.
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Annie Pfeiffer Chapel at Florida Southern College: Lakeland, FL7 |
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Florida Southern College
Lakeland,
Florida, is
home to the Florida
Southern College, which to date contains one of the largest collections
of Wright-designed buildings in the world. Wright came up with the campus designs
for Dr. Ludd Spivey, president of the college. Money was tight, so the first
three buildings—the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, the Seminar Building and the E.T.
Roux Library—were all constructed from steel, sand and glass and with the help
of student labor in exchange for tuition. Out of 18 buildings designed by Wright
for the college, 12 were built, beginning with a chapel in 1941 and concluding
with a science building in 1958. Walking tours of the campus are available,
with detailed maps found at the Child of the Sun visitor center.
Marin County Civic Center
In California,
San Rafael's
Marin
County Civic Center stands as the famous architect's only government
building. Wright planned the center as a group of long buildings that would
connect to the hilly terrain. With beige walls and a blue roof, the building
blends in with its surroundings. To survive earthquake disruption, Wright made
the building in segments out of metal and concrete. The decorative features
include arches, spiral staircases, a golden tower and windows running throughout
the buildings.
PHOTO COURTESY
- Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; Frank Lloyd Wright in front of Taliesin
Wisconsin; Spring Green, WI, USA
- Taliesin Preservation, Inc.; Exterior of Taliesin Wisconsin; Spring Green,
WI, USA
- Pedro Guerreo; c/o the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; Taliesin West reflecting
in a pool; Scottsdale, AZ, USA
- Robert P. Ruschak; c/o Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob; Pathway
to the Prowl at Kentuck Knob; Chalk Hill, PA, USA
- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy; Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater;
Mill Run, PA, USA
- Oak Park Area CVB; Inside the Unity Temple; Oak Park, IL, USA
- Florida Southern College; The Annie Pfeiffer Chapel on the college campus;
Lakeland, FL, USA
