Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect who was a pioneer in modern style, and he is considered one of the greatest figures in architecture in the 20th-century.
In Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 8, 1867 Wright was born. 17 years latter at the University of Wisconsin his interest in architecture had already shown itself. He enrolled in civil engineering because the university didn^t offer any classes for his chosen field. He gained some practical experience by working on a construction project for the university part time. He left school and went to work for the firm of Adler and Sullivan in 1887. Louis Sullivan from the firm had a profound in Wright work. He left the firm and went to make his own office in Chicago in 1893.
Organic architecture was a philosophy created by Wright. It means that a building should be developed out of it^s natural surroundings. Originality was shown in his designs for public and private structures. The ornate neoclassic and Victorian styles favored by conventional architects was the kind of thing Wright rebelled against. Wright was opposed to the mechanical imposition of preconceived styles. The particular function of the building, it^s environment, and the type of materials employed in the structure should be the things that ultimately determined the architechtual form is what Wright believed in. One of the many fundamental contributions was the use of building materials for their natural colors s well as structural characteristics. With the open planning of one room flowing into another his interiors emphasize the sense of spaciousness.
Precast concrete blocks reinforced with steel rods was one of the many new techniques Wright initiated. Air conditioning, indirect lighting, and panel heating were a few of the numerous innovations Wright invented. One of Wright big feats was to make the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The building was made to withstand earthquakes. One year after being completed it suffered no damage from a disastrous earthquake.
Architects who were more conventional then Wright were against his different ways all thorough out his career. He went into exile for a year in Europe because of personal difficulties and professional antagonisms. Upon his return he began a new career of ever widing-achivments. Some of his later works are the Millard House; the Kaufmann House; called Falling Water; The Johnson Wax Company Administration Building; the First Unitarian Church; the V.C. Morris gift shop; and the Price Tower. Some of Wright^s other interests were writing, lecturing, and teaching. He originated most of the principles that are today the fundamental concepts of modern architecture by 1908. At his winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taliesin West(begun in 1938), Wright established a studio-workshop for apprentices who assisted him on his projects. He also founded the Taliesin Fellowship to support such efforts. Some of Wrights writings include An Autobiography (1932; revised ed. 1943), An Organi!
c Architecture (1939), Genius and the Mobocracy (1949), and Natural House (1954). On April 9, 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona Frank Llyod Wright died.
Our Networks