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Associated Press
Happy Birthday, Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect
June 08, 2009
by
Devin Felter
The most famous architect in American history, Frank Lloyd Wright sought to unify man and nature through his compelling architectural designs. The man behind “Prairie school,” Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum, he brought upon himself as much controversy as success.
Early Days
Frank Lincoln Wright was born in Wisconsin, on June 8, 1867, to Anna Lloyd Jones and William C. Wright. (He changed Lincoln to Lloyd as an adult.) Much of Wright’s childhood was spent on the move: the family lived in Iowa, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, before heading back to Wisconsin.
From 1885 to 1886, Wright studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin, but his aspirations were already in architecture. He headed to Chicago the following year, where he served as an apprentice to architect J. L. Silsbee. This position led to work as a draftsman for Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. His new firm was selected to design the Auditorium Building, which became the tallest building in Chicago upon its completion, according to the site Wright on the Web.
Buoyed by the bustling architectural scene and his innate self-assurance, Wright formed his own company in 1893. When he turned down a lucrative offer by fellow Chicago architect Daniel Burnham to run his firm in Europe, it was clear that Wright had his eyes set on transforming the American architectural landscape.
From 1885 to 1886, Wright studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin, but his aspirations were already in architecture. He headed to Chicago the following year, where he served as an apprentice to architect J. L. Silsbee. This position led to work as a draftsman for Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. His new firm was selected to design the Auditorium Building, which became the tallest building in Chicago upon its completion, according to the site Wright on the Web.
Buoyed by the bustling architectural scene and his innate self-assurance, Wright formed his own company in 1893. When he turned down a lucrative offer by fellow Chicago architect Daniel Burnham to run his firm in Europe, it was clear that Wright had his eyes set on transforming the American architectural landscape.
Notable Accomplishments
The “Prairie school” of architecture was the nexus of Midwestern commercial building and rural construction, and it provided Wright with certain aesthetic tenets that would guide him throughout his career.
Residential designs were flat and sleek, playing upon the lines and curves of the surrounding land. Interiors were expansive and blurred the boundaries between individual rooms. Building methods tapped into the tricks of urban planning; purchased materials were often mass-produced, thereby cutting costs. It’s ironic that his major achievement from this period was nonresidential: the Unity Church in Oak Park, Illinois.
Wright had been married to Catherine Tobin since 1889, while working for Adler and Sullivan. By the early 1900s, the couple had become so estranged that Wright began seeing Mamah Cheney, the wife of a former client. In a bizarre and tragic turn of events, Cheney and her children were killed by a psychotic employee while visiting Taliesin, Wright’s estate near Spring Green, Wisconsin, according to PBS. Though Wright was already one of the most prominent American architects, his personal tribulations and philandering routinely undercut potential commissions. After finally obtaining a divorce from Tobin (and a brief marriage to Miriam Noel), he wed Olgivanna Hinzenberg in 1928.
In the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929, Wright shifted gears and focused on writing and lecturing. He also established the Taliesin Fellowship, which brought a number of aspiring architects and artists to his estate every year. As the economy began to convalesce, Wright received two commissions: one for a house in the Alleghany Mountains and another for the S.C. Johnson administrative offices. The former project, known as Fallingwater, would become his most famous creative achievement. Positioned over a waterfall, the residence has a number of Wright trademarks: cantilevered strips, overlaid geometric motifs and a design scheme that responds to the natural environment. The S.C. Johnson building was revered for the grandeur of its interior. Columns with mushroom-like tops rise from the floor and soften sheets of ceiling light, rendering the massive space more intimate.
Nearly 70 years old, Wright was in high demand. And he was still capable of churning out bold and innovative designs with his renowned aplomb.
Residential designs were flat and sleek, playing upon the lines and curves of the surrounding land. Interiors were expansive and blurred the boundaries between individual rooms. Building methods tapped into the tricks of urban planning; purchased materials were often mass-produced, thereby cutting costs. It’s ironic that his major achievement from this period was nonresidential: the Unity Church in Oak Park, Illinois.
Wright had been married to Catherine Tobin since 1889, while working for Adler and Sullivan. By the early 1900s, the couple had become so estranged that Wright began seeing Mamah Cheney, the wife of a former client. In a bizarre and tragic turn of events, Cheney and her children were killed by a psychotic employee while visiting Taliesin, Wright’s estate near Spring Green, Wisconsin, according to PBS. Though Wright was already one of the most prominent American architects, his personal tribulations and philandering routinely undercut potential commissions. After finally obtaining a divorce from Tobin (and a brief marriage to Miriam Noel), he wed Olgivanna Hinzenberg in 1928.
In the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929, Wright shifted gears and focused on writing and lecturing. He also established the Taliesin Fellowship, which brought a number of aspiring architects and artists to his estate every year. As the economy began to convalesce, Wright received two commissions: one for a house in the Alleghany Mountains and another for the S.C. Johnson administrative offices. The former project, known as Fallingwater, would become his most famous creative achievement. Positioned over a waterfall, the residence has a number of Wright trademarks: cantilevered strips, overlaid geometric motifs and a design scheme that responds to the natural environment. The S.C. Johnson building was revered for the grandeur of its interior. Columns with mushroom-like tops rise from the floor and soften sheets of ceiling light, rendering the massive space more intimate.
Nearly 70 years old, Wright was in high demand. And he was still capable of churning out bold and innovative designs with his renowned aplomb.
The Rest of the Story
One of Wright’s last works was the Guggenheim Museum in New York, which was completed six months after his death at the age of 91. Though the design received more than its fair share of criticism, even from James Johnson Sweeney, the director of the museum, many have come to view it as a fitting cap to Wright’s career.
This view is particularly intriguing, because Wright spent much of his life synthesizing his architecture with nature. The Guggenheim, conversely, was entwined in the manmade grid: perpendicular streets, cubic buildings, a sea of rectangular windows. If the challenge was to break up the city’s linear scheme, he undoubtedly succeeded.
“The bulbous form emerged from behind flat-fronted apartment buildings like a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” wrote Paul Goldberger in The New Yorker.
On the inside, the spiral ramp and haloing skylight imbue the interior with an otherworldly beauty. Because the ramp winds around a central atrium, one can see where one was and where one will be.
This view is particularly intriguing, because Wright spent much of his life synthesizing his architecture with nature. The Guggenheim, conversely, was entwined in the manmade grid: perpendicular streets, cubic buildings, a sea of rectangular windows. If the challenge was to break up the city’s linear scheme, he undoubtedly succeeded.
“The bulbous form emerged from behind flat-fronted apartment buildings like a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” wrote Paul Goldberger in The New Yorker.
On the inside, the spiral ramp and haloing skylight imbue the interior with an otherworldly beauty. Because the ramp winds around a central atrium, one can see where one was and where one will be.
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
