FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTContemporary Architectural Pioneer and

Modernist of the Century

By Frankie

Why I Chose This Topic

• Interest in modern and minimalist architecture

• Styles and designs are often overlooked

Architecture before the 1900s

• Incorporated historical styles and developed new materials and structural methods

• Styles: Gothic, Victorian, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical (grand facades/very ostentatious), Queen Anne (ornate with large exteriors), and Vernacular (generic and plain cottages)

• Building methods: layout and foundation, organic materials, and duration of construction

• Industrialization ---> shift from highly ornate to more minimalistic

• Rise of skyscrapers

• Residential homes and professional buildings evolved to meet clientele desires

• Social status, location, cost, and taste

Biography

• Born on July 8, 1867 in Wisconsin

• Wright's parents influenced his creativity and growing mind

• Froebel blocks and classical music

"Homes and professional buildings included geometric shapes throughout the whole design

along with lines that emphasized melodic beauty."

• Began course study at Wisconsin State University ---> lack of funds later sent Wright to Chicago

• Began to work for Chicago architect Louis Sullivan

• Opened his personal work studio in 1894

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and StudioOak Park, Illinois

Style

• Wright became known for his unconventional and geometric style of architecture

• Universal philosophy: "Form follows function"

• Proposed by Louis Sullivan

• Emphasized the shape of a building based on its intended function

• Wright believed otherwise...

• "Proceed, persist, [and] create, according to the nature of man and his circumstances as they both change"

• Architecture would evolve to meet the demands of man and time

Organic Architecture

• Revolved around nature and the unity between a building site and epoch

• Included open spaces, and absence of basement and attic, and "the destruction of the boxy shape"

FallingwaterMill Run, Pennsylvania

Taliesin WestScottsdale, Arizona

Massaro HouseLake Mahopac, New York

Taliesin EastIowa County, Wisconsin

ca. 1911 - 1996

• "[Organic architecture was the] reinterpretation of nature's principles as they had been filtered through the intelligent minds of men and women who could then build forms which are more natural than nature itself."

Prairie School Architecture

• Based on the vast and open areas of the Midwest prairies

• Included low roofs, rows of windows, foundations composed of organic materials, and lines that gradually blended into the environment

Frederick C. Robie HouseHyde Park, Illinois

Darwin Martin HouseBuffalo, New York

Unity TempleOak Park, Illinois

Larkin Administration BuildingBuffalo, New York

ca. 1903-1908

Modern Architecture • At the end of the 20th century,

industrialization was a leading power in society and global advancement

• Styles: structuralism (structure over function), formalism, Bauhaus (simplicity), international, brutalism (violent imagery), and minimalism

• Notable features: simplistic ornamentation, factory produced parts, organic materials, functionalism, and the rejection of conventional ideas (classical/traditional)

Villa SavoyeLe Corbusier

Minimalism

Bauhaus

Brutalism Structuralism

Post Modernism 1970 - Present

• Objective: surprise and amuse viewers, while at the same time displaying shapes and details in unique ways

• Glance into future concepts: collision of styles, vast ornamentation, an abstract and vulgar appearance, and color juxtaposition between black and white

Influence 1900s-present

• Wright is arguably the most influential out of all modern architects...

• Style not only paved the way for future designs in the making, but also popularized transforming techniques still used today

• Psychologically large surface areas serving a multitude of functions

• Designed and supplied purpose-built furniture

• Promoted the use of zinc, preset concrete blocks, and glass bricks

• Methods revolved around the theme of nature and its capacity to change a building

• Inclusion of wide spaces, natural light through glass windows, open floor designs, and application of organic materials

Competition / Counterarguments

• Louis Sullivan, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Louis Sullivan • Often considered

the "father of modern architecture," more so than Wright

• Instilled much of the values and techniques Wright had popularized through his work

• Sullivan also stressed ornamentation and coined the philosophy of "Form follows function"

• Wright was more central to a simplistic style and is often credited with said philosophy

• Sullivan also sought to find solutions to architecture through his modernist approach, oftentimes contradictory

Walter Gropius • Known for Bauhaus,

but constructed a limited amount of buildings

• "[came] across as slightly utopian with an obsession for functional aesthetics

• Wright surpassed Gropius in that he did not create architecture that was "good for the people" but "beautiful"

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

• Philosophy of "less is more"

• Rejected ornately designed exteriors and an ostentatious appearance

• Did not implement organic materials into his work, like many others of the time did

• Criticized for his contradictory ideas, imitating free open spaces and hiding modern techniques under a traditional facade

• Wright's designs were more timeless and cleverly incorporated wide areas

• Imitating another architect's style was also distasteful and a lack of originality

Conclusion

• Inspired contemporary architects to challenge tradition and go beyond the limits

• "I would like to have a free architecture. Architecture that belonged to where you see it standing-and is a grace to the landscape instead of a disgrace."

• The pioneers of today cannot advance without minimal help from those of yesterday