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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was perhaps the most celebrated U.S. architect and designer, famous for his original concept of houses built in harmony with nature. In the 1930s, Wright defined his concept of “organic architecture” as a respectful interaction and simple reinterpretation of nature, instead of a mere reproduction of it. For instance, natural materials like wood or stone used in houses should look as such, without being transformed or painted. Wright often declared, “Form and function are one,” which means, for instance, that a museum should look like a museum and not like a Greek temple.

Among many notable buildings, Wright’s Fallingwater in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania illustrates his ecological approach to architecture: In this case, a unique house built in 1939 on a cascade that goes inside the building and crosses the living room. This synthesis of the architecture with the environment is not just decorative; it is the symbol of the integration of nature that feeds the harmony of the life style, the furnishings, and the indoor design. In this case, instead of having a nice view of the outside waterfalls though a window, inhabitants lived in a house that rose over the unchanged cascade. Unlike some of Wright’s projects, Fallingwater, also known as the Edgar J. Kaufmann House, still remains with its original furnishings; it has been open to visitors since the Kaufmann family left it in 1964.

Between 1900 and 1919, Wright also introduced the Prairie style, which was later known as the Prairie School, a design approach that was shared with other U.S. architects and followers. Instead of building houses that looked like boxes, the Prairie style favored unity, open plans, and low, horizontal lines that would seem to blend with the flat landscape, with broad open spaces instead of a group of strictly defined rooms. Perhaps influenced by his trip to Japan in 1916, Wright wanted to design every house as a unified environment in which the interior would be coherent with the natural landscape instead of being similar to the surrounding buildings. Wright recommended the use of natural materials and natural light. Perhaps the perfect example of the Prairie style would be the Robie House in Chicago, built in 1909.

Wright believed that “better homes would create better people.” During more than half a century, Wright conceived more than 400 houses, bungalows, factories, theaters, civic centers, and office buildings, mostly in the United States, but also created a few projects in Canada and Japan, like the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1922) and the E. H. Pitkin Cottage (1900) on Sapper Island in Desbardts, Ontario. Some of these houses have been remodeled or even demolished. Other houses built by Wright, like the Louis Sullivan Bungalow and the James Charnley Bungalow (both in Ocean Springs, Mississippi), were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Conceived as a spiral structure that looks like a work of art in itself, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City remains perhaps the most famous building created by Frank Lloyd Wright (between 1943 and 1957). Here, the concept was to allow the visitor to take the elevator to the top of the building and then proceed slowly down the spiral walkway to view the artwork, in order to avoid fatigue.

A prolific writer, and on occasion a teacher and lecturer, Frank Lloyd Wright also published many books and essays: An Organic Architecture (1939), The Natural House (1954), A Testament (1957), and The Living City (1958). Already a celebrity before his death at 91, Frank Lloyd Wright has become an American icon.

Bibliography:

Jackie Craven, “Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings Index,” about.com (cited December 2006);
Kaufmann Conservation on Bear Run, “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, in the Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania,” www.fay-west.com (cited December 2006);
Organic Architect, www.organicarchitect.com (cited December 2006);
William Allin Storrer, ed., The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion (University of Chicago Press, 2006);
William Allin Storrer, “The Frank Lloyd Wright Update,” www.franklloydwrightinfo.com (cited December 2006);
Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings (Rizzoli, 1994);
Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd W An Autobiography (Pomegranate, 2005);
Frank Lloyd Wright and Mike Wallace, Frank Lloyd W The Mike Wallace Interviews, audiocassette (HighBridge Company, 1996).