Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture

My husband,who once lived above an architect’s office, became enamored with the work of the legendary architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Subsequently so did I, which led us on many trips to view Wright’s buildings throughout the U.S. I like to refer to Wright as the “father of modern architecture”.  Born in 1867 in Wisconsin, he spent much of his life in the U.S. southwest. Before Wright came along, architecture was based on; ornate, traditional, old world styles. Wright came of age when the Victorian style was all the rage. However, his designs consisted of; straight lines, flat cantilevered roofs, corner windows, and unorthodox building materials pulled directly from nature.

Wright designed; synagogues, churches, museums and many homes. The most famous of these homes is arguably Falling Water, which we visited in the rolling hills of Bear Run Pennsylvania during one of our trips in the nineties. Some have argued if Wright revered nature so much he should not have built a house over a waterfall. Many others consider it a masterpiece. 

Other trips to view Wright’s architecture took us to Phoenix Arizona, Spring Green Wisconsin, the Chicago suburb of Oak Park Illinois and Buffalo New York.

He built many homes for the elite, but Wright’s so called usonian home for the average person, reminds me of the one story ranch style that began to spring up in the late fifties and continues to be popular today.

Wright was also known for being a forward thinker. I was struck by an interview he did with Mike Wallace back in 1957.

 One of the greatest architects of the 20th century, talks to Wallace about religion, war, mercy killing, art, critics, his mile-high skyscraper, America's youth, sex, morality, politics, nature, and death. Thanks to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation for their cooperation in presenting this interview here.   Watch Video

While watching the Hitchock thriller “North by Northwest” on Turner Classic Movies one day, I couldn’t help but think the house perched on a hill near Mount Rushmore looked to be a Wright creation. It turns out it was in fact inspired by Wright.

One of the best known houses in the history of Modernism is not a house at all, but an elaborate movie set. Created entirely at MGM studios in Culver City, California for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film, North by Northwest. In 1958, when the movie was in production,Frank Lloyd Wright was the most famous Modernist architect in the world. His magnum opus, Fallingwater, was conceivably the most famous house anywhere. His renown in the Fifties was such that mass-market magazines like House Beautiful and House & Gardendevoted entire issues to his work. Hitchcock instructed the set designers at MGM to design a house in the Wright style, by its creation, the image of the Vandamm House became an icon of Modernism in architecture. Jet Set Modern  Monday, August 4th, 2008.

Although Wright is respected for his work, his son recounted in a television interview how his father left his first wife and ten children with no means of support, leaving them to turn to a local church for food.  His second common law wife died in a fire, when a disgruntled servant set the home ablaze after being dismissed.  Many of his homes leaked due to his use of experimental materials and designs. He also designed furniture for many of his clients and was known to drop by unannounced and rearrange it as he had intended.

Regardless of his faults, Wright's work left an enduring impression on the world of architecture. It also gave us an excuse to travel to many interesting spots, including Oak Park Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, as seen in the photos below.