Frank Lloyd Wright

Considered one of the true geniuses in the history of architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright was a flamboyant, difficult, and fascinating man. His first influence was his mother, who founded the "Kindergarten Gifts" educational system in Wisconsin. This system taught children to draw by using simple geometric forms as the basis of all expression. His father, a musician and preacher, taught him to listen to music as if it were a "structure made of sound". After a brief period early in life as an apprentice to a minor architect, Wright found himself employed by the Chicago practice of Louis Sullivan, perhaps the greatest American architect of that time. Wright was soon put in charge of the Domestic Division, working on residential commissions. He was summarily dismissed in 1893 for "bootlegging" commissions, and he immediately began a successful private practice. From this practice sprang the term "Prairie Style", after a magazine article reviewed his work in a column titled "A Home In A Prairie Town". At this point, Wright proudly pronounced that he had "broken the box". Incorporating split level, open plan, and double height designs, his early work formed the foundation for what would become pivotal elements of 20th century interior design.His aggressive departure from the norm was not well received, and by 1936 he had been all but written off by the architectural community. In that same year, however, he produced two of his most historic and monumental works. The Johnson Wax building, a structural revolution that defied the engineering principals of the time, and the monumental Falling Water, an incredible expression of his "organic" style. Later in his career, Wright returned to his roots, perhaps even to the influences of his childhood, as his exploration of geometry brought not only cubic forms, but also triangular, spherical, and spiral shapes to the fore in his work.

Frank Lloyd Wright Images:
Falling Water - Mill Run, PA
Imperial Hotel - Tokyo, Japan