Introduction
The significance of Frank Lloyd Wright’s contribution to modern architecture cannot be underestimated. Widely accepted in both America and Europe as the most innovative and original architects of the last century, his concepts and constructions have had a great effect on the design of homes and office buildings, an influence that continues to this day. His name is synonymous with the very highest in architectural achievement.
An examination of Wright’s life, inspirations, and works would be of interest even to a person of passive interest in art, architecture, or nature as he united all these elements within his visions of famous creations.
Main Body
To Wright, the important aspect of architecture was in providing a sense of shelter, which was a feeling as much as a form, leading to his development of the open-style prairie houses with the emphasis on the horizontal. These houses were built with low pitched roofs and deep overhangs along with other facets which further accentuated the horizontal principle that reflected the low prairie on which they were built. He never used painted wood, always stained and employed other native materials to bring out the natural beauty of the particular native environment (Cronon, 1994). Wright integrated a sense of design with innovations and emerging technologies along with a respect for nature as he endeavored to maximize expression and grammatical uniformity in his creative constructions.
Fallingwater is a house designed and constructed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) in 1935 and is considered perhaps the prime example of Wright’s architectural influence within America, as well as having paved the way for international modernism.
Rather than constructing the traditional four-square home that observes nature from without, Wright created a structure that would provide shelter and comfort to the family, but that interacted with nature on a fundamental level. The residence is not so much a house as it is a man-made outgrowth of nature, perfectly in tune with its surroundings, able to take part in the daily occurrences of the river and thoughtful of its natural neighbors and stepping away somewhat from the design of the prairie home. The house itself is built upon the extreme edge of the stream bank at Bear Run in Pennsylvania, with a good portion of the house cantilevered over the waterfall and river to seemingly float in space. Fallingwater’s “fame as a masterpiece of architectural design seems strangely at odds with the feature for which it is famous, namely its discretion … the fact that the house not only comes to rest in its environment but also embodies an extension of the foundation upon which it rests” (Harrison, 1992). This is a universally held view of the home that seems to blend in with and enhance its surroundings while given inhabitants a sense of involvement with and shelter from nature.
Wright also worked in the corporate realm, designing the headquarters for Johnson Wax in Racine, Wisconsin from 1936-1939. Wright’s unique style was inspired by his desire to encompass, develop and incorporate an assortment of cultures into his works, all of which display his opposition to unoriginal styles. His conception of architecture involved a totality viewpoint of the building process; its environmental surroundings and corresponding materials functioning together in harmony within the collective use of the structure. In creating the Johnson Wax building, he selected red bricks and cream accents to reinforce the concepts of the brand and product which was marketed as a cream-colored product protected by a red wax coating. In addition to his contributions in artistic conceptions, Wright utilized a wide range of innovative building materials chosen for their unique textures and natural colors as well as for their structural integrity. This can be seen in the dendriform columns that are used as roof supports and are reminiscent of giant mushrooms protecting the workers while glass tubes let in the light at the same time that they maintain the illusion of a more open setting. “There in the Johnson Building you catch no sense of enclosure whatever at any angle, top or sides … Interior space comes free, you are not aware of any boxing in at all. Restricted space simply is not there. Right there where you’ve always experienced this interior constriction you take a look at the sky!” (Pfeiffer & Nordland, 1988). His open floor-plans meant to emphasize the feeling of spaciousness and featured rooms that flowed from one to another, a design that is still popular.
An inventor as well as an engineer and designer, Wright developed many new methods of construction such as steel rod reinforced concrete. His many innovations include the use of indirect lighting, panel heating, double-glass windows, all-glass doors, and air conditioning in dwellings. He also engineered the design of a hotel constructed to endure earthquakes (Ament, 2005). The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan was designed with a wide base that sat shallowly on a plain of alluvial mud. The idea was for it to float on this mud during earthquakes preventing it from sustaining damage (Walker, 1982). Wright referred to his work as ‘organic architecture.’ He thought that architecture should follow the natural association between man and the environment and consider the nature surrounding the site including the use of native material.
Wright’s accomplishments are reason enough to warrant a closer inspection but there are also sub-plots involved in his fascinating career. For example, conventional architects of his time vocally opposed his revolutionary techniques. Beleaguered by professional animosities, he fled to Europe for a year of self-imposed exile from the U.S.
Conclusion
Wright’s eclectic style earned him the indignation of many of America’s leading architects, engineers, and scholars of his time but his work nevertheless has since been recognized as the most profound influence in the development of modern architecture as his ideas can be found in homes, corporate buildings and other structures throughout the world that has become increasingly ‘green’ in Wright style.
Works Cited
Ament, Phil. Frank Lloyd Wright. Troy, MI: The Great Idea Finder, (2005). Web.
Cronon, William. Inconstant Unity: The Passion of Frank Lloyd Wright. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994. Web.
Harrison, Robert P. “Fallingwater.” Forests: The Shadow of Civilization. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992.
Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks & Nordland, Gerald. Frank Lloyd Wright: In the Realm of Ideas. Southern Illinois University Press, 1988.
Walker, Bryce. Earthquake. Planet Earth. New York: Time Life Books, 1982.