Frank Lloyd Wright :: essays research papers

Frank Lloyd Wright   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frank Lloyd Wright, in my mind, is the greatest architect I’ve ever seen. He had a big fetish with building his houses encompassed with nature and that really interested me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frank Lloyd Wright is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern Western architecture. His radically innovative designs, utilizing a building based on nature. Said by Wright as organic architecture. He was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, June 8, 1867 and died on April 9, 1959. It was a standard of his passion and commitment to his field of work that he continued working right up to the time of his death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After studying civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin, he moved to Chicago in 1887, where he went to work as an apprentice for Louis Sullivan. He began there to design and independently build private houses for some of Sullivan’s clients. This was known as “moonlighting';. These houses soon revealed an independent talent that was distinct from that of Sullivan. Wright’s houses had low, sweeping rooflines hanging over uninterrupted walls of windows. His plans were centered on massive brick or stone fireplaces at the heart of the house. His rooms became wide open to one another and the overall configuration of his plans became more and more alike, reaching out toward some real or imagined expansive horizon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In contrast to the openness of those houses and as if in conflict with their immediate city environment, Wright’s urban buildings tend to be walled in with light entering primarily from above, through skylights. These features contrasted with those of his mentor’s, Sullivan, work. Wright’s distaste for urban environments and his embrace of the natural environment are observed in the contrasting features of some of his finest buildings in the early 1900s: the Unity Church in Oak Park, Illinois; compared with Buffalo’s Martin House and Chicago’s Robie House. The houses are characterized by large, glazed walls, terraces, and low-slung roof overhangs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well, in 1893, the issue of Wright’s moonlighting escapades finally arose and Sullivan was forced to fire Wright. Sullivan felt very betrayed by this. Wright was forced to work on his own which pleased him either way. This gave him more freedom. During the next 20 years, he became one of the best known architects in the United States. Wright’s fame in Europe was promoted due to the publication in 1910 and 1911 by Berlin’s Wasmuth of two editions of Wright’s work as well as an exhibition that traveled throughout Europe.