Frank Lloyd Wright: “The greatest American architect of all time.”
-American Institute of Architects, 1991
June 8, 1867 - April 9, 1958
"The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes." - Frank Lloyd Wright
Over the course of my life I'd heard mention and seen photographs of the wonderfully innovative buildings designed by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, but it wasn't until my initial visit to Madison that I had the honor of seeing one of his splendid creations in person. As a part of my husband's recruitment to the university, we were invited to attend a lovely dinner at the Monona Terrace convention center one March evening three years ago.
Monona Terrace, Madison, Wisconsin
After beginning my career in real estate I was thrilled to realize that Wright's influential architectural style could be seen in various neighborhoods throughout the Madison area. My initial amazement over this revelation translated into an 'A-ha' moment once I learned that Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, a mere 60 miles from my home here in Madison!
At the young age of fifteen, Frank Lloyd Wright was briefly enrolled as an engineering student (at the time, architecture classes weren't available) at the University of Wisconsin. He apprenticed with architects J.L. Silsbee and Louis Sullivan for several years before opening his own practice.
"An idea is salvation by imagination." -Frank Lloyd Wright
His Style Legacy
Prairie:
Features of the Prairie Style: Low-pitched roof, overhanging eaves, horizontal lines, and open interior spaces.
Finding the rooms of Victorian style homes to be too boxy and constrained, Wright sought to design homes with open interior spaces with long and low windows to create a connection between the interior of the home and nature.
Finding the rooms of Victorian style homes to be too boxy and constrained, Wright sought to design homes with open interior spaces with long and low windows to create a connection between the interior of the home and nature.
The Frederic C. Robie House in Chicago is widely considered Frank Lloyd Wright's finest example of the Prairie style. It was built in 1909.
Photo © Kenneth C. Zirkel / iStockphoto.com
For further details and photographs of Prairie style homes, visit this fantastically informative site:
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/architecture-and-design/prairie-style-house-1900-1920.shtml
Unisonian:
The Unisonian architectural style is a conventionalized version of the Prairie style developed by Wright during the Great Depression.
The Herbert Jacobs House in Madison, Wisconsin, designed 1936–37. This exterior view was part of a 2009 exhibition at the Guggenheim.
Photograph by David Heald © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York
Interior view of the Herbert Jacobs House.
Photo by Larry Cuneo © 2009 The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, AZ
To be continued...
