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FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Content by Arnt Cobbers Frank Lloyd Wright

A F

OR

CE

OF

NA

TU

RE

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Fallingwater is considered one of the most

important residences of the 20th century. It was

erected between 1936 and 1937 as the weekend

retreat for the wealthy department store owner

Edgar Kaufmann from Pittsburgh. The story of

the design, which has been documented by

several Taliesin fellows, has become famous.

FALLING WATER HOUSE

SE

CO

ND

BLO

OM

193

5-19

43

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Kaufmann met Wright in 1934 in Taliesin when he was

visiting his son Edgar Junior, who was a Taliesin fellow. He

commissioned Wright soon after the visit. A few weeks later

he called Wright to inquire about the design. Wright replied

that the house was finished, even though not one drawing

had been completed. Kaufmann got into his car to drive

the 140 miles from Milwaukee to Taliesin. Wright hurried

to his studio, laid down three sheets of drawing paper and

started to draw the floor plans of three floors with quiet and

concentrated strokes explaining his concept to the group of

fellows who watched spellbound. After two house he was

done and told two apprentices to draw views from differ-

ent directions while he himself welcomed the builder-owner,

who had just arrived.

Fallingwater should originally have cost 20,000 to 30,000; in

the end, the total costs including the guest house built in

1938 amounted to 145,ooo dollars. Fallingwater is built in

a low mountain range in south Pennsylvania above a small

waterfall. Legend has it that Kaufmann originally wanted to

build his house further up but Wright asked him: “You love

this waterfall don’t you? Then why build your house miles

away, so you will have to walk to it?”

Fall

ingw

ater

pre

sen

ts a

myr

iad

of

moo

ds,

dep

end

ing

on v

anta

ge

poi

nt,

sea

son

, an

d t

ime

of d

ay.

Th

e h

ouse

is a

tri

um

ph

ant

un

ity

of o

pp

osit

es—

the

cool

, ab

stra

ct

pla

nes

of

con

cret

e co

ntr

aste

d

wit

h t

he

war

m in

teri

or li

ghts

.

“�Early� in� life� I�had� to�choose�between�honest�arrogance�and�hypocritical�humility.� I�chose�honest�arrogance.

A solid high rock-ledge rising beside a waterfall...The

natural thing seemed to be to cantilever the house from

that rock-bank over the falling water. The first house in my

experience built of reinforced concrete—the from took the

grammar of that construction.

5

6

The�op

en�living�room

,�which�m

ea-

sures�thirty-five�feet�with�views�on

�all�sides,�is�an

�elega

nt�synthesis�

of�the�dialectic�between�nature�

and�civilization.�

Architecture now becomes integral, the

expression of ever new-old reality: it

lies in the livable interior space of the

room itself. In integral architecture the

room-space itself must come through.

The room must be seen as architecture,

or we have no twentieth-century archi-

tecture. We have no longer an outside

merely as outside. No longer an outside

and an inside as two separate things.

Now the outside may come inside, and

the inside may, and does, go outside.

They are of each other. Form and func-

tion become one in design and execu-

tion if the nature of materials and meth-

od and purpose are all in unison.

7

The�hea

rth�was�built�directly�on

�living�rock

,�which�extrudes�in

to�

the�floo

r.�The�quarried

�stone�floo

r�lead

s�uninterruptedly�outside�

past�the�glass�doo

rs,�a

nd�the�low�

ceiling�provides�a�sen

se�of�shelter�

even

�thou

gh�the�glass�walls�are�

open

�to�ou

tside.��

Fallingwater, a word that happens to contain

Frank Lloyd Wright’s initials, is perhaps the

best-known private residence in the world. In

a sense, Wright was playing a game of one-up-

manship with his Internationalist rivals, by in-

corporating Meis’s floating abstract planes into

a building so site-specific that is could only be a

part of the American Transcendentalist vocab-

ulary. Fallingwater is a culmination of Wright’s

use of abstract, geometric forms and a mature

expression of his philosophy of man’s place in

nature. The house is a dialectic between natu-

ral and sculptural forms: between the anchored

and the free-floating; between variety of materials and repetition of forms; between stasis and

movement ; between shelter and precariousness; between unity and separateness. The great

themes can be seen in the smallest detail of the construction. For example, the dialextic nature

of the man-made and the natural is visible in the way that glass and steel directly abut the field-

stone walls. The duality of interior and exterior from the rooms to the terraces is resolved with

continuous planes of concrete walls and flagstone floors without thresholds. The hearth is situ-

ated on living rock that extrudes more than a foot though the floor. The effect is primitive —a

romantic refuge in the heart of a truly modern exterior. The house seems ready to fly in different

directions yet rests in a dynamic repose. The genius of the house is that space becomes plastic,

continuous, and visible, almost like the stream of water itself.

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9

UN

ITY

TE

MP

LE—

SK

YLI

GH

TS

Wright used lighting of all kinds —built-in fix-

tures, lamps, stained glass windows and ceiling

panels—to guide and define the viewer’s experi-

ence of space. Warmly tinted skylights add to

the sense of a serene and sheltered space. Set

within deep coffers, the skylights are a marvel-

ous interweaving of space and solids.

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11

Strangely enough, Wright’s most famous build-

ing is a museum for modern art of all things. For

he did not tolerate any pictures in his buildings

except Japanese prints. He did not like modern

paintings, and the effect of his architecture was

more important to him than any art collection. In

fact, the architecture does dominate the exhibits

in the Guggenheim Museum.

GUGGENHEIMMUSEUM

MA

JOR

BU

ILD

ING

S 1

956-

1959

12

Solomon R. Guggenheim, then one of the richest men in

America, wanted to exhibit his significant collection of non-

objective modern art permanently. The contact between him

and Wright was established in 1943. Wright presented the

first designs in 1944 and in 1945, the model was presented

to the public. But eleven years should pass before the start

of the construction. In-between, there were changes of loca-

tion, trouble with the construction supervision, and several

changes in the management of the museum - Guggenheim

himself dies in 1949. When Wright died in 1959, the muse-

um was essentially finished. It was opened in October 1959.

Matching the “revolutionary” art of his collection, his mu-

seum was to be a new type of building, which would invite

the visitors to experience the pictures in a new way. “I’m try-

ing to make a building where seeing works of art would be

so natural,” Wright explained.

�“�Character� is� criterion� in� the� form� of � any� and�every�building�or�industrial�product�we�can�call�Architecture�in�the�light�of �this�new�ideal�of �the�new�ideal�of �the�new�order�we�call�Organic”�

In order to get Organic Architecture born, intelligent

architects will be forced to turn their backs on the antique

rubbish heaps with which Classic eclecticism has encum-

bered our practice of Architecture. So far as architecture

has gone in my own thought it is first of all a character

and quality of mind that may enter also into human con-

duct with social implications that might, at first, confound

or astound you. But the basis for any fear of them lies in

the fact that they are all sanely and thoroughly construc-

tive. Truth is a double-edged sword and can cut both

ways, but why cowardice? Th

e G

ugg

enh

eim

vio

late

s m

any

of W

righ

t’s

pre

cep

ts—

it h

as

not

hin

g to

do

wit

h it

s si

te a

mon

g th

e gr

anit

e m

atro

ns

of F

ifth

A

venu

e, a

nd

is in

man

y re

spec

ts

woe

full

y in

adeq

uat

e as

a m

use

-u

m s

pac

e fo

r d

isp

layi

ng

art,

yet

it

end

ure

s as

an

icon

of

the

crea

tive

p

ower

of

mod

ern

art

.

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14

The�inverted

�ziggu

rat�of�the�Gug-

genheim�M

useum,�w

hich�lo

oks�

as�if�it�had

�been�cast�on

�som

e�ce-

lestial�p

otter’s�wheel,�is�W

righ

t’s�

boldest�statem

ent�of�the�form

�of�

a�building�as�a�con

tainer�of�sp

ace.

The�vortex�quality�of�space�is�

amplified

�in�such

�details�as�the�

whip-like�exterior�service�ram

p�

that�seems�to�throw�off�lines�of�

force.�Porthole-like

�window

s�at�

street�level�p

ick�up�the�circular�

plan�of�the�building’s�footprint.

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“�Space.�The�continual�becoming:�invisible�foun-tain�from�which�all�rhythms�flow�and�to�which�they�must�pass.�Beyond�time�or�infinity.”

The Guggenheim Museum consists of two spirals cast in concrete, a

large one for the exhibition and a smaller one in front for the offices of

the museum management. The entrance is situated between them. In-

side the museum, the visitor takes an elevator upstairs and then walks

down a narrowing spiral ramp of five full revolutions. The ramp opens

to an atrium. It is not a substitute for a staircase bit it is the exhibition

space itself. This makes it possible to display the collection of the muse-

um or the artistic development of the work of an artist without having

to divide the works thematically or chronologically into separate rooms.

The room is lit by a large skylight dome in the atrium and by glass slits

between the spiral walls. The walls are slightly inclined to the outside

to make possible a more “natural” placement of the pictures, like on

an easel. Wright’s goal was to “make the building and the painting an

uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World

of Art before.” But the museum management and some prominent art-

ists protested vehemently, and just after Wright’s death, changes were

made in the concept of hanging the pictures. There was also a heavy

dispute about the color of the walls, because Wright rejected white as

the “loudest” color. However, Wright died before the issue could be re-

solved unanimously, and the walls were painted white.

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FRA

NK

LLO

YD

WR

IGH

T F

UR

NIT

UR

E

Wright claimed to build “organic” architecture

that seemed to grow naturally out of the sur-

roundings landscape. He believed the internal

space, furnishings and decorative details of a

house to be intrinsic to its architecture. Many

of his projects incorporated site specific furni-

ture and fittings. These unified projects were

intended to possess a natural “organic” beauty

that would promote the life of the human spirit.

Instead of walls, furnishings were often used

as spacial dividers, thereby creating more open

interior and a sense of flowing space.

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Frank Lloyd Wright’s work cannot be subsumed

under one heading. At most, there are certain

characteristics, which are valid for individual peri-

ods of his work. His overall work, which spreads

out over 70 years and which comprises more than

450 executed buildings and uncountable projects,

designs, and theoretical writings, is more verse

and ambiguous than the works of any architect of

the 20th century.

FOUNDATIONOF DESIGN

MA

JOR

BU

ILD

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956-

1959

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This new architectural Ideal is, as well, an adequate ideal

for general culture. There can be no separation between our

architecture and our culture. Architecture is still as always

basic to Culture we lack. Nor any separation of either from

our happiness. Nor any separation from our work. Thus in this

rise or organic-integration you see the means to end the petty

agglomerations miscalled civilization. By way of this old yet

new and deeper sense of reality we may really have organic

civilization. In this sense we now recognize and may declare

by way of plan and building—the natural. But instead of “or-

ganic” we might well say “natural” building. Or we might say

integral building: intrinsic building.

Froebel’s wooden toy kits

were designed to guide the

creative play of children

and further their abilities

for geometric abstraction.

Frank’s mother wanted him

to be an architect: She put

up architectural engravings

in the whole apartment and

gave him Froebel blocks to

play with. They were forma-

tive for Wright’s concept of

architecture.

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DESIGNPHILOSOPHY

In his essays and speeches, Wright did not cease to emphasize the

fundamental principles of “organic architecture:” moral truth

and inspiration won by nature. Consequently, it could not have

been Wright’s intention to portray visible nature. He wanted to

capture its essence, its divine beauty in his buildings. In his artis-

tic work, Wright sought the unity of truth and beauty,

of moral and aesthetic. All of his buildings, as varied

as they may be, are an expression of this search. And

this is why Wright used moral concepts so often when

speaking about architecture: “because beauty is in itself

the highest and finest kind of morality so in its essence

it must be true.” Wright used geometry as the key to

beauty and truth. The fact that geometry is underlying

the divine principle of nature is something that Wright

had learned as a child from the educational blocks of

the pedagogue Froebel. Wright associated the various

geometrical shapes with definite ideas in his essay The

Japanese Print: The circle stands for infinity, the triangle

for structural unity, the spire for aspiration, the square

for integrity and the spiral for organic process. In his

attempts to express the divine, geometry was Wright’s

grammar, an organic integrity that was “the elemen-

tal law and order inherent in great architecture,” as he

defined it. This clarifies why Wright, who often described

his art as organic, strongly abstracted natural form and

why he explicitly rejected the depiction as a faithful copy.

“�Faith�in�the�natural�is�the�faith�we�now�need�to�grow�up�on� in� this� coming�age�of �our��confused,�backward�twentieth�century.”

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In order to understand Wright’s work, it is necessary to understand the

foundations of his art philosophy. It is rooted in the ideas of the American

philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson’s works were read frequently

by Wright’s family in his childhood. Their influence can be seen down to

the missionary language of Wright’s own writings. Emerson praises indi-

viduality and democracy, and the integrity of the creative persons. Wright

realized this romantic ideal of a genius, transcending the mediocre masses

to the point at which it al-

most became a caricature.

Visible nature is for Emerson

only the manifestation of an

inner and eternal beauty —

and this of the divine spirit.

Winters know

Easily to shed the snow,

And the untaught Spring is wise

In cowslips and anemones.

Nature, hating art and pains,

Baulks and baffles plotting brains;

Casualty and Surprise

Are the apples of her eyes;

But she dearly loves the poor,

And, by marvel of her own,

Strikes the loud pretender down.

For Nature listens in the rose,

And hearkens in the berry’s bell,

To help her friends, to plague her foes,

And like wise God she judges well.

Yet doth much her love excel

To the souls that never fell,

To swains that live in happiness,

And do well because they please,

Who walk in ways that are unfamed,

And feats achieve before they’re named.

NA

TU

RE

, BY

RA

LPH

W. E

ME

RS

ON

TWO WISE MEN

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Wright quit his job at Silsbee in the end of 1887 and started working for

Adler & Sullivan, one of the most progressive architectural practices of the

city. Sullivan, whom Wright affectionately gave the German title, “Leiber

Meister,” beloved Master, was the rising star in Chicago’s architecture.

Soon, Wright was chief designing assistant, responsible for 30 other drafts-

men. When the practice moved to new rooms two years later, the 21 year-

old was placed in an office next to his “Leiber Meister.” In his autobiogra-

phy, however, Wright does not mention that he had to share the room with

a colleague. Adler & Sullivan hardly ever built residential houses because

large projects were more profitable. Such projects that Sullivan could not

reject without loosing a client were given to his young employee. Wright

started to work on his own account under the name of his friend Cecil Cor-

win. This so-called moonlighting was widely spread in Chicago at the time.

However, when he built three houses in the vicinity on Sullivan’s home, the

“Leiber Meister” recognized the handwriting of his employee: There was

a big quarrel and Wright was dismissed. Wright and Sullivan did not have

contact in a long time. Only ten years later did they resume their friendship

and stayed close friends until Sullivan’s death in 1924.

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“�I� knew� I�was� the� beginning� of � something�great,� a� great� truth� of � architecture.� Now��architecture�could�be�free”

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is the avatar of Amer-

ican architecture. His highly original aesthetic and

singular philosophy placed him, during his lifetime, in

the forefront of modern architecture and resulted in a

doctrine for American building design that continues

to this day. Despite personal tragedies and chang-

ing tastes in the world of architecture, Wright con-

tinued to produce major works even as he entered

the waning years of a long and distinguished career.

Today, over thirty years after his death, not only is

Wright’s international reputation intact and growing,

but buildings are yet being constructed based on his

original designs. As has been said again and again,

Frank Lloyd Wright continues to be, both in the leg-

acy of his philosophy and the spirit of his buildings,

and extraordinary force of nature.

A WRIGHTTIMELINE

FRO

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867

TO

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1885

1887

ADLER�&�SULLIVAN

Wright now works for Adler

& Sullivan, one of the most

important Chicago architec-

tural practices. One year later,

Wright builds his own house

in Oak Park, Illinois and mar-

ries Catherine Lee Tobin.

1900

PRAIRIE�HOUSE�PROTOTYPES

Wright build Bradley House and

Hickox House in Kankakee, Illi-

nois, creating the two prototypes

for his later Prairie houses.

1867

WRIGHT�IS�BORN

Frank Lloyd Wright is born

June 8 in Richland Center,

Wisconsin. Wright learned to

play the viola and the piano

as a child, and liked doing art

and crafts. The young Wright

was a loner. His only close

friend was a boy in Madison,

who had lost both legs to

Polio. He even shared his

book prizes — his sole prizes

— with him.

INAUGURATION OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

ALFRED NOBEL DONATES THE NOBEL PRIZE

1893DISMISSAL�&�REBIRTH

After his dismissal from Adler

& Sullivan, Wright started

to work free-lance, first in

partnership with his friend

Cecil Corwin and other young

architects, then from his own

office. Two years later Wright

adds a studio complex to his

Oak Park house.

EXPERIMENTAL FLIGHT FOR ORVILLE W

RIGHT

BROOKLYN BRIDGE IS OPENED TO THE PUBLICUNIVERSITY

Wright enrolls at the Univer-

sity of Wisconsin, Madison.

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1903

COMMISSIONS�OF�THE�DECADE

The two large commissions

of the 1900s were important:

The administration building for

the Larkin Company is a brick

building hermetically sealed

from the outside world with

numerous technical innovation.

For the first time Wright moves

the roof supports from the

corners of the building to the

center, thus freeing the walls

from their support function. He

perfects this system with the

Unity Temple in Oak Park.

1910

BREAKTHROUGH

Wright lives in Florence and

Fiesole, Italy. The mono-

graph Studies and Executive

Buildings is published in

Berlin. It initiates Wright’s

international breakthrough.

1920

TOKYO�&�LOS�ANGELES

He spent 1917-1922 predomi-

nantly in Tokyo building the

large Imperial Hotel. At the

same time he designed the

spacious Hollyhock House in

Los Angeles.

1905 1914

LINDBERGH IS FIRST TO FLY OVER THE ATLANTIC NON-STOP

1909ROBIE�HOUSE

Robie House in Chicago, unde-

niably the masterpiece of the

Prairie house era. Wright goes

to Europe with his new partner

Mamah Borthwick Cheneh.

VOYAGE�TO�JAPAN

FIRST CINEMA OF THE USA OPENS IN PITTS-

CATASTROPHE

In 1914, an employee ran amok

killing Mamah Cheney and set-

ting fire to the house. Never-

theless, Wright rebuilt Taliesin.

USA DECLARES WAR ON GERM

ANY

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1924

Wright’s mentor Louis Sul-

livan dies One year later

Taliesin burns down again,

Wright is forced to sell his

Oak Park home.

JAPANESE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR

1936SECOND�BLOOM

Wright had returned to public

attention with publication,

lectures, and participation in

exhibitions. Finally, he was

again commissioned to build

houses and some of his most

important buildings were

erected within a few years. He

designed Fallingwater, which

appeared on the front page

of important magazines and

later advanced to be the most

famous residence of the 20th

century.

1932

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Wright’s An Autobiography

and his utopia The Disappear-

ing City are published. Wright

is also represented at the New

York exhibition “International

Style” opens in the Museum

of Modern Art in New York

THE STOCK MARKET CRASHES/THE FIRST OSCARS

FROZEN FOOD IS OFFERED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE USA

1932THE�FELLOWSHIP

Also in 1932, he founded

the Taliesin Fellowship as a

school for architects. The ap-

prentices were to be educated

by an active life in nature. The

central idea was: “Learning by

doing.” With the fellowship,

Wright had created a reliable

group of diligent and in some

cases very talented collabora-

tors. Without them, he would

never have been able to deal

with his enormous work load.

1939

WRIGHT�FOUNDATION

Establishment of the Frank

Lloyd Wright Foundation, to

which Wright transfers all of

his personal assets.

A�MENTORS�DEATH

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1949

UNITARIAN�CHURCH

The construction of the

Unitarian Church in Madi-

son us the first of a series of

churches that Wright builds

for different denominations.

1959

THE�END

The year Wright dies, he

designs the Marin County

Civic Center. He dies April 6,

in Scottsdale, Arizona. Half a

year later, the Guggenheim

Museum opens

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. W

INS THE NOBEL

1948GIFT�SHOP�SPIRAL�RAMP

Wright build the first large

spiral ramp for V.C. Morris

Gift Shop in San Fransisco.

MARTIN LUTHER KING HOLDS HIS “I HAVE A DREAM

” SPEECH

1943

GUGGENHEIM

Wright is commissioned to

build the Guggenheim Mu-

seum in New York.

ELVIS PRESLEY STARTS HIS FIRST US-TOUR

THE USA EXPLODE FIRST HYDROGEN BOMB IN THE PACIFIC

1956PRICE�TOWER

The only one of Wright’s high-

rise buildings that was realized

— the Price Tower — is built in

Bartlesville, Oklahoma.