Interior design advice,
online art gallery
and a shop
for all your interior and
gift needs
Important Figures in the Word of Architecture, Art, and Design
- Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959)
|
Design Resource |
| RESOURCES |
| Allied Services |
| Associations & Professional Bodies |
| Conversion Calculators |
| Design Magazines |
|
Products |
| EDUCATION |
| Art & Design Movements |
| Architects, Artists & Designers |
| Glossary |
| Interior Design and Art Courses |
| Styles & Movements |
| Techniques |
|
Museums and Art Galleries |
| Archive of Newsletters & Other Publications |
| ABOUT STYLE BY DESIGN LTD |
| Contact Us |
| Samples of Work |
| CORPORATE |
| About us |
| Link to Us |
| Advertise with Us |
| Charities |
| Disclaimer |
| General Links |
| Current Newsletter |
| Text Too Small? |
After leaving University of Winconsin, Madison College of Engineering in 1887 he married the wealthy Catherine Tobin and joined the architectural practice, Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Wright, however, left within the year and went to work for Adler & Sullivan. In 1890 he was given all the residential work on their books but after it was discovered he was moonlighting he was asked to leave.
Immediately, he started his own design practice in Chicago.
Between 1900 and 1917 he developed the 'prairie house' style - characterised by low, long buildings with sloping roofs, overhangs, terraces constructed in 'rough' materials where interiors were open plan and flexible.
He travelled extensively through Europe where he inspired the founders of the Bauhaus movement.
In 1914 he was hit by scandal when an employee (Julian Carlton) ran amok - fired the living quarters of Wright's house/study (Tallesin) and murdered seven people with an axe including Wright's lover the married Mamah Cheney.
His first wife gave him a divorce but the woman he then married was a drug addict and the marriage only lasted a year.
Famous Projects:
Greycliff, overlooking Lake Erie - constructed 1926 - 1929
Characterised by cantilevered balconies, terraces, ribbon windows overlooking the lake, limestone, ochre coloured stucco and red roofs. It was organic in design
It was a complete design and included fish ponds, fountains and sunken gardens
Fallingwater, near Pittsburgh
Built to suit the environment
Very similar to Greycliff
The contractor was unsure if the building would stand up and, therefore, incorporated steel elements without telling Wright.
Guggenheim Museum constructed between 1943 and 1959
Was a warm beige spiral shape on Fifth Avenue, New York
Designed to compliment the art to be displayed. Unfortunately, the contractors did not completely follow Wright's design - eg ignored colour choices