Biography

The Life of Frank Lloyd Wright

Wright, born on June 8, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin embraced a lifelong work of architecture that spanned two different cultural periods of the early 20th and mid 20th century. However, his great influence and overall mentality seemed to embody many characteristics of the late 20th century. He eventually was recognized by many as the father of American architecture, as it was striving to break free of the conventional European style that dominated colonial times. Understanding architecture as a tool for reshaping and giving light to the ideas of freedom and abstract thought he wrote, “How soon will people be awake to the fact that philosophy and intrinsic buildings we are here calling ‘organic’ is at one with our freedom as declared in 1776”. Yet considering his universal impression on architecture, Wright cannot necessarily be confined to the title of American architect or classified as domestic. Throughout his lifetime he has over 270 house commissions and also designed a hotel, and administrative center, a tower, a civic center, places of worship, museums, and even a gas station. Wright’s approach was to fit within the landscape a naturalistic attempt to fuse man and nature. Wright’s buildings all shared an “organic” quality, as his style was eclectic, picturesque, individual, partial to rural America, abstract, idealist, and of course progressive for its time.
Frank Lloyd Wright grew up in the mid-west and was raised by his father William Carey, who was a musician and preacher, and mother Anna Lloyd-Jones, who was a teacher. He was of Welch ethnicity and brought up in the Unitarian faith. The Unitarian faith would remain a powerful force with it rational and honest values always being reflected in his work. He was encouraged early in life to become an architect by his mother, who gave him a gift of geometric blocks and according the Wright’s Autobiography, she would post pictures of monumental building in his childhood bedroom. His father, a clergyman, was also a great influence in his playing of Beethoven and Bach.

Accepted in the University of Wisconsin in Madison as a special student at age 15, briefly studying civil engineering. He then moved to Chicago in 1887 and became a draftsman for Joseph Lyman Silsbee, a famous Mid-West architect and then later for a firm called Adler and Sullivan. Louis Sullivan was one of the most cultured architects of the Mid-West and at the time Wright joined the firm he was designing Chicago’s Auditorium building. Eventually Sullivan signed Wright on as the chief draftsman and also made him responsible for the firm’s residential designs. Still in 1887, he had designed his first building, the Hillside Home School. He married Catherine Lee Tobin in 1889, who gave Wright many contacts and the cultural background he had lacked. They settled in the exclusive area of Oak Park, IL. He continued to build his own architectural ideas, with the Charnley House of 1891 being a perfect example of his soon to be Free Style Classicism. However, he was eventually let go from Sullivan’s firm when it was discovered that he had been designing “bootleg” houses, which were Wright’s illicit homes that he had been stealing from the office to sharpen his own design. These houses were the beginning of the low rooflines, the prominently centered fireplace, and open floor plans. Also Adler and Sullivan’s policies disapproved of moonlighting.

Wright started his own firm in 1893 and set up his own studio, which was an addition to his residence. It was called the Frank Lloyd Wright Residence, distinguished by its dominant gable and special qualities reminiscent of Japanese architecture. This studio became a working laboratory for him and his employees, who experimented with domestic design that soon caught the eye of locals. During this period, called “the Oak Park years” Wright designed over 60 homes by 1900, 49 of which were actually built. Wright's nonresidential designs of the early 1900's included the Larkin Soap Company administration building (1904-1906) in Buffalo, New York, and Unity Temple (1906-1908) in Oak Park, Illinois. Unity Temple was one of the first public buildings in the United States whose concrete construction formed part of its exterior. In earlier most concrete buildings, the concrete had been covered with some other materials. This time in Oak Park marked the initial creation of the “Prairie Style” and later the prairie school of architecture. He was also considered part of the “Arts and Crafts” movement. This style illustrates his “organic architecture” with its low-pitched roof and extended lines that fade into the landscape.

Ending this very productive stage of his life, he left Catherine and moved to Germany in 1909 with a woman named Mamah Borthwick Cheney. When they returned in 1911, they moved to Spring Green, Wisconsin where he constructed Taliesin. It was a family retreat house in the wilderness with the objective of avoiding big city mentality. They lived there until 1914, when an insane servant tragically murdered Cheney and six others and set fire to Taliesin. Wright was so overwhelmed by the tragedy that it took him ten years to recover and finally rebuild Taliesin. However, that too would eventually be destroyed in a fire.
He then remarried in 1922 to Mariam Noel, who was his second wife. Over the next 20 years Wright's influence continued to grow along with his popularity in the United States and Europe. Eventually his innovative building style spread overseas. In 1915, Wright left for Japan for a commission to design the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. It was during this time that Wright began to develop and refine his architectural and sociological philosophies. Because Wright disliked the urban environment, his buildings also developed a style quite different from other architects of the time. He utilized natural materials, skylights and walls of windows to embrace the natural environment.

After Miriam Noel walked out on Wright, he met a woman who would rescue him from further self-destruction. Olgivanna Milanoff was an Eastern European aristocrat and also quite a romantic herself. They, along with their child, lived in Taliesin for five years. During the Great Depression his commissions were dwindling and Wright began lecturing and writing. He authored several books and became a frequent contributor to architectural magazines. In 1932, Wright hosted the Taliesin Fellowship, where young students could pay to work with and learn from him. Thirty apprentices came to live with him at Taliesin. During this time Wright found a new style, mostly built in California and out west, that expressed romanticism and extravagance. He created masterpieces such as Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, and the SC Johnson and Son Wax Company Administration Center in Racine, Wisconsin. He also wrote “An Autobiography” which revealed his struggle as a persecuted architect and also his “honest arrogance”. He wrote:

" ...having a good start, not only do I fully intend to be the greatest architect who has yet lived, but fully intend to be the greatest architect who will ever live. Yes, I intend to be the greatest architect of all time."

In 1937 he and Olga moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he would spend the remainder of his life. The residence was named Taliesin West and was designed with a high sloping roof, translucent ceilings, and large, opened doors and windows. His integration of indoor and outdoor space was continuously undergoing expansion and construction.

From this point in his life until his death in 1959, he would be recognized as an “architectural hero” and celebrity, giving many interviews and appearances. On January 17th 1938 Wright appeared on the cover of Time magazine; later it would be a two-cent stamp. Few buildings were built during the war, but the post-war period was very successful, with over 270 commissions. He also designed and built the Price Tower skyscraper, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Marin County Civic Center.

The construction of the Guggenheim began in 1957, lasting almost two years, until the museum finally opened in October of 1959. Wright never got to see the completion of the Guggenheim Museum. On April 9, 1959 at age ninety-two, Wright died at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. By the time of his death, he had become internationally recognized for his innovative building style and contemporary designs. He had created 1,141 designs, of which 532 were completed.

Hillside Home School

Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio

Taliesin East I

Imperial Hotel - Tokyo

Falling Water

St. Mark's Tower - New York

Guggenheim Museum Solomon R