Frank Lloyd Wright

Thomas Beckman

12/14/15

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Throughout the years, architecture has seen many changes in the people design it. First we started building dirt huts to building complex houses and skyscrapers. One of the most influential and famous architects that helped change his was Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright influenced many of the modern design techniques and styles. Wright created the prairie style of house known as the “Prairie school” and also had a lot of influence in the Arts and Crafts movement during the later part of the 19th century.

Hill Side Home School

Frank Lloyd Wright was born June 8, 1867 in Richland Center Wisconsin. He later moved Chicago, Illinois in 1887 and became the apprentice of of J. Lyman Silsbee who was the designer of the All Souls Unitarian Church. One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s first works was the Hillside Home school in 1888, which was near Springside, Illinois. Wright designed and built the school for his aunts. Some of Wright’s first Commissions were for primarily for design of private housing in the Chicago suburbs. The houses he designed were primarily designed for wealthy and middle-class families. One of his early designs was the W.H.Winslow house of 1893-1894. This house is located in Forest Hill, Illinois. Wright was the designer of over 200 homes and buildings, but only around 50 were ever built. Unfortunately many of Wright's house’s from his time were lost during the turn of the 19th to 20th century.

Frank Lloyd Wright, like many architects, came up with his own design. His design was highly influenced by nature and its beauty. His design was known as prairie style, but some called it "Prairie School". During the late 19th and 20th century the Prairie School became popular mainly in the midwestern United States. However, its roots are primarily in Chicago where Wright is from. The design usually incorporated horizontal line, flat or hipped roofs with overhang, windows that were grouped in horizontal bands , and was highly integrated with the landscape. Wright's initial idea of having his own design was to create his own indigenous North American style of Architecture, which American did not have. His designs were usually single-story, no garage, limited storage, and was usually L-shaped to fit a garden in on the odd lots within Chicago.

Robie House

W.H. Winslow House

The first prairie house he designed was the W.W. Willits house, which was built in the suburbs of Chicago, Highland Park, Illinois. It was the first house to incorporate all of the elements of a prairie house. It was designed with 4 wings surrounding the fireplace. However, one of the most famous houses to use this design was the Robie house (pictured above), which was considered one of Wright’s masterpiece, which was built in Chicago in 1909. It is one of the view Wright houses still standing today. Wright's Prairie style was also part of a 1901 publication of “A Home in a Prairie” which he designed for the Ladies Home Journal.

Frank Lloyd Wright began creating his own design around the same time as the Arts and Crafts movement. The Arts and Crafts movement was one thing that influenced Wright's personal design heavily. The movement Initially began in England in the later half of the 19th century. It was meant to challenge the taste of the victorian era. The movement was also heavily influenced the social concerns of thinkers like Walter Crane and John Ruskin. Ruskin believed that the decorative arts affected the men who produced them, which means what the man makes is what the man is. A lot of the aesthetic designs of the art were borrowed from the Medieval European and Islamic sources. However, there was some japanese influence early on. The whole purpose of the movement was to stress the importance of the craftsmanship at the expense of mass marketing, which caused the the items to be more expensive and only afforded by wealthy people.

Frank Lloyd Wright was, without question, one of the greatest architects ever. He created new designs that changed the way we view the world of architecture. He helped the world change from building simple dule homes to creating elegant and affordable homes available to all. He did this by creating the Prairie style homes and using the Arts and Crafts movement to aid his designs.

I got the basic history of the Prairie School from here

The Arts And Crafts Movement

Root of The Arts and Crafts Movement Info

Demise and Rebirth of Arts and Crafts Movement Info

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Got Detailed info about the Prairie School

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Used this to get base info on the W.W Willits house