Frank Lloyd Wright Essay, Research Paper
These ideas proposed by Wright represent a half century of ingenuity
and unrivaled creativity. Wright was unquestionably a architectural
genius and was years ahead of his time. The biggest obstacle which held
Wright back throughout his career was the lack of technogaly that was
present during his time. As a architect, Wright accomplished more that
any other in history, with the possible exception of DaVincci or
Michangelo. His philosophy of Organic Architecture showed the world
that form and function could both by achieved to create a house that was
both true to nature and affordable. Wrights homes, have today become
monuments of greatness and distictionn. Most of them serve as museums,
displaying the his ideas and the achievements of a lifetime of
innovation. It wasn’t until Wright published "The Natural House"
however, that he fully was able to illustrate all of his ideas relating
toward housing. In the "Natural House" wright defines the meaning of
Organic Architecture and how it can be applied to creating housing which
provides a closeness to nature for the occupents. Wright was undoubtly
a romantic and individualist. His feeling toward nature and self
integrity can best be shown by comparing them to those shared by Emerson
and Thoreau. Wrights deep love of nature and his individualism were
formed from the events which influenced him as a child and up until his
days working for Louis Sullivan. In order to fully understand the ideas
which Wright proposed through his philosophy of Organic Architecture,
one must first understand the events and influences which led to their
creation.
As a child, Wrights parents always encouraged him to be a free thinker
and individualist. Both of his parents were intelligent and creative
people by nature. They, of all people had the greatest influence on
Wright. Throughout his life they were extreamly supportive of Wrights
dream of becoming an architect, and always made sure that he had books
and pictures of buildings that he could study and learn from. Wrights
parents had little money, but they always found the extra money needed
to support their childrens intrusts.
When Wright became old enough to begin learning about working, his
parents felt that sending him to his uncles dairy farm during his summer
break from school would provide him with the proper work ethics and
morals needed to become a responsible adult. The work on the farm was
rigorous and seemingly endless to Wright. He despised the chores which
he was required to do. Wright attempted to run away almost each summer
that he was sent there. However, his kind but stern uncle promised him
that all of his hard work would make him a better person and would teach
him responsibility. As the years passed, Frank began to dread working
on the farm less and less. He became fascinated with nature and
developed a deep respect for it. It was there, on a small Wisconsin
dairy farm where Wright began to ponder the theory of integrating
architecture with nature. Wright attributed his love toward nature and
his respect toward it, to the many summers which he spent on his uncles
farm.
The other major influence in Wrights life, was the collapsing of the
State of Wisconsin Capitol Building. At the time, Wright was only 13
when he witnessed the building collapse upon itself, killing all 40
workers who were inside it. Severely traumatized and unable to sleep
for w
Weeks later, it was revealed that the cause of the buildings collapse
was a lack of support from the pilars which held up the above 3
stories. The architect and the builder both reglected to test the
pilars before they were introduced into the buildings structural design.
After Wright learned this, he vowed that if he became a architect, he
would thourghly test all of the support membranes used in the
construction
of all the building projects which he oversaw. The greatest factor
which Wright put forth in his philosophy of Organic Architecture was
that of safety. Wright felt that all buildings, whether they were
commercial or residential should be built and designed so that they were
structuraly sound as well as true to nature. Wright illustrates his
feeling toward the importenance of safety by saying "There is no excuse
which I have heard, that can compensate for a poorly designed building.
The only thing that I can say about a individual who takes no
responsibility for his ideas is either lazy or a truely uncareing
person"(Wright, The The Natural House,74). Wright seldom talked about
the tragic callamiaty which he witnessed as youth, but it was clear that
the memory left a deep impression upon him.
At only 16 years of age, Wright began studing Civil Engineering at the
University of Wisconsin. Growing board with his clases, Wright left his
studies and went to Chicago hoping that he could obtain a job as a
architects apprentice. Fortunatly Wright sucessfully managed to secure
a apprenticespib job with Louis Sullivan, renowned modern architect.
Wright worked with Louis Sullivan and his partner Dankmar Adler, for 6
years. During this time, Wright learned form Sullivan what his studies
at the University of Wisconsin lacked: a design concept which was new,
and was logical to Wright. Sullivan shared the same feeling toward
about Wrights philosophy of Organic Architecture. Sullivan showed
Wright how his philosophy could be applied to the housin needs of the
late 1800’s. Without Sullivans direction and guidence, Wright may have
never been able to accomplish what he did. Wright referred to Sullivan
as "Lieber Miester" because Wright felt that he was truely a master at
his work and should be addressed with the utmost of respect.
Unfortunatly, when Sullivan found out that Wright was moonlighting, he
was forced to fire him. Sullivan felt betrayed and was left sadned by
the incident. Wright was so involved with his ideas that he neglected
to respect the trust and teachings put forth by his teachings.
After Wright first began to recieve praise for his early design work, he
felt it necessary to fully communicate and define his philosophy of
Organic Architecture, so that everyone could get a clear picture of it’s
ideas. He to accomplished this by expressing his ideas in a book called
"The Natural House". Of all books which Wright published, "The Natural
House" had the greatest impact. As Emerson and Threau proposed divine
models for behavior and self integrety, In "The Natural House" Wright
proposed a divine model for what he considered to be the perfect house.
Wright stated that a house should be as close to nature as possible.
He illustrates this by stating "A house which is constructed in a manner
which is complementive to nature, rather than insulting, is one that
will last the longest and be the most attractive."