“Considered by some to be the greatest of all architects.”
I found this audio clip very inspiring. Frank Lloyd Wright
has always been one of my favourite architects of the 20th century.
Falling Water being one of my favourite pieces of architecture, I found I could
relate to this a lot more than previous readings.
Going back to his fundamental word – ‘organic’, I love that
he uses his surroundings to influence the style of architecture, making sure
whatever he was to build, fits in with nature and does not look out of place.
This approach has always been something I have tried to include within my work,
making the architecture itself looks natural in its place.
Frank Lloyd Wright created the more innovative architecture
of the 20th century, breaking away from the notion of holding onto
the past and creating something completely new and different from everything
that had been built before. Being described as a ‘swaggering 19th century
figure’ Frank Lloyd Wright had always stood out from the crowd, not only within
his works but also how he carried himself and his appearance. Studying in the
same place as Louis Sullivan in Chicago, USA, he was later to build houses
within the suburbs, particularly stressing the use of horizontal and vertical
lines and long and low flat buildings.
I was shocked to say the very least when hearing about his
private life and how he went from tragedy to tragedy. I was shocked by the
absolutely horrendous story of his wife being killed by the cook along with
several other members of the house hold. This just made it even more apparent
how much of a strong person Lloyd Wright was, still managing to live to 92 and
have none of these previous events effect the quality of his work.
“He would design every single aspect of the world if he
could...”
He took a deep philosophical approach within his work,
mostly looking into nature, going back to this organic idea. He was always
talking about his work within the abstract.
“Democracy and architecture if both are organic cannot be
two separate things...”
The most famous house of the 20th century
Falling water built in the mid 1930’s personally one of my
absolute favourite pieces of architecture. Not like any other, sitting on the
side of a hill, a water fall is sat underneath the building, making it fit
completely within the surroundings. The balconies look like they float over the
waterfall. The space inside is quite dark, but you’re moving from the inside of
the house out, linking the inside with the outside, when walking through an
inside room, it is connected to one of the balconies. I personally think the
house is one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture ever built. It looks
so perfectly placed in its location. Frank Lloyd Wright has used every aspect
of nature to make the building fit so well. The horizontal and vertical angles
within the building which contrast against the edges of rocks and hills
emphasise the beauty of the architecture.
There are no other architects that have produced
work like Lloyd Wrights’; there was so much personality that went into his
designs that it was almost impossible for anyone to recreate this. You could
say that his work was at a dead end. His unique vision meant only his own
philosophical values 
