Frank Lloyd Wright as Famous American Architect - Research Paper Example

Frank Lloyd Wright An architect of international stature was what Frank Lloyd Wright’s name stood for. He was born on the 8th of June, 1867 in Wisconsin, USA. Frank Lloyd Wright was hailed as one of the very best within the field of architecture. He was a very significant cog in the wheel as far as the earlier part of the mid-20th century milieu is concerned. Even in the present times, his characteristic styles are being represented within the field of architecture which is a glaring example of his extraordinary work. Frank Lloyd Wright did immense work in the field of humanities and it is for this reason that he is regarded as one of the finest within his respective work domains. His contribution in the field of architecture is indeed something to cherish about by the people who aspire to become architects in the modern age. It is because of these factors that Frank Lloyd Wright is now being seen as the father of American architecture as his works have represented just about the very best suggestive headlines within the related field. In time, American architecture and building works have paid a good amount of tribute to the works of this architect since the face of modern America has been shaped up with respect to the man who changed beliefs in entirety. As far as his personality domains are related, he was seen as a very colorful and exciting person and for this reason; he usually was a part of the news stories every now and then. He married thrice – with Catherine Lee Tobin in 1889, with Miriam Noel in 1922 and finally in 1928 with Olga Milanov Hinzenberg. He was born a couple of years after the American Civil War had ended. There is a great amount of evidence in the fact that his upbringing has been owed in essence to the Unitarian and transcendental ideologies of the time. Therefore it would be adequately sound to state here that Wright’s work represented humanities as it studied the living conditions of the people and the different methods through which natural and social sciences of architecture were shaped up in essence (Sands 1998). Wright died on 9th April 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona. Ever since he was a child, he showed immense passion for the building blocks which was suggestive of the fact that Wright had it in him to build things. The educational blocks were gifted to him by his mother. He showed interest within these blocks which usually consisted of different geometrical shapes and sizes, thereby his base for geometry was established right from the very beginning. This is visible in his works and easily pictures the same within his masterpieces as well. Moving on, when one discusses the geometrical clarity, one finds out that his architectural works have more or less represented the same that has been a source of understanding and conciseness for a number of different engineers and architects of the time as well as in the past. It was in the year 1885 that his formal education basically started. He took admission at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Engineering. After this, he became an apprentice for Allan Darst Conover, who was a local builder of the time. This aided him at making him comprehend the engineering side of architecture. He acquired the engineering skills which embodied his desire to work further within this field. Wright left the university soon after without completing his degree and thus went to Chicago where he joined an architectural firm by the name of Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Later on, he began his work for Adler & Sullivan. During his work capacity, he did residential design work for the company but since the firm found out that Wright was working freelance for individual clients as well, this posed as a major problem. Hence Wright decided to set up his own practice and thus worked from his home in Chicago. He completed more than fifty projects during his life time that included a number of different houses in his home country. Later on, he got married with one of the well known businessmen so that he could be financially sound and be a name to reckon with, in the society (Smith 2002). The businessman was known for his lavish spending ways and hence Wright knew that he was the man to target for his economic prosperity in the long run. With the passage of time, his level within the society’s domains rose to quite a good position. His work started to come out in a very apparent way which was a good sign for him nonetheless. There were a number of different important architectural works that went with his name, which included the Robie House, Fallingwater, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Johnson Wax Building and the Florida Southern College. His works spoke for their own selves which was a definitive plus for Wright. Hence the element of humanities came about in an apparent fashion as far as his manifestations were concerned. He made sure that the human conditions were the mainstay within his work quarters and he paid emphasis on this tangent without any doubt. In this vein, his work related with the construction of the Robie House stands out in its own league. Robie House is in essence a residential prairie school style masterpiece, built in the year 1910. It is situated in the campus which is surrounded by the University of Chicago in the Hyde Park. At present, the Robie House has been functional at serving as a museum that is directly under the aegis of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust (Sherer 1993). The renovation for the same kicked off in the year 2001 and has thus persisted on every now and then. It was this place which used to hold a number of different functions in the past. A sense of serenity is represented by the art glass windows that are present in the architecture as different colors and lighting effects have been used in order to make the structure prominent. It is a fact that the architecture of the Robie House has been instrumental at presenting a modern and sophisticated look for a number of years now. The Robie House has attained the symbol of fashion and class and hence attention is being paid on it on a consistent basis. The humanities field tilts its basis towards art as one discusses the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Robie House is a clear example of this dictum as it relates itself with spirituality. It is because of these very tenets that the Robie House has been singled out as one of the top ten buildings in the current times within America. This has happened in terms of its fame and popularity indeed. It is a fact that the Robie House project was built ahead of its time since it easily captured the imagination of the people who understood architecture and even those who did not. Due to his unique structural piece, a few commemorative stamps were taken out in the name of Frank Lloyd Wright as well as the Robie House itself which goes to show that the Robie House project was a landmark in its own right and the American populace can feel proud of the same without any doubt whatsoever. It opened the doors for a number of aspiring architects within America, which was a very encouraging sign. In the same vein, the Robie House was considered to be one of the best works that Wright did (Larkin 1993). He actually believed very strongly in his work, which goes to suggest that this was indeed a very unique masterpiece coming under his aegis. The fact that the architect himself believed so much portrays the love and affection given in within the project itself. This demonstrates his willingness to make it big within the relevant circles which was proven with the advent of time. The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum is another structural genius of Wright. It is an art museum which is located in the New York City. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation basically owns many museums; however the best known is the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as the ‘The Guggenheim’ alone. There have been critical appraisals as per the structure itself because it has depicted the non-objective painting regimes and it is due to this reason that it is known as the ‘Museum of Non-Objective Painting’. When a singular art form is talked about, the avant-garde form of art is spoken about in entirety with regards to The Guggenheim. The Guggenheim was one of the last known works of Wright as it represented class and elegance in its own righteous way. Its completion earmarked a polarization of sorts as it sparked off debates that exist even to this day. The white ribbon appearance of The Guggenheim represented the cylindrical stack thereby making it pretty appealing as its different variations are wider at the top as compared to the bottom end. When one compares The Guggenheim with the Manhattan buildings, the difference is pretty contrasting in essence. However there has been severe criticism as well related with this structural building of Wright. Some suggest that The Guggenheim represents in a very negative way its own self and thus overshadows the artwork that is on display. Credit must be given where it is due and therefore Wright deserves all the accolades for building such structural masterpieces. In the end, it would be appropriate to state that Wright was very instrumental at showcasing his work. It was due to his efforts that he was able to build masterpieces which resembled like none other, both in terms of physical appearance as well as persona. Frank Lloyd Wright had in it him to make it big within the architectural fields and he showed the same in an able capacity, thus the reason that he was hailed as the very best architects of not only his time but even in the present ones. The masterpieces that he created could easily go down in history as some of the best works in the field of humanities. He studied humanities in depth and thus came out with works that stood out from the rest. All said and done, Wright’s name will last as long as the field of architecture will remain. This is because he created works that were ahead of time, meaning advancements which shaped up the world like none other in the past. Works Cited Larkin, David. Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks. Rizzoli, 1993 Sands, Ellen. Frank Lloyd Wright: Building Case for Genius. The Washington Times, 1998 Sherer, Daniel. Fragments of the Modern. Art Journal, Vol. 62, 2003 Smith, Dina. The Narrative Limits of the Global Guggenheim. Mosaic (Winnipeg), Vol. 35, 2002 Word Count: 1,754 Read More