Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright AUK College of Art & Sciences/ID IND311 Interior Design History II Asst. Prof. Siniša Prvanov Spring 2019 Page 1 of 94 Contents: Introduction 1. Prairie Houses (1900–1914) 2. Usonian Houses (1932-1948) 3. Fallingwater House (1935-1937) 4. Guggenheim Museum (1943–1959) 5. Furniture Design Page 2 of 94 INTRODUCTION Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer, and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures, 532 of which were completed. Wright believed in designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture". His creative period spanned more than 70 years. Wright was the pioneer of what came to be called the Prairie School movement of architecture, and he also developed the concept of the Usonian home in Broadacre City, his unique vision for urban planning in the United States. In addition to his houses, Wright designed original and innovative offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums, and other structures. He often designed interior elements for these buildings, as well, including furniture and stained glass. Figure 1. Frank Lloyd Wright portrait. Page 3 of 94 Wright wrote 20 books and many articles and was a popular lecturer in the United States and Europe. Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time". His colorful personal life often made headlines, notably for leaving his first wife, Catherine Lee "Kitty" Tobin for Mamah Borthwick Cheney, the murders at his Taliesin estate in 1914, his tempestuous marriage with second wife Miriam Noel, and his relationship with Olga (Olgivanna) Lazovich Hinzenburg, who became his third wife in 1928. Transition and experimentation (1893–1900) After leaving Louis Sullivan's firm, Wright established his own practice on the top floor of the Sullivan-designed Schiller Building on Randolph Street in Chicago. Wright chose to locate his office in the building because the tower location reminded him of the office of Adler & Sullivan. Wright's projects during this period followed two basic models. His first independent commission, the Winslow House, combined Sullivanesque ornamentation with the emphasis on simple geometry and horizontal lines. The Francis Apartments (1895, demolished 1971), Heller House (1896), Rollin Furbeck House (1897) and Husser House Page 4 of 94 (1899, demolished 1926) were designed in the same mode. For his more conservative clients, Wright designed more traditional dwellings. Figure 2. Heller House (1896), Rollin Furbeck House (1897) and Husser House (1899). Figure 3. Husser House exterior details view. Page 5 of 94 Figure 4. Husser House floorplan. By 1901, Wright had completed about 50 projects, including many houses in Oak Park. Wright also designed furniture, leaded glass windows, and light fixtures, among other features. Page 6 of 94 1. Prairie Houses (1900–1914) Between 1900 and 1901, Frank Lloyd Wright completed four houses which have since been identified as the onset of the "Prairie style". Two, the Hickox and Bradley Houses, were the last transitional step between Wright's early designs and the Prairie creations. Meanwhile, the Thomas House and Willits House received recognition as the first mature examples of the new style. At the same time, Wright gave his new ideas for the American house widespread awareness through two publications in the Ladies' Home Journal. The articles were in response to an invitation from the president of Curtis Publishing Company, Edward Bok, as part of a project to improve modern house design. "A Home in a Prairie Town" and "A Small House with Lots of Room in it" appeared respectively in the February and July 1901 issues of the journal. Although neither of the affordable house plans was ever constructed, Wright received increased requests for similar designs in following years. Wright came to Buffalo and designed homes for three of the company's executives, including the Darwin D. Martin House in 1904. Wright's residential designs of this era were known as "prairie houses" because the designs complemented the land around Chicago. Prairie-style houses often have a combination of these features: One or two-stories with one-story projections, an open Page 7 of 94 floor plan, low-pitched roofs with broad, overhanging eaves, strong horizontal lines, ribbons of windows (often casements), a prominent central chimney, built-in stylized cabinetry, and a wide use of natural materials especially stone and wood. 1.1 Arthur Heurtley House Figure 5. Arthur Heurtley House exterior view. Page 8 of 94 The Heurtley House is one of Wright's earliest, fully mature Prairie style houses, and the patterns that he established with the home would eventually appear in many of his greatest works in that genre. Exterior emphasis is on the horizontal, with strong detail in the wooden siding and high bands of windows. The roof is low pitched, and features broad eaves. Terraces and balconies bring outside living easily to the occupants. There are two prow windows, one of which has been called "famous" and is thought to have reflected Heurtley's love of sailing. Figure 5. Arthur Heurtley House exterior view with characteristic designed windows. Page 9 of 94 The home is unique in having its floor plan reversed from contemporary two-story American, with its private spaces on the lower floor and public rooms on the second. Figure 6. Arthur Heurtley House floor plans. Page 10 of 94 Entrance to the house is via a heavy Romanesque arch. The ground floor is given over to a reception hall, a large reception room/playroom, guestrooms and a servant’s hall. Similar in concept to Wright’s Husser and Thomas houses, the principal rooms are elevated to the second story. In contrast to the darker lower level, the upstairs area is defined by airy, open and contiguous light-filled spaces. Figure 6. Arthur Heurtley House interior view. At the heart of the home, a substantial arched fireplace occupies a central position in the living room. In form and material, the fireplace echoes the prominent arch on the exterior Page 11 of 94 of the building. Leaded glass windows that line the west side of the house, flood the main living spaces with light. An open air elevated porch, accessed via French doors in the living room, blurs the division between interior and exterior space. Figure 7. Arthur Heurtley House living room detail with arched fireplace. Page 12 of 94 Figure 8. Wright stained glass design. Frank lloyd wright leaded art glass window designed for the Arthur Heurtley House represent remarkably the strongly geometric art glass window was free from damage and unlike most of my other frank lloyd wright windows, the original wood sash frame was intact and structurally sound. Page 13 of 94 1.2 Darwin D. Martin House Figure 9. Darwin D. Martin House east view. Page 14 of 94 The Darwin D. Martin House Complex, also known as the Darwin Martin House National Historic Landmark, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905. Located in Buffalo, New York, it is considered to be one of the most important projects from Wright's Prairie School era, and ranks along with The Guggenheim in New York City and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania among his greatest works. Figure 10. Darwin D. Martin House frontal view. Page 15 of 94 The complex exemplifies Wright's Prairie School ideal and is comparable with other notable works from this period in his career, such as the Robie House in Chicago and the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois. Wright was especially fond of the Martin House design, referring to it for some 50 years as his "opus", and calling the complex "A well-nigh perfect composition". Wright kept the Martin site plan tacked to the wall near his drawing board for the next half century. The main motives and indications were: “To reduce the number of necessary parts of the house and the separate rooms to a minimum, and make all come together as an enclosed space, so divided that light, air and vista permeated the whole with a sense of unity”. — Frank Lloyd Wright, "On architecture". The facades are almost identical, except for the front entrance, and the Martin House repeats most of the Journal House ground floor. An awkward failure was no direct connection from the kitchen to the dining room. The Journal House had a serving pantry, but Wright was forced to give this up to accommodate the pergola. Page 16 of 94 Figure 11. Landscape plan and house situation plan. Page 17 of 94 The residential complex comprises six interconnected buildings: the Martin House, the George Barton House—where Martin’s sister and brother-in-law once lived—a carriage house, a conservatory, the pavilion, and a gardener’s cottage, which was added in 1908. Other significant structures include a pergola connecting the Martin House to the conservatory, and a greenhouse. Figure 11. Model of Darwin D. Martin House complex. Page 18 of 94 Figure 12. 1st floor plan. Page 19 of 94 Martin House is distinguished from Wright's other prairie style houses by its unusually large size and open plan. On the ground floor an entry hall bisects the house. To the right, behind a large double sided hearth, is a central living room. The room is flanked by a dining room and library which together create a long continuous space. The other axis, centered on the hearth, continues the living room out to a large covered veranda. To the left of the entry hall, is a reception room similar in size to the living room, the kitchen, and several smaller rooms.

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