1/13/2021 A Thinker Who Redefined US Architecture Receives International Honor
AS IT IS A inker Who Rede ned US Architecture Receives International Honor
August 19, 2019
FILE - is Aug. 23, 2007 le photo shows Fallingwater, one of the late architect Frank Lloyd Wright's best-known works, which was built out over a waterfall in Bear Run, Pa.
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Frank Lloyd Wright is one of America’s best-known architects.
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-thinker-who-redefined-us-architecture-receives-international-honor/5045174.html 1/5 1/13/2021 A Thinker Who Redefined US Architecture Receives International Honor He designed private houses, religious buildings, museums and other public structures throughout America during the 1900s.
His buildings were created to be a part of their natural surroundings, what he called “organic architecture.” Years later, his work still appears strikingly modern.
Recently, “ e 20th Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright” was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. UNESCO says the list contains places that are considered to have ‘outstanding universal value to humanity.” However, it is unusual for the work of a single architect to be placed on the list.
“I think Wright's work was unique because he was unique,” said architectural historian William Richards.
Eight buildings designed by Wright are some of the only 20th century pieces of architecture in the world to receive the UNESCO honor. ey include e Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, a church and a few private homes.
Frank Lloyd Wright wrote, "[Taliesin] was set so sun came through the openings into every room sometime during the day. Walls opened everywhere to views as windows swung out above the tree-tops..." (Courtesy Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation/Andrew Pielage)
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-thinker-who-redefined-us-architecture-receives-international-honor/5045174.html 2/5 1/13/2021 A Thinker Who Redefined US Architecture Receives International Honor “ ey're all fairly modest,” Richards said, “but they had an absolute outsized in uence on generations of architects who thought about how we live in our homes, how we worship...”
UNESCO points to the “organic architecture” developed by Wright. His buildings are open structures that seemed to invite nature inside, while using industrial materials such as steel and concrete. ere were few traditional walls and large windows; both design ideas that have become popular more recently.
While many of his designs are nearly 100 years old, they still look modern. One of the structures listed by UNESCO is the Robie House in Chicago. e house was constructed in 1910. Its design places great importance on horizontal lines and is said to be in uenced by the at American plains of the area. All of the buildings on the UNESCO list were built between 1906 and 1969.
Hollyhock House Los Angeles, California
“I’m always struck when I see the Robie House in Chicago,” architect Susan Piedmont- Palladino said. She is the director of Virginia Tech's Washington Alexandria Architectural Center. “When you go visit, it looks more modern than many of the buildings around it and it's 110 years old...It wouldn't look odd with a Tesla in front of it.”