Influencing Frank Lloyd Wright

How has Frank Lloyd Wright’s work developed over time to express a 19^th Century architecture? 

Let us first address this question by stating that Frank Lloyd Wright lived from 1867-1959, so he was a very late 19th / early 20^th century architect.  Never-the-less, he was influenced by the Art Nouveau period and even previous European architects.  But when saying that Wright expressed a style of architecture, it should be said that he created a truly American style of architecture.  Given one of his prime goals was to fit within the context of the landscape.  It would not take much to imagine that had FLW started in Switzerland for example, he would have created what would become a Swiss architecture.   Having absorbed European influences and designing in the United States, Wright’s work grew into something that would be looked upon as the forefront of architecture.  And that front would be the American Prairie Style.

Start at the Winslow House (1893) in River Forest Illinois.  Here, Wright could really experiment with the American dwelling.  The house would be his canvas while the flat Midwestern plains would be his backdrop.  Many of the features of this house attempt to push the visual height of the two-story house down toward the ground.  The long strips of masonry, the wide Roman bricks, and the short low pitched roof act together to achieve this language.  So, FLW was trying to make his building something more than just a stand-alone object.  This was one of the first attempts to really bring nature and an emotional quality to the home.  Being one of the first works, there are still signs of the Art Nouveau ideals.  Floral designs and highly decorative structure pieces highlight certain moments in this house.  Some influences from Ruskin can be seen here as well.  There is honesty in the materials.  Nothing is covered up or painted in a way that suggests the object is something it is not.  Wright allows the materials to speak for themselves as an emotional response to the site.  As his designs progressed, so did the depth and meaning of these relationships. 

Winslow House (source: franklloydwrighttour.com)

(source: steinerag.com)

A few years later, Wright would design the Heurtley House which was one of the first true Prairie designs.  Here, the influence of Ruskin can really be seen in the idea of craft.  This time it is not the craft of the builder or stone mason but that of the architect.  The little details become important to the total work.  The details and spaces they form create a story and an emotional experience as the user moves through the entire space. 

Heurtley House (source:  designwire.interiordesigns.net)

It is also here that the ideas of Semper (1803-1879) come into play.  Whereas before the plan had been adopted after the form of the house, the Heurtley House and the like after it contained a unification of envelope, plan, and function.  Wright took the four key principles (the hearth, platform, roof, and enclosure) and allowed them to blend in one language.  As seen in the Robbie House, the roof extends to such depths that it becomes the enclosure for outdoor space.  He also really takes Semper’s “formula” into the design as well.  Wright understood the site beautifully at Falling Water while going so deep that he wanted certain personal emotions brought from even the dinnerware.  This is where there seems to be the noticeable clash of influences from Ruskin and Semper.  Material and craft were so important as it can be clearly seen how Wright put his hand on every square inch of his designs. 

The Hearth (source:  decoratinglflair.com)

Falling Water (source: wright-house.com)

Robbie House (source:  wikipedia.com)

There should be one more point made about materiality that puts Wright in his time and sets him apart from that of Ruskin.  Ruskin believed that modern technology was the end of architecture and it would destroy craft.  Wright did believe in honesty in materials.  He rejected the Ecole de Beaux Arts, which seems to say that did not believe in ornamentation for its own sake, but rather as a function of the work.  He also understood that modern technology would allow him to achieve his larger goals.  It would be steel that would create Wright’s iconic cantilevers.  Though it might have been a slight crutch, steel would allow him to create the from that matched the Prairie Style as a concept.  It brought it to a reality.   

One more point does have to be made on Frank Lloyd Wright and his Prairie Style.  The detail that he uses is not exactly ornate but it is meaningful and well as beyond iconic.  His ornamentation takes real ideas and real objects, like trees for example and translates them into a figurative form or a style of abstraction.  Clearly this comes from the de Stjil movement which takes these large ideas and breaks them down into a single visual moment.  It becomes a way for Wright to add logic to his ornamentation opposed to random and excessive detail.  

Window Designs (source:  cassbeth.com)