Frank Lloyd Wright 1867-1959

Frank Lloyd Wright was the man responsible for creating an "American" style architecture and vocabulary. He more so had a focus on residential homes, however he did do work in commercial. Wright was a influence and made great contributions to the modernism movement.

After working with Louis Sullivan for an amount of time Wright left Sullivan to star his own business in Oak Park, Illinois in 1896. Here he did his many works and created Prairie Style Architecture. This style possesses the following characteristics:

• Hipped roof with a strong horizontal profile
• Integration of the materials, home, and landscape
• Focus on family for interior space
• Fireplaces were the center and focus of the home
• Built in furniture was a prominent aspect
• Design of furniture was unique based off of each homeowner as well as light fixtures
• Stained glass windows

 

 

He truly utilized and focused on the importance of designing with a lot of thought and consideration with ones environment. Since he was located in Chicago and was the designer of homes in the plains and flat lands of the Midwest, we are able to see that in his designs. He used a lot of clean horizontal framed lines, natural materials, natural colors from plants in the locations, and windows in the space to allow the richness of the wood and the colors to pop.

Below are modern practices of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style

 

Click Here to see a short YouTube clip explaining some issues of buying a Frank Lloyd Wright home now and with concerns on their current location issues.