Famous Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture
Architectural Styles of America's Most Famous Architect
Jun 11, 2009
Frank Lloyd Wright is among the most famous of American architects. His unique style defined a generation and his homes and other architecture are well loved, even today. Wright is considered to have four main styles: organic, usonian, prairie and hemicycle.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Organic Architecture
In a sense, Organic Architecture was Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal philosophy on architecture. Organic Architecture utilizes the environment around it. A great example of one of Wright’s many famous “organic” buildings is famous Pennsylvania architecture: “Fallingwater.”
Fallingwater, located in Mill Run, Pennsylvania is essentially perched above a waterfall. Completed after three years in 1939, Fallingwater was designed for the Kaufmann family. Today, it is nationally recognized and a famous historic landmark.
While certain buildings are defined as Organic Architecture, Wright actually brought his philosophy of unifying architecture and the environment to each of his styles.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Prairie Style Architecture
Prairie style architecture is among some of the most recognized of Wright’s work. Prairie homes utilized low laying horizontal lines that featured open floor plans. Following his philosophy that architecture should blend in with the landscape, Prairie homes blended in with their surroundings.
Great examples of Prairie homes include the Meyer May home in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and the Robie Residence in Chicago, Illinois. Eventually, the Prairie style of architecture would develop into a simplified style known as Usonian architecture.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Usonian Architecture
The word “Usonia” is actually “an abbreviation for United States of North America.” Wright designed a series of homes called Usonian that helped keep home building costs as low as possible. This mean that Usonian homes did not have any attics or basements and used little to no ornamentation. Overall, Usonian architecture was designed to be affordable.
Examples of Usonian architecture include the Zimmerman House in Manchester, New Hampshire; the Hagan House in Kentuck Knob, Pennsylvania and the Bernard Schwartz House in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Hemicycle Architecture
The hemicycle style of architecture actually uses a half circle or general circular shapes within the major design. This can be through the use of a glass wall, a curved roof and more.
Some great examples of hemicycle architecture include the Curtis Meyer Residence in Galesburn, Michigan; the Herbert Jacobs II House in Middleton, Wisconsin and most famously — the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
Frank Lloyd Wright passed in 1958 but his work is still loved all around the United States, and revered in countries all over.
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