The impression of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture is undeniable. It was very proud to use local materials while incorporating its conceptions with nature (“nature spelled with a capital” n “the way you spell God with a capital” g “) and, while you move from one room to another, its use of compression and liberation feels like big Cuddles Frank. Its simple and arrow lines, the use of natural light and the integration of nature – Ahem, excuse me, Nature – is a spectacle for endoloris and tired eyes in this world of condo with fast construction.
So where to start in your Frank-Erucation? Guggenheim is a good starting point Or END. Just like the Jiya Gakuen school in Tokyo, one day, if you're lucky. But let's start here, with four Wright houses, all available on tour and the value of the good American trip.
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. ”
Falling
Mill Run, Pennsylvania (1939)
Ah yes, only the most famous private residence of the 20th century. FallingLocated in the mountains of the southwest of the Pennsylvania, first caught attention when he caught a blanket of Time in 1938; It has been a favorite since. He was named the “best work of all times of American architecture” by members of the American Institute of Architects, while Travel + Leisure magazine Fallingwater listed as “one of the 12 landmarks that will change the way you see the world”.
It is therefore a big house and a big problem. It is also one of the best examples of the Wright Union of its creations with nature, with balconies and overhanging terraces in local sandstone extending on the rocky formation on which they are built. The waterfall, the rocks, the trees and the wild flowers are all at hand. After all, Wright said once, “I believe in God, only I spell him nature.”
Wright designed Fallingwater for the Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann, a prominent Pittsburgh couple who had a department store and was known in town for their distinctive style. Built between 1936 and 1939, Fallwater was supposed to be a weekend house (let me say it again: A weekend at home!), Complete with a guest house and a service wing. Perhaps the main reason to leave: Fallingwater is the only major work in Wright which is now in the public domain, original furniture and intact works of art.
Touges every day, except Wednesdays.
“Give me the luxury of life and I will gladly do without the necessities.”
Frederick C. Robie House
Chicago, Illinois (1909)
Located on the campus of the University of Chicago, the Robie house is one of the best examples of the design of the Prairies school, the first style of architecture deemed distinctly American. Attaboy, Frank!
The story of the Robie house is as wild as design. At only 28 years old, the engineer Frederick C. Robie instructed Wright to build his house with strict instructions: everything must be flame retardant. This did not mean small spaces, no drapery, no carpets purchased in stores. No problem for Wright, who, as usual, designed the space from top to bottom, textile windows, furniture lighting. (Although some furniture is not credited to Wright – It is said that Robie has lacked $$$.)
Too bad Robie's dream life in his dream house of his dream architect was short -lived. Barely 14 months after moving forward, he was forced to sell. His father was dead, his marriage collapsed, his finances were in ruins. After having crossed a few owners, the Robie house found itself in the hands of the Chicago Theological Seminary, which converted the house into a dormitory and dining room, with large and bad uses of the site for an expansion. Then, in 1957, the seminar announced that they would demolish the Robie house to make way for a dormitory. Nuh uh, said Frank. A outcry appeared and Wright himself, 90 years old at the time, returned home Robie – with the media and demonstrators – to lower his old tenacious foot. Fortunately, the Commission at the Chicago era trained from Chicago, with Mayor Richard J. Daley, plunged and said Maison Robie a Chicago monument. So long, seminar.
Currently, Maison Robie, owned at the University of Chicago and in coordination with the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, restores the house to all its original glory of 1910. Visits continue while the interior catering is underway.
A 1957 article in House and house Perhaps explains the meaning of the Robie house:
“”Above all, the Robie house is a magnificent work of art. But, moreover, the room has introduced so many concepts in planning and construction that its full influence cannot be measured with precision for many years to come. Without this house, a large part of modern architecture as we know it today, may not exist. »»
Touges every day, except Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“You have to get everything in everything in order to achieve anything that is worth being.”
Taliesin West
Scottsdale, Arizona (1937)
Wright was the original snowbird, giving the middle of the Midwest and Trekking winters in Arizona each year for the success of the Sonora's desert vitamin D. There he built Taliesin WestHis winter house, his studio and finally the house of the Architecture School of Taliesin and the house of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Just north of Phoenix, near McDowell mountains, Wright found unmanned land which he described as “a look at the edge of the world”. The price in 1937? $ 3.50 Acre. During 12 years old, until his death at the age of 91 in 1959, Wright worked and reworked the West West West, working on materials found on the site, such as the walls of the structure, which are made of desert rocks, stacked in forms of wood and then filled with concrete. The translucent canvas acted like roof shutters – you know what Wright felt natural light – until the Arizona sun is carrying them.
Not one not Fight, Wright found himself in a battle against airlines, which threatened to ruin the West Taliesins. (To his credit, they ruin opinions – Why not be buried all the power lines?) He even wrote President Truman, demanding that the power lines be buried. When he lost this battle, Wright “turned his back to the valley”, moving the entrance to the back of the main building.
Electric lines or not, Taliesin West is a beauty to visit, especially when winter has dropped you.
Visits every day except the long holidays.
“Many wealthy people are hardly more than concierges of their property.”
Cottage Seth Peterson
Lac Delton, Wisconsin (1958)
THE Cottage Seth Peterson Perhaps is not one of Wright's most famous designs, but it is certainly one of the little ones and one of the last. The 880 square feet cabin nestled in the woods of Wisconsin near Lake Delton is worthy of a weekend and – good news! – It is available for rental.
When Peterson, from the Wisconsin of Black Earth, approached Wright to design the chalet, Wright was almost 90 years old. Peterson wanted a small house, perched on the promontory overlooking Lake Mirror, and that's what Wright planned to give him. Tragically, however, none of the men would see the chalet finished: Peterson and Wright died before the end of the construction.
Small house, big personality. Wright's assistant William Wesley Peters, says the chalet “Contents more architecture per square foot than any building that Wright has ever built.” Balanced on the edge of a steep wooded hill overlooking Lake Mirror, the two -piece chalet is made of Wisconsin sandstone with a booming roof, a comfortable fireplace and design details that highlight views and light.
The state of the Wisconsin bought the chalet in 1966 as part of the Mirror Lake State Park. But when no appropriate use could be found for the small house, it was embarked and neglected. He stayed until 1989, when local resident Audrey Laatsch spotted the cabin in despair during Lake Mirror in canoeing. After discovering that it was a Wright design, Laatsch gathered other residents and Frank fans to form the Seth Peterson Cottage Conservancy. Their local efforts, in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources, led to a three -year renovation of the chalet, including elements of the original Wright conceptions which had never been built.
Available for rental, minimum of two nights. Public visits on the second Sunday of each month.
“I know the prize for success: dedication, hard work and incessant devotion to the things you want to see.”
There, you have it, an intensive course in Frank Houses, although it is only the beginning of the beginning. Have you visited FLW houses? Scream in the comments. I want to hear everything about them.
Megan is a writer, publisher, etc. – ER who thinks about life, design and trips for Domino, Lonny, Hunker and more. Its rules of life include, but without limiting itself: the zipper when fusion, cash advice and contribute to your IRA. Be a boyfriend and subscribe to his newsletter Night vision or follow it Instagram.
