Frank Lloyd Wright Author:Spencer Hart During a career that spanned more than 70 years, Frank Lloyd Wright became America's best known and most celebrated architect. He remains the single greatest influence on twentieth-century design in America, and was the first American to exert significant influence on the international scene. — Famous for his innovative use of the immediate e... more »nvironment as an element in his designs, Wright was the architect most sought after for creating new private residences. His Prairie House design incorporated large, free flowing living areas, well lit by windows that opened the house to continuous views of the grounds; and furnishings designed specifically for the house. Classic examples of this style are the Ward W. Willits House in Highland Park, Illinois; the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and the great Robie House in Chicago. Decades later, Wright renewed and revolutionized this style in his masterpiece, Fallingwater, in Mill Run, Pennsyvania, and in the less expensive, partially prefabricated Usonian House designs.
Wright's use of new materials, such as concrete and steel framing, also made him an innovator in the design of public buildings. His grandest project of this type was the massive Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which made use of local methods and materials. Later civic commissions included the startling spiral of the Guggenheim Museum, and the plastic-domed Marin County Civic Center in California, built after Wright's death.
This book contains more than 100 full-color and black-and-white photographs of exteriors and interiors of Wright's most admired buildings and many of his architectural plans and drawings. Included are some fascinating designs that were never executed, such as the plans for the San-Marcos-in-the-Desert resort complex in Chandler, Arizona. The informative text expands and develops themes already apparent in these photographs and drawings, and gives the reader a truer understanding of Wright's particular genius.« less