Frank Lloyd Wright (3 buildings) Creative Studies. M140IND Essay

Frank Lloyd Wright (3 buildings)

Creative Studies. M140INDEssay.

Sogomonyan Shamiram6069843

Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) – one of the most famous architects in USA and around the world during 6oth. He worked as an architect and interior designer more than seventy years, he has influenced modern architecture with his works . Wright has developed organic architecture, created unique forms and construction methods, which were ahead of his times.One of the most famous and inspiring Wright’s works is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum which is illustrated on image 1. Guggenheim is a contemporary art museum. Frank Lloyd, as the most famous architect of that time, started creating the Guggenheim in 1943. From the beginning the construction had numerous problems due to the changes in the design, due to the building regulations, but after years of development in 1956 the building was finished.The building is an outstanding piece of art. In the environment Guggenheim looks like a tube of rolled paper which is wider at the top than at the bottom. Guggenheim is a tree levels cylindrical building manufactured with reinforced concrete blocks. The building has a spiral structure and features large exhibition spaces. The building is wider at the top and is lid by the glazed skylight, which is supported with steel joints in the inside and outside of the building (image 3). The glazed skylight is visually connecting the interior and the exterior of the Guggenheim.The Guggenheim is known as a “temple of the spirit”, because of its flowing shapes and spiritual atmosphere, createdby smooth shapes, colors and natural light. In 1992 a concrete rectangular tower was added to the building, which was designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects (image 2). The new part is taller than the original Frank Lloyd’s spiral. On the Fig.4 the image of the hall is illustrating a beautiful skylight in a form of citrus, which is bringing the natural light to the whole building. The shape of the hall slowly leads the visitors to an exhibition space where the art works are displayed. The spiral shape is merging of triangles, ovals,circles, squares, which correspond to the concept of organic architecture ,and Ziggurat” Babylonian temple pyramid, which was the inspiration for Frank Lloyd Wright. The three floors of the building are organized around the central hall and the skylight and are connected by the round shaped walkways,staircases glazed elevators.

The Guggenheim museum looks much different nowadays(image 4), due to restoration, which took part in 1992 by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects. Another renovation was during 2007-2008, mostly improved the exterior of the building and the infrastructure. The concrete and gubite facades were restored, the skylight, the interior doors and also a climate control was installed. The inclusivity building regulations up to day were considering the renovation as well. In addition to the exhibition areas, separate office spaces are provided, two restaurants, a bistro, a bookstore and a lecture room, which provides seating for tree hundred people.

1 2

3

4

1

In 1900’s Frank Lloyd Wright was interested in the traditional Japanese architecture, The Japanese design is avoiding unnecessary features, its minimal and elegant. The Japanese architecture intents to connect nature and man withing the interior. The simplicity is shown is hiding the functional Elements and leaving them unnoticed. The interiors Frank Write was designing were forming an enclosed space for creating freedom in the interior and bring all the areas together, unite the building. For creating that the architect was reducing the number of the rooms and increasing the areas of the spaces.

The next work of Frank Lloyd Wright, which will be discussed below is the Falling water. The Falling water is illustrated on the image 5 was designed by Wright in 1935, was named ‘a masterpiece‘ and noted as one of the most famous Wright’s works. The building is located in Pennsylvania, USA, it is a private residence owned by a successful businessmen Edgar Jonas Kauffman and his family, who chose the natural surroundings for finding the harmony in their home. Falling water is situated in a country forest, on top of a waterfall at 1300 feet above sea level.(see image 6). The architects decided to place the house on top of the hills, not next them, as it was planned originally, because, Wright wanted the Kauffman family to hear the sound of the water every morning, he wanted the waterfall to be a part of a building and the everyday life of the households.Basically the structure consist of reinforced concrete slabs overlapping each other in the different levels and directions. The ceilings of most of the rooms are low, for creating a visual look on the exterior. The most beautiful part of the building are the long cantilevered terraces which extend the building and connect it with nature. The main area on the first floor of Falling water is occupied by a large living room, which is shown on the Image 7 below. It is a flowing interior which is connected to the kitchen and the hall by the glazed doors and abundant windows, which are also facing the outdoors terrace and connecting the space with the forest. Frank Lloyd kept the textures of the walls same inside as the outside, as he also done in his previous works. Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to avoid the ‘box‘ look in the interior (see image 7) so he decided the glaze the rooms through, to bring natural light for making the space open and wide. The ceiling, floors and walls finishes are blending with each other and creating an enclosed space with minimum interior features. The interior design is based up on the straight lines of the exterior and the sleek shapes of the furniture.

2

6 8

5 7

REFERENCES“AD Classics: Fallingwater House / Frank Lloyd Wright.” AD Classics. ArchDaily, 29 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.“AD Classics: Taliesin West / Frank Lloyd Wright.” AD Classics. ArchDaily, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.“Frank Lloyd Wright; Biography.” Frank Lloyd Wright; Biography. Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.“Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation : Tours.” Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation : Tours. Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 2014. Web. 31 Nov. 2014.“Guggenheim.” The Frank Lloyd Wright Building. Guggenheim, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.Jacobs, Herbert Austin, and Katherine Jacobs. Building with Frank Lloyd Wright: An Illustrated Memoir. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1978. Print.Miller, Anna BERGREN. “Restoring Wright: A Preservation Master Plan for Taliesin West.” AN Blog RSS. A/N Blog, 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.“New York Architecture Images- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.” The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York City Architecture, 2005. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.Post-Gazette, Gretchen McKay. “Taliesin West Shows How Architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, Built in Harmony with Nature.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburg Post-gazzet, 27 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.Smith, Kathryn, and Judith Bromley. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin and Taliesin West. New York, NY: Abrams, 1997. Print.“Taliesin, Building Architects Since 1932.” Taliesin, Building Architects Since 1932. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.

IMAGE REFERENCESTHE COVER PAGE Image Available from:http://cdn.freshome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/FLWright-collage.jpg[Accessed 28/11/14]IMAGE.1 Image Available from:http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/about/frank-lloyd-wright-building [Accessed 28/11/14]IMAGES.2,3 Images Available from: http://nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES080.htm [Accessed 28/11/14]IMAGE.4 Image Available from: http://pinterest.com [Accessed 28/10/14]IMAGE.5 Image Available from: http://www.archfoundation.org/2013/11/fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wrights-architec-tural-masterpiece-restored-with-help-from-a-save-americas-treasures-grant/ [Accessed 29/10/14]IMAGE.6 Image Available from: http://cdn.designrulz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Falling-water-plan-design-rulz-1.jpg [Accessed 30/11/14]IMAGES.7, 8 Images Available from: http://www.archdaily.com/60022/ad-classics-fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright/[Accessed 30/11/14]IMAGE.9 Image Available from: http://pinterest.com [Accessed 28/11/14]IMAGES.10, 11, 12 Images Available from: http://www.archdaily.com/60022/ad-classics-fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright/ [Accessed 1/12/14]

2 4

“Oh, we have to build here, this is pure abstraction wherever you look.” (Wright, 1937)Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius architect who invented a philosophy of organic architecture. The exteriors of the buildings , designed by Wright were flowing into the natural environment(Image 9), which the architect find inspiring for placing his works. The interiors designed by Frank Write are enclosed,open rooms, the architect was avoiding using unnecessary, in his opinion, rooms and furniture features,The spaces were full of natural light (image 12),natural colors with contrast furniture. The shapes of the interior were influent by the architecture of the building, even the textures were kept the same. Wright was avoiding following any architectural or interior styles, like neoclassical or victorian, which were popular at that time.

Taliesin West which is illustrated on the images below was Wright’s house, where he stayed during winters and summers with his wife. Also Taliesin West was including spaces used for Frank Lloyd’s work-shops and as an architectural school, which is working till now. Frank LLoyd Wright chose a beautiful desert in Spring Green, Arizona.“Arizona needs its own architecture… Arizona’s long, low, sweeping lines, up tilting planes. Surface patterned after such abstraction in line and color as find “realism” in the patterns of the rattlesnake, the Gila monster, the chameleon, and the saguaro, cholla or staghorn – or is it the other way around—are inspiration enough.” (Wright, 1927)The exterior shapes and textures were inspired from the desert and the mountains, which are surrounding the site. The structure walls are manufactured of rocks from the local desert filled with concrete. The roofing and some the walls are finished with cherry pine wood.On the image 10 the interior of the “Garden Room“, as Wright called it, is shown. It is wide space with angled ceiling created using translucent canvas. Geometrical straight lines in the interior space and the furniture features, which was influenced by the architecture of the building. Frank Lloyd Wright called this the “Garden Room” which is placed on the south side of the building. The interior finishes is a combination of glass windows and doors, cherry painted wood and masonry pies. On the image 12 the studying room is illustrated. The space was designed for the architectural school, where Frank Lloyd Wright was teaching himself and which is still used as a working area for the masters student studying in Taliesin West. The architect was avoiding using too many materials in his works, kept the interiors minimal, full of natural light, which is defining the space. The translucent roof was later replaced with plastic, because of the weather conditions on the site.Taliesin West is an inspiring piece of art, which is blending with the surrounding and keeping the mem-ory about one of the greatest architects of all time Frank Lloyd Wright.

3

9

10 11

12