1. Contemporary Architectural Pioneer and Modernist of the Century
Frank Lloyd Wright
Contemporary Architectural Pioneer and Modernist of the Century
By Frankie

2. Why I Chose This Topic Interest in modern and minimalist architecture
Styles and designs are often overlooked

3. Architecture before the 1900s
Incorporated historical styles and developed new materials and structural methods
Styles: Gothic, Victorian, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical (grand facades/very ostentatious), Queen Anne (ornate with large exteriors), and Vernacular (generic and plain cottages)

4. Building methods: layout and foundation, organic materials, and duration of construction
Industrialization ---> shift from highly ornate to more minimalistic

5. Rise of skyscrapers
Residential homes and professional buildings evolved to meet clientele desires
Social status, location, cost, and taste

6. Biography Born on July 8, 1867 in Wisconsin
Wright's parents influenced his creativity and growing mind
Froebel blocks and classical music

7. "Homes and professional buildings included geometric shapes throughout the whole design along with lines that emphasized melodic beauty."

8. Began course study at Wisconsin State University ---> lack of funds later sent Wright to Chicago
Began to work for Chicago architect Louis Sullivan
Opened his personal work studio in 1894

9. Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
Oak Park, Illinois

10. Style
Wright became known for his unconventional and geometric style of architecture
Universal philosophy: "Form follows function"
Proposed by Louis Sullivan
Emphasized the shape of a building based on its intended function

11. Wright believed otherwise...
"Proceed, persist, [and] create, according to the nature of man and his circumstances as they both change"
Architecture would evolve to meet the demands of man and time

12. Organic Architecture
Revolved around nature and the unity between a building site and epoch
Included open spaces, and absence of basement and attic, and "the destruction of the boxy shape"

13. ca. 1911 - 1996 Taliesin East Iowa County, Wisconsin Fallingwater
Mill Run, Pennsylvania
Taliesin West
Scottsdale, Arizona
Massaro House
Lake Mahopac, New York

14. "[Organic architecture was the] reinterpretation of nature's principles as they had been filtered through the intelligent minds of men and women who could then build forms which are more natural than nature itself."

15. Prairie School Architecture
Based on the vast and open areas of the Midwest prairies
Included low roofs, rows of windows, foundations composed of organic materials, and lines that gradually blended into the environment

16. ca. 1903-1908 Darwin Martin House Buffalo, New York
Frederick C. Robie House
Hyde Park, Illinois
Larkin Administration Building
Buffalo, New York
Unity Temple
Oak Park, Illinois

17. Modern Architecture
At the end of the 20th century, industrialization was a leading power in society and global advancement
Styles: structuralism (structure over function), formalism, Bauhaus (simplicity), international, brutalism (violent imagery), and minimalism
Notable features: simplistic ornamentation, factory produced parts, organic materials, functionalism, and the rejection of conventional ideas (classical/traditional)

18. Minimalism
Villa Savoye
Le Corbusier
Bauhaus
Structuralism
Brutalism

19. Post Modernism 1970 - Present
Objective: surprise and amuse viewers, while at the same time displaying shapes and details in unique ways
Glance into future concepts: collision of styles, vast ornamentation, an abstract and vulgar appearance, and color juxtaposition between black and white

20. Influence 1900s-present
Wright is arguably the most influential out of all modern architects...
Style not only paved the way for future designs in the making, but also popularized transforming techniques still used today
Psychologically large surface areas serving a multitude of functions

21. Designed and supplied purpose-built furniture
Promoted the use of zinc, preset concrete blocks, and glass bricks
Methods revolved around the theme of nature and its capacity to change a building
Inclusion of wide spaces, natural light through glass windows, open floor designs, and application of organic materials

22. Competition / Counterarguments
Louis Sullivan, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

23. Louis Sullivan
Often considered the "father of modern architecture," more so than Wright
Instilled much of the values and techniques Wright had popularized through his work

24. Sullivan also stressed ornamentation and coined the philosophy of "Form follows function"
Wright was more central to a simplistic style and is often credited with said philosophy
Sullivan also sought to find solutions to architecture through his modernist approach, oftentimes contradictory

25. Walter Gropius
Known for Bauhaus, but constructed a limited amount of buildings
"[came] across as slightly utopian with an obsession for functional aesthetics
Wright surpassed Gropius in that he did not create architecture that was "good for the people" but "beautiful"

26. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Philosophy of "less is more"
Rejected ornately designed exteriors and an ostentatious appearance
Did not implement organic materials into his work, like many others of the time did

27. Criticized for his contradictory ideas, imitating free open spaces and hiding modern techniques under a traditional facade
Wright's designs were more timeless and cleverly incorporated wide areas
Imitating another architect's style was also distasteful and a lack of originality

28. Conclusion
Inspired contemporary architects to challenge tradition and go beyond the limits
"I would like to have a free architecture. Architecture that belonged to where you see it standing-and is a grace to the landscape instead of a disgrace."
The pioneers of today cannot advance without minimal help from those of yesterday