Frank Lloyd Wright, Essential Texts

Citation

Waheed, Z. (2010), "Frank Lloyd Wright, Essential Texts", Facilities, Vol. 28 No. 7/8, pp. 397-398. https://doi.org/10.1108/02632771011042518

Writer, architect and interior designer, the American Institute of Architects has called Frank Lloyd Wright “the greatest American architect of all time”. An architectural giant whose professional life was both long and varied, his work embraced simplicity and bore the hallmarks of the Prairie genre‐ clean, horizontal lines, flat roofs and terraces. Wright was also an early proponent of Organic Architecture and promoted the harmony between human habitation and the natural world. An innovator in his own right, Wright developed an ingenious American style that did not share design elements from European Classical Architecture, and brought innovative, “modern” design ideas such as the use of unfinished materials and the “open‐plan” into use.

Robert Twombly, an expert on Wright's life and work with several publications on the subject to his name, has brought together Wright's most important speeches, lectures and written works together in this remarkably endearing book. The book brings no less than an insight into the mind of a genius. Although Wright also wrote political essays, this is a collection of his architectural essays, mostly from the pre‐WW1 era when he was developing most of the theoretical foundations of his work.

The collection starts with a simple, yet comprehensive introduction to Wright, his life and his career. The selection of texts itself is cleverly presented chronologically so that Wright's development of ideas can be observed. Wright comes across as a sharp orator, a man with a passion for his work, but also one that could foresee future trends, such as the impact that the use of modern machinery would have on expanding architectural possibilities. While he sometimes appears frustrated at economic necessities curtailing the true development of his philosophical ideas, he mostly comes across as a man who knows his mind and will do anything to make his ideas be accepted for their true potential.

Twombly provides each text with a careful introduction that explains the context and endnotes that provide relevant references. There are also a handful of Wright's works depicted as pictures in the book, but the focus remains firmly on the man and his mind, and not the resultant physical output.

While this is a book that has emerged from the workings of a technical discipline, this is a universally charming book. It provides an insight into the mind of a genius who, all those years ago, recognised the link between the “man behind the design”, the end‐user and the design itself.