Frank Lloyd Wright & Organic Architecture

Last night I caught a fascinating documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright titled "Frank Lloyd Wright: Murder, Myth and Modernism" on the Ovation TV channel.

In 1911, Wright built a home for himself and his lover in rural Wisconsin. Wright named his retreat Taliesin after a Welsh poet. The house is strikingly modern even by today's standards.

Wright stated that going forward, the landscape and nature itself would be his first considerations when designing a building. He called this "organic architecture." Taliesin is considered to be the first house Wright designed based on his philosophy of organic architecture.

Taliesin, built 1911

Sadly, Taliesin received public attention for a much darker reason. While Wright was in Chicago, a butler at Taliesan intentionally set fire to the living quarters and murdered 7 people with an axe. Wright's lover, Mamah, and her two children were killed in the attack. Wright rebuilt Taliesin after the fire as a tribute to Mamah.

The Fallingwater, built 1939. One of Wright's most famous examples of Organic Architecture.

Wright was asked in a 1952 interview, "What do you mean when you say the design for a building should be organic?"

Wright responded, "That the design for the building should be natural. That it should be an expression of the circumstances appropriate to the time, appropriate to the place. And, in all it's features, belonging to time, and place, and now."

I adore that quote. Admittedly, I'm taking the quote out of context, but I think it is also a good principle to follow during a home restoration. Many times during our restoration we have struggled to find that balance between living a modern lifestyle and restoring our 95 year old in a way that is appropriate. It easy to get caught up with all the period perfect details and sometimes lose sight of the way you want to live. I like that Wright included the "now" at the end of his quote.

Posted by heather at October 11, 2007 2:38 PM