FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

INTRODUCTION
• NAME: FRANK LINCOLN WRIGHT
• BORN: JUNE 8, 1867
• PLACE OF BIRTH: RICHLAND CENTER, WISCONSIN, U.S.
WHO IS FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT?
EARLY LIFE
• CAME FROM A LOW INCOME FAMILY • THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
• FATHER LEFT HIS MOTHER AFTER HE GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL AMERICAN ARCHITECT OF
THE 20TH CENTURY.
• STARTED UNIVERSITY AT THE AGE OF 15
• PIONEER OF THE “ORGANIC”
• WORKED FOR THE DEAN TO SUPPORT HIS TUITION FEES ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT.
• WORKED AS A DRAFTSMAN FOR CHICAGO ARCHITECTURAL FIRM OF ADLER AND SULLIVAN
• STARTED WORKING DIRECTLY UNDER LOUIS SULLIVAN (FATHER OF SKYSCRAPERS)
• PARTED WAYS WHEN HE BREACHED HIS CONTRACT BY ACCEPTING PRIVATE COMMISSIONS

• FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WAS EIGHTY YEARS OLD IN 1947; HE HAD BEEN PRESENT AT THE BEGINNING OF AMERICAN MODERNISM, AND THOUGH HE REFUSED TO
ACCEPT THAT HE BELONGED TO ANY MOVEMENT, CONTINUED TO PLAY A LEADING ROLE ALMOST TO ITS END.
• HE DESIGNED NINE NEW BUILDINGS IN A STYLE THAT HE DESCRIBED AS "THE CHILD OF THE SUN".
• HE WROTE THAT HE WANTED THE CAMPUS TO "GROW OUT OF THE GROUND AND INTO THE LIGHT, A CHILD OF THE SUN."

• ONE OF HIS MOST ORIGINAL LATE PROJECTS WAS THE CAMPUS

OF FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE IN LAKELAND, FLORIDA, BEGUN IN
1941 AND COMPLETED IN 1943.

• THE BUILDING IS UNUSUAL THAT IT IS

SOLOMAN GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM,
BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (1946-1959)
FALLING WATER ( MILL RUN, PENNSYLVANIA )
THE TOWER OF THE JOHNSON WAX
HEADQAURTERS AND RESEARCH
CENTER (1944–50)
THE PFEIFFER CHAPEL AT FLORIDA SUPPORTED BY ITS CENTRAL CORE OF FOUR
SOUTHERN COLLEGE(1941-1958)
ELEVATOR SHAFTS; THE REST OF THE BUILDING
IS CANTILEVERED TO THIS CORE, LIKE THE
BRANCHES OF A TREE.
• WRIGHT ORIGINALLY TPLANNED THE
STRUCTURE FOR AN APARTMENT BUILDING IN
NEW YORK CITY.
• HE WROTE THAT IN NEW YORK CITY HIS
BUILDING WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST IN A
FOREST OF TALL BUILDINGS, BUT THAT IN
OKLAHAOMA IT STOOD ALONE.
• THE DESIGN IS ASYMMETRICAL; EACH SIDE IS
DIFFERENT.
THE PRICETOWER IN BBARTISVIILLE
, OKLAHOMA 1956
 SOLOMAN GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, (1946-1959)
• IN 1943 HE WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE ART COLLECTOR SOLOMAN
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM TO DESIGN A MUSEUM FOR HIS COLLECTION OF
MODERN ART.
• HIS DESIGN WAS ENTIRELY ORIGINAL; A BOWL-SHAPED BUILDING WITH A
SPIRAL RAMP INSIDE THAT LED MUSEUM VISITORS ON AN UPWARD TOUR OF
THE ART OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
• WORK BEGAN IN 1946 BUT IT WAS NOT COMPLETED UNTIL 1959, THE YEAR
THAT HE DIED.

VIEW OF THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

PLAN

GLASS CEILING OF THE

MUSEUM

FRONT FAÇADE OF THE MUSEUM

• THE EXTERIOR OF THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IS A STACKED WHITE CYLINDER OF

REINFORED CONCRETE SWIRLING TOWARDS THE SKY.
• THE MUSEUM'S DRAMATIC CURVES OF THE EXTERIOR, HOWEVER, HAD AN EVEN MORE
STUNNING EFFECT ON THE INTERIOR.
• INSIDE WRIGHT PROPOSED "ONE GREAT SPACE ON A CONTINUOUS FLOOR," AND HIS
CONCEPT WAS A SUCCESS.
• DESPITE THE OPINION OF CRITICS, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WRIGHT'S DESIGN FOR THE
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM PROVIDES A SPATIAL FREEDOM THAT IS UNIQUE TO HIS STYLE.
• IT TOOK WRIGHT 700 SKETCHES AND SIX SETS OF WORKING DRAWINGS TO TURN HIS
VISION INTO AN EXTRAORDINARY SCULPTURE OF A BUILDING OVERLOOKING CENTRAL
PARK, THAT IN THE VERY LEAST SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED AS ONE OF THE MOST
SPATIALLY BEAUTIFUL INTERNATIONAL-STYLE WORKS OF ARCHITECTURE.
SECTION
 LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE
• LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE BORN MARIA LUDWIG MICHAEL MIES; MARCH 27, 1886 – AUGUST 17, 1969)
WAS A GERMAN-AMERICAN ARCHITECT..
• ALONG WITH LE CORBUSIER, WALTER GROPIUS AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, HE IS WIDELY REGARDED AS
ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE.
• MIES, LIKE MANY OF HIS POST-WORLD WAR I CONTEMPORARIES, SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH A NEW
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE THAT COULD REPRESENT MODERN TIMES JUST AS CLASSICAL AND GOTHIC DID FOR
THEIR OWN ERAS.

• HE CREATED AN INFLUENTIAL TWENTIETH-CENTURY

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE, STATED WITH EXTREME CLARITY AND
SIMPLICITY. HIS MATURE BUILDINGS MADE USE OF MODERN
MATERIALS SUCH AS INDUSTRIAL STEEL AND PLATE GLASS TO
DEFINE INTERIOR SPACES.
CROWN HALL AT THE ILLINOIS
• HE STROVE TOWARD AN ARCHITECTURE WITH A MINIMAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
FRAMEWORK OF STRUCTURAL ORDER BALANCED AGAINST THE CHICAGO (1956)
IMPLIED FREEDOM OF UNOBSTRUCTED FREE-FLOWING OPEN
SPACE.
• HE CALLED HIS BUILDINGS "SKIN AND BONES" ARCHITECTURE.
• HE SOUGHT AN OBJECTIVE APPROACH THAT WOULD GUIDE THE
CREATIVE PROCESS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, BUT HE WAS
ALWAYS CONCERNED WITH EXPRESSING THE SPIRIT OF THE
MODERN ERA.
• HE IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH HIS QUOTATION OF THE
APHORISMS, "LESS IS MORE" AND "GOD IS IN THE DETAILS".
• HE CONSTRUCTED NEW BUILDINGS FOR THE INSTITUTE IN
MODERNIST STYLE, TWO HIGH-RISE APARTMENT BUILDINGS ON
LAKESHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS,
LAKESHORE DRIVE (1948–51), WHICH BECAME MODELS FOR HIGH- CHICAGO, (1948–51)
RISES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

THE SEAGRAM BUILDING, NEW YORK

CITY, 1958,

• THE BUILDING ALSO SET A NEW

FARNSWORTH HOUSE IN PLANO,
ILLINOIS (1945–51)
• AN SIMPLE HORIZONTAL GLASS BOX
THAT HAD AN ENORMOUS INFLUENCE •
ON AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL
ARCHITECTURE.
STANDARD FOR PURITY AND
ELEGANCE. BASED ON GRANITE
PILLARS,
THE SMOOTH GLASS AND STEEL
WALLS WERE GIVEN A TOUCH OF
COLOR BY THE USE OF BRONZE-
TONED I-BEAMS IN THE STRUCTURE.
 CROWN HALL, ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY (IIT)
NAME OF BUILDING: CROWN HALL, ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (IIT)
LOCATION: 3360 S. STATE STREET, CHICAGO, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNER: ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
STATUS: EXISTING (RENOVATED)
TYPE: ARCHITECTURAL SCHOOL
CONSTRUCTION:
STARTED: 1950
COMPLETED: 1956
2005 (RESTORATION COMPLETION), 1956 (ORIGINAL COMPLETION)
OPENING: 1956
COST: $750,000 (ORIGINAL)

DESIGN
THE DESIGN FOR CROWN HALL IS SAID TO BE DERIVED FROM THE CANTOR DRIVE-IN
RESTAURANT WHICH MIES VAN DER ROHE HAD RECENTLY DESIGNED IN 1945. CROWN HALL IS
CHARACTERIZED BY AN AESTHETIC OF INDUSTRIAL SIMPLICITY WITH ARTICULATED EXPOSED
STEEL FRAME CONSTRUCTION
HEIGHT (ROOF): 5.48M
FIRST FLOOR: 3.05M
BASEMENT: 2.43M
TECHNICAL DETAILS:
FLOOR COUNT: 2
TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 36 X 67 M
= 2412 SQ M
LIFTS/ELEVATORS: NONE

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

CROSS SECTION

FLOOR PLAN

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

ELEVATION
BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN