Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright had an amazing ability to make art out of ordinary objects and materials. He was inspired by nature & geometric patterns and tried to achieve simplicity, unity, and harmony in his designs.

He designed private residences and public buildings with every detail in mind. Landscape, structure, fireplaces, windows, furniture, lighting were all components of a unified environment.

Frank Lloyd Wright at a Glance

Click on the small link to be taken to the Frank Lloyd Wright Wikipedia page.

Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 - April 9, 1959) was an American (of Welsh descent) architect, interior designer, writer, and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works.

Wright promoted organic architecture (exemplified by Fallingwater), was a leader of the Prairie School movement of architecture (exemplified by the Robie House and the Westcott House), and developed the concept of the Usonian home (exemplified by the Rosenba...

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Rowing Boathouse

Buffalo New York

FLW designed a boathouse for the University of Wisconsin in 1905. He felt it was one of his greatest designs but when the school didn't take on the project he never got to see it built.

Fast forward to 1997 when a few men from upstate New York, who came across the plans at a conference of Wright scholars, wanted to revive the project. Further work had to be done to make that happen. They enlisted the help of Anthony Puttnam from Taliesin Architects, an apprentice of Wright's, who took the sketches and worked out the final details so it could be built.

102 years after it was designed, on Friday, September 28th, 2007, Frank Lloyd Wright's vision became a reality. The project was completed and opened to the public in Buffalo, N.Y. on the Niagara River.

You can read about the project and check out a few videos at the wrightsboathouse.org website.

Frank Lloyd Wright in the Midwest

Frank Lloyd Wright built in 33 States of the US, most notably Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan.

The images below are (from left to right):
Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, IL
Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, IL
Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin
Melvyn Maxwell Smith House, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House by Elliot et Zach

Melvyn Maxwell Smith House exterior 2 - FLW, Architect - Bloomfield Hills built in 1946 by string_bass_dave

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Frank Lloyd Wright in the West

Arizona, California...and Japan

The images below are (from left to right):
Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona
Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix Arizona
Hollyhock House, Los Angeles, California
Charles Ennis House, Los Angeles, California
Imperial Hotel, Inuyama City, Japan

Frank Lloyd Wright ~Hollyhock House by ARCH Chris

Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel by chimpsonfilm

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Frank Lloyd Wright in the East

There are a good number of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Pennsylvania and New York

The images below are (from left to right):
Falling Water, Mill Run, Pennsylvania
Isaac Newton Hagan House, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania
Beth Sholom Synagogue, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Darwin D. Martin House, Buffalo, NY

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Learning about Frank Lloyd Wright

When I was in school for architecture one of my professors was Grattan Gil. He was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright. Grattan is one of a small number of Wright's students from the 1950s still actively practicing architecture. He taught a class called Frank Lloyd Wright: A Life's Work. Who better to teach such a class than one who learned from FLW directly. Since I was in the class my uncle thought he should stock me up on books and videos about Mr. Wright and some of those are shown below.

Great Frank Lloyd Wright Books

They are all on my bookshelf

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Meaning of Materials (Architecture)

by Terry L. Patterson

This book includes sections on wood, stone, brick, concrete block, metal, concrete, and glass and how FLW utilized them.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $46.95
Used Price:

Frank Lloyd Wright: Designs for an American Landscape, 1922-1932

by David Delong

This book focuses on 5 prototypes, Doheny Ranch, the Lake Tahoe summer colony, the A.M. Johnson desert compound, the Gordon Strong automobile objective and San Marcos. None of these were built.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $45.00
Used Price: $6.95

Understanding Frank Lloyd Wright's Architecture

by Donald Hoffmann

This book analyzes Wright's approach to siting, furnishing, landscaping and other details.

Amazon Price: $13.45 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $14.95
Used Price: $6.94

Wright, Frank Lloyd

by Spencer Hart

This book talks about Wright's life growing up and his studying architecture. It then moves into a look at many of his most famous buildings.

Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Used Price: $11.79

Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and Taliesin West

by Kathryn Smith

This book talks about the two Frank Lloyd Wright homes; Taliesin in Wisconsin, and Taliesin West in Arizona. it has beautiful photographs of each.

Amazon Price: $28.38 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $39.95
Used Price: $12.75

More books from my collection

Lost Wright

by Carla Lind

This book talks about all of Wright's buildings that are no longer around. Some of them include the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, the Midway Gardens in Chicago and the Larkin Administration Building in Buffalo NY.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $35.00
Used Price: $10.00

Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright's Design for America

by Alvin Rosenbaum

This was written by a man who grew up in a Usonian house. It talks about FLW's ideas for regional planning and his vision for America.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $29.95
Used Price: $42.00

Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright's Romance With Nature

by Lynda S. Waggoner, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

As the title suggests this is about one of FLW's most well known buildings, Fallingwater, a home built for the Kaufmann family in the 1930s.

Release Date: 10/15/1996

Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $18.95
Used Price: $2.66

Frank Lloyd Wright: West Portfolio (Frank Lloyd Wright Portfolio Series)

by Thomas A. Heinz

This is one of the books in the Frank Lloyd Wright Portfolio Series. I have the set of 6.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $12.95
Used Price: $3.67

Frank Lloyd Wright's Glass Designs (Wright at a Glance)

by Carla Lind

This is one of the books in the Wright at a Glance Series. I have the set of 12.

Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $9.95
Used Price: $4.89

These were my textbooks

If they were chosen by Grattan they have to be good.

Frank Lloyd Wright: His Life and His Architecture

by Robert Twombly, Robert C. Twombly

Amazon Price: $30.43 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $45.00
Used Price: $4.99

Usually ships in 24 hours

In the Nature of Materials: The Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright 1887-1941 (Da Capo Paperback)

by Henry-Russell Hitchcock

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $27.50
Used Price: $5.50

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: Writings and Buildings

by Edgar (et al. Kaufmann

I scanned my copy and put the image on Amazon. You can see it if you click on the link.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price:
Used Price: $3.63

Note Card Sets Inspired by FLW

Pomegranate Frank Lloyd Wright/Glass Designs Standard Boxed Note Card Set (Pack of 2)

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $18.89 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $29.90
Used Price:

Usually ships in 24 hours

I have these FLW videos on VHS

Some of them are now on DVD

Frank Lloyd Wright: A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

Release Date: 09/28/2004

Amazon Price: $21.99 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $24.99
Used Price: $16.62

Fallingwater, The House Tour

Release Date: 05/01/2005

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Used Price: $49.99

Three Wright Eras: Places For Living, Work, Worship

Release Date: 05/13/1997

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $19.98
Used Price: $1.79

Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright

Release Date: 03/23/1999

Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $24.95
Used Price: $7.40

America's Castles: Homes of Frank Lloyd Wright

Release Date: 04/07/1998

Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Used Price: $3.46

Zimmerman House

This was one of the homes that Grattan brought us to. We were in school in Rhode Island so two houses in Manchester, New Hampshire were the closest Frank Lloyd Wright buildings for us to visit.

Unfortunately I can not find my photographs. Luckily though there are images of the Zimmerman House on flickr.

The other house was the Kalil House a private residence that is not open to the public. We were able to go in since Grattan knew the owners. I'm very sad to say that I have no photos to share.

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