"At some point, you have to forgive Frank Lloyd Wright for his excesses, his ego, his sensitivities, his horrible relations with his kids, and realize, on balance, that here was an extraordinary contribution to human history." ~ Ken Burns (Drennan, 154)
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Frank Lloyd Wright, born Frank Lincoln Wright, was born on June 8, 1867. Wright later changed his birth date from 1867 to 1869. He was the first child of William Russel Cary Wright and Anna Lloyd Jones Wright of Richland Center, Wisconsin. Wright's mother Anna knew that Wright would become an architect; she used many mediums to influence him throughout his childhood.
As a young architect, Wright's first job was with one of the most prestigious firms in Chicago. The year 1893 marked when Wright began designing on his own. While still working for his longtime friend Louis Sullivan, he began designing "bootleg" houses. When Sullivan found out Wright was designing houses, he was furious and immediately fired Wright. The two men did not speak again for 17 years. After he was fired by Sullivan, Wright opened his own firm. The Prairie house was invented by Wright shortly after. Wright began using organic architecture, and he began employing draftsmen of his own. He would dictate every detail of his houses down to the clothing for the residents. Wanting to influence young architects, Wright opened the Taliesin Fellowship in 1932 for young architects, and began building his Usonian homes. The construction of Fallingwater brought new popularity to Wright's designs. In 1941, Taliesin West was completed in Arizona. Solomon R. Guggenheim, a wealthy art collector looking to build a museum, asked Wright to design a structure for his museum, but died before construction was started. Work started in 1956 and was completed in 1959, six months after Wright died. Frank Lloyd Wright died on April 9, 1959 at age 91 in Arizona. |