Important Periods, Pieces, and Influences

Although Wright developed and grouped his entire architectural practice as an effort in “organic architecture,” he also greatly contributed to, and in some cases founded, eras of design styles. This section looks at significant periods, pieces, and influences that he had impact over during the course of his life and career.

Wright is heavily credited as leading the Prairie movement, based on an interest in offering American families functional homes that rejected the showier, excessive styles of the previous Victorian era. Sources differ on the exact years that Prairie style architecture was prevalent. Some sources refer to the years from 1893 to 1920, while others narrow the timeline to a little more than a decade, running from 1901 to 1913.

Essential elements of a Prairie era style residence include the following:

• Horizontal lines

• Built-in furniture

• Restraint of ornamentation

• Hipped roofs with large, straight overhangs

• Open floor plans which created flow through a home and gave specific focus to the living and dining room areas of the home

• Rows of windows that further emphasized the horizontal aesthetic

Some of Wright's most notable homes designed during the Prairie era include the Thomas House built in 1894, the Ingalls House and the May House in 1909, the Robie House in 1910, the Coonley House in 1912 and the Little House 1914. Each home featured a strong horizontal design emphasized by striking rows of windows so indicative of the Prairie style.

Less well-known than Prairie architecture, the Textile Block period of Frank Lloyd Wright's career was relatively short and limited to southern California. While the period is known to run from approximately 1917 to 1924, Wright's commissioned works in this style were constructed in just 1923 and 1924. Using pre-cast concrete blocks bearing various patterns, the Textile Block form of architecture brought some sense of ornamentation back, while Wright still maintained simplicity of line and space.

Loosely inspired by Mayan Revival Architecture, Wright built four homes in Los Angeles using the Textile Block system—the Millard House and The Storer House in 1923, and The Freeman House and the Ennis house during 1924. These homes kept the geometric styling of the Prairie era, but did not utilize the signature hipped roofs or horizontal window rows.

While Wright was not the first to coin the term “Usonia,” he did refer to this word when speaking of his vision of a new architectural landscape for America that was in no way associated with the conventional architecture of Europe of the same period. The word originated from the abbreviation USONA—which stood for United States of North America. Writer James Duff Law repurposed the word as Usonia, likely a play on the word Utopia.

In architecture, Usonian Era homes were usually modest in size and scale. They were typically single story homes with a healthy balance between indoor space and outdoor space. It's important to note that the Usonian period began in 1936 in the midst of the great depression. As such, Wright consciously created this style to be cost-affordable to average families, resulting in these homes lacking attics, basements, and garages. The word “carport” was first coined by Wright himself, as he built overhangs under which home owners would park their vehicles in lieu of the traditional garaged space.

During this Usonian period, homes attributed to Wright included the Hanna House built in 1936, the Rosenblum House in 1939, the Pope-Leighey House in 1940 and the Isadore-Zimmerman House, also built in 1940. While more modest than much of Wright's previous work, each of these homes was striking in its own right, with the distinctive geometric harmony so often attributed to the architect.

Of course, Wright could not have inspired whole periods of American architecture if he did not inspire other architects along the way. Here are just a mere few examples of those he influenced either directly or indirectly, although his influence over architects as a whole was likely more in the tens of thousands:

John Rattenbury—worked with and studied directly under Wright himself. Rattenbury is best known for his book A Living Architecture, which discusses the work of Wright and other Taliesin architects.

Michael Rust—worked and studied under John Rattenbury, and Rust's work borrows much of the Wright aesethetic, including low, horizontal lines, banks of windows that further emphasize the horizontal, and a harmony of the design with the surrounding landscapes. The Collins House, designed by Rust and built in 2007, is a prime example of Wright's influence on his work.

Richard Neutra—while he has his own distinct style and only studied under Wright for a brief period of time, Neutra's architectural point of view shows a definite connection to Wright's own. Neutra was well known for creating harmony between indoor and outdoor living, especially since much of his work was commissioned in southern California. He used floor to ceiling windows as much as possible, as well as open floor plans. The Troxell House in the Los Angeles area, dating from 1956, blended many elements reminiscent of Wright's own design approach.

William Wesley Peters—worked so closely with Frank Lloyd Wright that he actually married Wright's daughter. Peters is well regarded for continuing Wright's love of geometry inspired by nature and clean lines. The Benton House, constructed in 1985, features dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows with geometric patterning completely reminiscent of the architectural styling of Wright.

There are also specific examples of contemporary architecture inspired by Wright, although without knowing the body of his work, it may be easy to look at these examples and see no relationship between them and Wright's influence:

The Water Cherry House by Kengo Kuma—with strong Japanese references, this home bears much of Wright's interest in low, horizontal lines, celebration of light, and a closeness with nature and the surrounding landscape, including water, trees, and stone.

The Namhae House by Joho Architecture—this home uses steel latticework to filter daylight and create a semi-enclosed terrace that blends interior and exterior space, a blending Wright was exceptionally focused on delivering in each of his residential projects.

The Stone House by Vo Trong Nghia Architects—located in Vietnam, this home allows the inhabitants a strong relationship with nature by virtue of the courtyard designed within the home and the many windows which allow in light.

The Edgeland House by Bercy Chen Studio—built on a rehabilitated brownfield site in Austin, Texas, this unique, triangular shaped home is actually built into the earth, again bringing nature into play with decisive geometric shaping, not unlike many of Wright's projects.

Amangiri Hotel & Resort (Canyon Point, Utah)—architecturally, the resort has been designed to blend into the landscape with natural hues, materials, and textures as a feature of the design. The structures are commanding and in proportion with the scale of the natural surroundings, yet provide an intimate setting from which to view and appreciate the landscape.

The Aliah Hotel—the Aliah Project aims to be not only a comfortable and innovative hotel, but a transcendental space, where visitors are encouraged to re-evaluate their attitudes in favor of a better, healthier, and more balanced way of life. The proposed architecture for the Aliah Project seeks to put these concepts into focus, restoring essential and timeless values that underlie the interaction between humans and the environment, and thereby promoting opportunities for contemplation, walking, and meditation.

Wright's influence on design stems far beyond architecture. His interest in geometry is often borrowed by many of today's product designers. Examples are such household items as a table runner and placemats, or an iPhone case, which are inspired by Wright's horizontal designs and are available via the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust's “ShopWright” website. Another example is a patterned tile front of a fireplace by Daniel Becker Design, which seems to be a contemporary twist on the textile block patterns Wright created in California.

Wright was a huge proponent of low, long horizontal lines, a connection to nature, and considering how light would disperse through a given area. In the design of many contemporary products, the designers may not even feel the impact of Wright's influence directly, yet without his contributions to the design world these kinds of creations may not exist today. If Frank Lloyd Wright were alive today, living walls, glass bricks, and illuminated furnishings might be some of the things he himself would consider creating.

Let's return to Wright's own work and take a look at some of the well-known works from the architect himself.

While many people do not know that the current Guggenheim museum, completed in 1959, is a Frank Lloyd Wright creation, it is certainly recognized worldwide as an architectural masterpiece. Originally considered quite the controversial building for exhibiting modern art, the Guggenheim is a cultural landmark and a beloved modernist icon in and of itself. Indeed, the cylindrical, ribbon-like shape, curved interior walls, and gently ramped floors actually make it difficult to hang art or display large three-dimensional sculptures.

In a letter from Hilla Rebay—then director at the Guggenheim museum—written to Wright in 1943 in which she invites him to design a new space, she states:

“I need a fighter, a lover of space, an originator, a tester and a wise man. Your three books, which I am reading now, gave me the feeling that no one else would do.”

As one of the most loved and, at the same time, criticized buildings in America, it seems Rebay chose her architect quite wisely.

Much has been written about Fallingwater^®, perhaps Wright's most well-known residential project. The now famous cantilevered home was built in 1935 to perch over a waterfall in Stewart Township, Pennsylvania, which is located just outside of Pittsburgh.

Originally commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann as a family retreat, Wright kept his clients at bay for months before finally drafting plans for the home a mere two hours before meeting with them to review the scope of the project. Today, it is designated as a National Historic Landmark and widely celebrated as Wright's most exceptional work and one of the most important buildings in American architecture. According to the Fallingwater website, it “is the only major Wright-designed house to open to the public with its furnishings, artwork, and setting intact.”