Frank Lloyd Wright one of America’s most beloved architects designed more than 300 residences in his 70-year career, and now through Oct. 22 the public can expereience his work at the Boise Art Museum.
Wright had a passion for architectural studies and was exposed to structural influences as a small child playing with kindergarten educational blocks (Froebel Blocks.)
Wright attended the University of Wisconsin School for Engineering and joined a fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.
Although he did not earn a degree, Wright became an apprentice during his years at the University and eventually joined the firm of Adler and Sullivan.
By 1890 Frank Lloyd Wright created all residential designs for the firm. Wright received commissary work from all over the country. States such as New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio still display working models of some of Wright’s houses.
Wright’s most famous design is called “Fallingwater,” and cost approximately $155,000 to build, including Wright’s $8,000 architect fee.
The house is constructed of a series of balconies and terraces with a beautiful cascading waterfall running underneath part of the house.
This design incorporates Wright’s passion for including natural elements into houses so they not only fit, but also blend well into the surrounding nature of an area. This is known as organic architecture.
Today “Fallingwater” is Wright’s most well known design, and is also protected as a national monument.
Wright had definitive philosophies about his work and said, “Continuously nature shows him the science of her remarkable economy of structure in mineral and vegetable constructions to go with the unspoiled character everywhere apparent in her forms. Form follows function _” that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.”
Frank Lloyd Wright also worked as an interior designer.
Many of his creations will be on display at the Boise Art Museum. The exhibition includes over 100 original objects designed by Wright including furniture, metal work, textiles, drawings, and accessories. A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.