Frank Lloyd Wright: A Comparison Of His Early Works With His Projects :: essays research papers

Frank Lloyd Wright: A Comparison of his Early Work with His Projects in Alabama   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Time has ravaged many of the greatest works of art that mankind has created but one form of art has far outlasted all of the rest. Architecture is the art of buildings but it spills over into designing furniture, bridges, and even cities. There have been many great architects, from the classical builders of ancient Rome and Greece to the Modernists of the last century. All of these men were great in their own right but perhaps the most famous architect ever is Frank Lloyd Wright.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is it that makes an architect stand out from the others in the field? It is a combination of older comfortable designs and cutting edge techniques. Also, it takes a certain amount of perfectionism in even the smallest details such as window design, furniture, and even the types of stones that make up a walkway.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is it that gives an architect that creative genius to be remembered as one of the greatest? Is it learning from other greats and implementing their ideas into new designs? Is it taking designs from nature and turning them into great manmade monuments? Is it turning experiences from life into blueprints that will continue to inspire for years to come? The answer is impossible to find by examining only one architect but some insight may be gained by examining the life and training of the architect and by comparing the early works with the later.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first work to be examined is Taliesin. Located in Hillside, Wisconsin and begun in 1911. Taliesin was built as a lasting monument to his lover, Mamah Borthwick ( Cheney ). It was named after a medieval epic poem from Wales called â€Å" The Book Of Taliesin.† It was built at a time in Wright’s life when his personal and professional lives were nearly in ruins. He referred to Taliesin as a â€Å" refuge and retreat for the woman, the work, and himself.†(Levine 76) When Wright began building Taliesin he had turned over control of his architectural firm to Hermann von Holst and had finally been granted a divorce from his tumultuous marriage to his first wife, Catherine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These demons that haunted Wright can be seen in his design for Taliesin and the way he threw himself head long into the completion of the project. Throughout the design for the house Wright mixes elements of the natural landscape to strengthen the lines of the house and to bring out it’s natural beauty.