Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright Photo By New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect, designer, writer, and educator from the United States.

For all the praise he garnered in his 70-year career, the architect has designed more than 1,000 structures.

Frank Lloyd was born on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, but claimed to have been born in 1869 throughout his life.

His father, William Cary Wright, was a gifted musician, orator, occasional preacher, published composer and formerly a Baptist minister, before joining his wife’s family in the Unitarian faith.

Wright’s mother, Anna Lloyd Jones, was a teacher and a Lloyd Jones family member.

1. His architectural profession began while he was still in the womb

According to Wright’s biographies, his mother predicted that her son would grow up to build beautiful structures while she was pregnant with him.

To boost the infant’s ambition, she decked his nursery with engravings of English cathedrals taken from a periodical.

Then, in 1876, she went to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, where she witnessed the Froebel Gifts, instructional geometric bricks that served as the cornerstone for an innovative kindergarten curriculum.

She purchased a set for her nine-year-old son, who later described their impact on his career in his autobiography: “For several years I sat at the little Kindergarten table-top… and played… with the cube, the sphere and the triangle—these smooth wooden maple blocks… All are in my fingers to this day… ”

2. To avoid bankruptcy, he published over 20 books

Frank Lloyd Wright Photo By New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer – Wikimedia Commons

Wright was constantly on the verge of bankruptcy, owing a large part to reckless spending habits to support his finer tastes, such as expensive suits and fast cars.

To survive the Great Depression, he broadened his skills, focusing on teaching and writing.

Eventually, he published over 20 books, including one on Japanese art, an autobiography, and his more well-known titles like “The Disappearing City,” in which he first proposed the idea for his Broadacre City concept.

3. He also left his imprint on other continents

The Guggenheim Museum, his most famous work, is located in Manhattan, New York City. The majority, if not all, of his designs, are located in the United States.

Although his contributions to American architecture are by far his most significant, he also spent six years of his professional life in Japan working on the Imperial Hotel Tokyo project.

Previously, he spent several years touring Europe, lecturing and working with his longtime lover.

4. Wright was an outspoken opponent of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)

He was well-known for his disdain for other architects and his refusal to join the AIA. He saw the institute as “a harbour of refuge for the incompetent” and a “form of refined gangsterism.”

Nonetheless, the architect was awarded the gold medal by the organization in 1949.

Despite his enormous success and notoriety, he was an outcast and a firm believer in individualism.

5. He attempted to construct the world’s tallest structure, which inspired the world’s actual tallest structure

Frank Lloyd Wright Photo By Harris & Ewing – Wikimedia Commons

Wright’s proposal for the world’s tallest building in Chicago, dubbed the Mile High Illinois, was detailed in his 1965 book “A Testament.”

If constructed, it would have provided 18 million square feet across 528 floors, and Wright claimed that it could accommodate more than 100,000 people, as well as parking for 15,000 cars and 150 helicopters.

Surprisingly, the Mile High is said to have inspired the Burj, which was designed by Chicago-based architects Adrian Smith and engineer Bill Baker of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Both buildings, most notably, use a tripod design; Wright’s was triangular, while the Burj has three wings.

They are also both made of reinforced concrete and have a central core that rises all the way to the top to form a spire.

6. Frank Lloyd Wright was a pioneer in green design

In his 1954 book The Natural House, he describes building a green roof for his son, laying the groundwork for the current sustainable design movement.

Not only that but many of his designs were based on the fundamental principle that design should be an extension of its natural surroundings.

Prairie Style was the architect’s style because it combines the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement, with its emphasis on nature, craftsmanship, and simplicity.

7. He was a key figure in the development of Lincoln Logs.

Frank Lloyd Wright Photo By Unknown author – Wikimedia Commons

John Lloyd Wright became an architect and collaborated with his father on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo for a period before they fell out over a wage disagreement.

Even though this project caused him to lose his architectural firm, it did result in his most famous masterpiece.

When he returned to Chicago, John founded the Red Square Toy Company, which was named after the emblem that had come to symbolize his father.

He introduced his first toy to the market in 1918–notched miniature redwood logs used to construct play log cabins–and later registered the name Lincoln Logs in 1923.

8. He designed almost 1,000 projects during his career.

Wright designed 1,114 buildings during his lifetime, but only 532 of them were constructed.

While some of his buildings have been demolished, Wright’s architecture may still be found in countries such as the United States, Japan, and Canada.

Many of his unfinished designs were realized years after his death, although he had many throughout his lifetime.

9. The phrase “organic architecture” was coined by Wright.

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright Photo By Somach – Wikimedia Commons

Wright’s architectural concept, “organic architecture,” was influenced in part by his admiration for Japanese design.

The word refers to a design approach that seeks to achieve the ideal balance between man, nature, and design.

Wright’s aesthetics aimed to blend and incorporate numerous natural features, virtually making the structure appear as if it sprouted out of the earth, rather than a building overshadowing or overpowering nature.

One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous organic architecture homes is Fallingwater, which is located in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.

The house was built partly above a waterfall, and the building, its furniture, and the surroundings became coherent pieces of one continuous, connected composition thanks to intelligent design that is perfectly merged with its natural location.

10. He was a well-known Japanese art dealer.

Wright ran a thriving business dealing in Japanese block prints until his death in 1959. The Japanese Ukiyoe woodblock print tradition provided him with a model for deep insights.

Wright is claimed to have made more money from this venture than from his architectural practice at times during his career.