Modern Architectures of North America

Amanda - Organic Architecture/F.L. Wright


Frank Lloyd Wright was a key figure in the modernist movement and was one of the first architects to coin the term organic architecture.  Frank Lloyd Wright started incorporating the term ‘organic’ into his theory of design in 1908. Organic architecture focuses on the harmonious relationship between materials, design/form, and function; "parts were related to the whole as the whole was related to the parts"(Bruce Brooks, pg. 33). This also includes the relationship between the building and the site (nature, topography, climate). F.L. Wright believed this harmonious relationship would create an organic building that is suited for human’s spiritual and physical needs. F.L. Wright viewed nature, function, ornament, depth and, space as inherent qualities of human spirituality. His beliefs helped devise six design principles of organic architecture (Bruce Brooks, pg. 33).
  1. Simplicity and repose should be the measures of art.
  2. Multiplicity of styles.
  3. Correlating nature, topography and architecture.
  4. Using colors from nature and adapting them to fit congruously with other natural materials used in building.
  5. Expressing “the nature of materials”.
  6. Spiritual integrity in architecture.
In 1935, F.L Wright designed a house in Pennsylvania, Fallingwater, for the Kaufmann family. Fallingwater has become well known for its beautiful modern design of open rooms and big balconies cantilevering over a waterfall.  I have chosen Fallingwater to elucidate and illustrate how F.L. Wright approaches the style of organic architecture.

This is an exterior side view of Fallingwater from the surrounding forest (Kaufmann,1986). [The numbers in each annotation tittle corresponds to one of F.L. Wright's six principles of organic architecture]


This is an interior view of the main floor of Fallingwater (Kaufmann, 1986).

Not only does F. L. Wright's approach to organic architecture have a relationship between design and environment but so does Creole architecture. In Geneieve's project about Creole architecture, she explains how they designed the houses to have open doors to allow for proper ventilation and air flow to accommodate for the hot and humid New Orleans climate. This is similar to how F.L. Wright used a lot of glass windows and doors to improve natural light and air flow. Brittney's project also relates to the idea between architecture and environment, by using organic materials to build sustainable buildings that address the problem of Urban Heating Islands. From the 18th to 20th century, having architecture relate to the surrounding environment has been a reoccurring idea and principle in different styles of architecture.

References
  1.  Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings. Pfeiffer. Vol. 5. New York: Rizzoli in Association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 1994. Print.
  2. "Fallingwater Home." Fallingwater | Home. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
  3.  Riley, Terence, and Peter Reed. "Frank Lloyd Wright and Modernism."Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect: , the Museum of Modern Art, New York,. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994. 32-53. 
  4. Kaufmann, Edgar, and Mark Girouard. Fallingwater. Ed. Walton Rawls. London: Architectural, 1986. 
  5. "Frank Lloyd Wright." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, Web. 12 Mar. 2016.
  6. "Frank Lloyd Wright" PBS. PBS, n Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
  7. "What Is Fallingwater?" Fallingwater.org Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

 

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