Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)

Typically I think of the books in the Architecture 3s series like a 12-pack sampler of beer, in which one of the four flavors – or in these cases, one of the three buildings – is not so desirable. That sort of analogy cannot be used in the case of this collection of 20th century residential masterpieces: Fallingwater, Villa Mairea, and the Eames House. The first two are strongly linked, since they were completed at roughly the same time (late 1930s), and in Aalto's design of the Villa show more Mairea his initial sketches show him trying to create a Finnish version of Fallingwater, sans waterfall. If any houses are worthy of case studies, these are them, meaning that other books have been written on them and these aren't necessarily the main sources for people interested in them. Fallingwater, for example, was documented by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., the owner's son, an architect, and the person who probably knew the house best. Nevertheless, this collection is a great one to have for any fan of modern residential architecture. show less

Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, the venerable architectectural historian and critic, once remarked that an architect's talent to write well was inversely proportional to his talent to design. And she was talking about Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) at the time. Wright, she thought, was one of the worst writers on matters architectural, which may account, in part, for the greatness of his architecture.

I've often spoken of this book, Wright's "An Autobiography" as being one of the perhaps three most show more important architectural books of the 20th century, along with Le Corbusier's "Towards a New Architecture" and Robert Venturi's "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture". I would further propose that of these three, Wright's book was the most important and influential because it was intended for, and in fact has reached, the general reading public as well as its professional audience.

While on one level this is an autobiographical overview of Wright's life and career, he talks at length about his design philosophy of buildings and cities, and goes on to discuss just about everything else imaginable, from the wonders of rural American life to pacificsm in wartime. Because of who he was, and more importantly because what he did, those views are worth hearing.

This book was published three times -- first, in 1932; then a second time, with a large additional section in 1943; and finally as a postumous third edition, with a further large additional section in 1977.

This 1943 edition, as a piece of book production, is by far the most aesthetically pleasing. Bound in in red cloth in a square format, the volume is divided into several "books", each of which has a specially designed graphic plate or divider page, printed in silver on a chocolate brown stock. A very handsome piece of graphic design. Though this edition lacks the plentiful illustrations of the other editions, there are numerous other books on and by Wright that have all the illustrations one could want or need.

Remebering that Wright was essentially a Victorian, we can perhaps overlook the overly verbose and purple prose style, and just enjoy this fascinating look into the personal and professional worlds in which Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized architecture as we know it. show less

Frank Lloyd Wright was definitely a man of strong opinions, as indicated in this 1954 publication that came out a few years before his death.

One such opinion is indicated by this apparently sarcastic comment about some of his clients:

"...he then thinks, because of his 'success', then he can tell you, or anybody else, all about things of which he really knows nothing at all -- a house in particular. His success as a maker of money makes him an universal expert".

Additionally, some of his show more opinions would not fly very well today, such as this: "a garage is no longer necessary as cars are made. A carport will do, with liberal over-head shelter and walls on two sides. Detroit still has the livery-stable mind. It believes that the car is a horse and must be stabled".

But, it is a time capsule of FLW's thoughts on architecture. He also felt that we should build and live as far away from the city as possible, because cars make urban life unnecessary.

This is an out-of-print edition with small black-and-white photos included -- it may be worthwhile for those who are serious fans of either FLW and/or architecture. show less

If anybody were most qualified to write about Fallingwater, it would be Edgar Kaufmann Jr., son of the client, apprentice to Wright, part-time occupant of the house for 27 years, and heir who donated it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Logically then, this large-format book has Kaufmann's recollections, as well as photos by Christopher Little (the photographer of choice for the building), some beautiful drawings in color, and much more. It is a fitting balance of Kaufmann the show more client's son and Kaufmann the architectural historian. show less