Analysis Paper Example on Frank Lloyd Wright's Artwork

Introduction

Architecture is the art and science of constructing and designing buildings, and every era of human civilization brings about new ideas of architecture. Being both an art and science, architecture occupies a distinctive place in the world's contemporary knowledge systems (Smith 125). This means that artists of the 21st century, as well as those in the consequent centuries, must satisfy the economic, social, political and aesthetic needs of human beings through their architectural designs. To back this idea up, this paper will analyze Frank Lloyd Wright's artwork, and the humanistic statement it makes to today's world by illustrating its relevance in some political and social issues.

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Frank Lloyd Wright was born in 1867 in Wisconsin, and he spent most of his early years in the Midwest before moving to Chicago, where he joined an architectural firm as a draftsman (Smith 76). His career as an architect took off in 1893 when he opened his studio and worked towards becoming one of the greatest architects in the history of American architecture. In fact, Smith (125) states that the American Institute of Architecture named him America's greatest architecture in 1991, and most of his buildings were nominated for UNESCO's World Heritage sites after this. Besides, he is the prime architect behind over 500 architectural projects initiated across the world in the past eight decades, and he is celebrated as the initiator of different styles and designs in architecture including gracefully blending the built environment with nature. Furthermore, Wright was the first architecture of the 21sst century to differentiate his work from prior architectural heritage, by pronouncing his goal of creating an exclusive American architecture that could suitably position a country's identity in transformation (Smith 120). By implementing this goal, Wright helped introduce a new form of development in architecture referred to as modernism, which stressed on cleanliness, simplicity, and proportion in structures (Jaeger and Carter 54).

The low-lying structures that dominated the American plains in the 21st century inspired Wright to create Prairie House style, which was his first implementation of modernism (Smith 145). This style was a reaction to the Victorian style, which was the most superior architectural design at the time. Victorian aesthetic stressed on dark furnishing, and busy decorative features both on the inside and outside. In Prairie house style, Wright made use of clean geometry, with more prominence given to horizontal planes than on vertical planes. For instance, Wright's most popular artwork, falling water consists of rectangular balconies that appear to be floating on the natural cascade that is integrated into the building (Jaeger and Carter 55). In this particular artwork, Wright was able to break hurdles as a pioneer by completely transforming architecture from restrictive and closed Victorian style into a new style that emphasized on open spaces and clean lines between structures (Jaeger and Carter 42). Most if not all his buildings blend intelligently with nature, and his work remains honorable to contemporary architecture and non-functional arts.

Wright's work is relevant in today's world because he advocated design thinking, which is still very common in architecture in the world today. Before designing his buildings, Wright thought about the users. He liked to meet and know his clients before designing a building for them so that he could have an idea of the problems that they had. By identifying his client's problems, Wright would then design holistic spaces in textile, furniture and the accessories used to compliment them (Jaeger and Carter 67). He was able to do this because he not only had a vision of how the building would look like in the end but also how the clients would use these spaces. This is what design is all about in the world of architecture today. Today's buildings incorporate human factors, authenticity, intuitivism and how the objects used in designing a building can be used by the owners (Jaeger and Carter 43). All these things were what Wright's buildings were about.

Besides, Lloyd Wright's endowment is relevant in political issues because he constitutionalized design in his architecture. Wright did not oppose any of the systems that contribute to the functionality of a building including water, sewage system, electricity, and air conditioning systems among others (Smith 234). Wright treated these systems as part of an integrated body, which in turn form a larger system, either a suburb or an entire city. His work encouraged other architects to think of buildings as an incredible system shared by a group of people, just like a system of government governed by all the eligible state members, instead of thinking of it as an individual object. He comprehensively changed architecture from beautiful, and confined boxes and allowed people to view it as a way to change the world and make it a better place to live in (Smith 278). This is relevant in today's world because it has influenced societies to live together in incredible shared systems instead of living in seclusion.

Consequently, Wright's work is relevant to some of today's social issues such as communication because he acknowledged that space, as well as structure, could be substantial tools to bear ethnic values long before the contemporary emphasis on sustained communication. In light of this, Wright dedicated his artistry to create new structural forms to advance his perception of his country (Jaeger and Carter 35). He viewed America as a country with amicably connected citizens, both to each other and to the land in which they resided. His residential architecture gave priority to specific areas such as the heathland, music room, dining table, and the sloppy land, to underscore his vision. Additionally, he emphasized creating an incorporated environment, he celebrated the human function, and all the spaces he created between structures in his buildings, helped infuse warmth.

More so, his prairie house style helped him create buildings that appeared to be linked to the immediate environment (Jaeger and Carter 56). This style involved using natural material such as stones and wood, which helped him integrate the built environment to the surrounding environment. This style is still relevant today because most buildings are made of natural materials like wood and stone as a gateway towards achieving sustainable architecture. Although the American society might have changed significantly since the 1900s, the concealed beliefs that can be decoded from Wrights artwork remain extraordinarily relevant in the world today.

Later in the 1930's Lloyd Wright created a sequence of homes known as the Usonian houses (Smith 230). The word Usonian represented his vision of creating an American landscape set lose from prior architectural convictions. The Usonian houses were one story buildings without basements and roof spaces, but with only a few storage spaces (Smith 236). The buildings contained flat roofs and columns overhangs, which acted as cooling and heating spaces. This concept of Usonian homes is relevant to today's architecture because it lay a foundation for ranch-style houses that gained a lot of prominence in the united states during the 1950s.

Consequently, according to Han and Qi (13), Wright used this term to describe a unique approach to American architecture, that reviewed its democratic principles. By creating these houses, Wright wanted every American citizen to have access to beautiful homes and to experience high-quality architecture. Therefore, the Usonian homes were unexceptional, beautiful and affordable since a classic Usonian home cost roughly 5,000 dollars, which is equivalent to roughly 84,000 dollars in the current- day currency (Han and Qi 43). Also, Wright mostly addressed his work as the architecture of democracy, whereby the power of architecture is bestowed to the people, to either rule directly or indirectly. In fact, in the 1930s, he started a principal planner for the American scenery and named it Broadacre city. Wright formulated this master plan on the democratic idea that each family in America could be given one acre of land on which they would live independently and have access to nearby cultural as well as municipal services. Although this master plan was not realized effectively, Wright's idea of democratic architecture has survived for decades, and modern architectures borrow from it. he gave people an idea of how beautiful the world would be, and how simple their lives would be using the Usonian houses (Han and Qi 15). Furthermore, his ambition and persistent has inspired thousands of architects across the world to look forward to doing greater things regardless of their current situation.

Additionally, Wright innovated sustainability in architecture when he introduced organic architecture, which brings about the idea of the built environment integrating with the natural environment (Han and Qi 45). Wright innovated organic architecture to ensure that human beings do not get rid of the natural environment to construct a building. Instead, architects should find a way for both of them to co-exist, as seen in his famous work, the falling water. Wright's concern is the basis on which contemporary sustainability in architecture is constructed. For instance, Wright positioned his buildings to face the sun way before scientists invented passive solar heating as well as daylighting. Furthermore, Wright began sourcing his building materials locally, and he used building designs that resembled those of mass-produced building materials to minimize construction wastes that can lead to serious health issues (Han and Qi 65). Basically, Wright pioneered green architecture, which is an objective of every modern architecture in the world today.

Works Cited

Han, Zou, and Kang Qi. "A Brief Study of Frank Lloyd Wright's Early Years and the Formation of Organic Architecture Theory." Chinese & Overseas Architecture 6 (2015): 013.

Jaeger, Thomas Arvid, and Adrian Carter. "The Relevance of the Organic Tradition in Architecture in the Digital Age: Explaining the "organic disruption" of international modernism. Exemplified by Joern Utzon's work. Den organiske." UIA 2017 Seoul World Architects Congress. 2017.

Smith, Kathryn. Wright on Exhibit: Frank Lloyd Wright's Architectural Exhibitions. Princeton University Press, 2017.