Early career Frank Lloyd Wright

1 career

1.1 silsbee , other work experience (1887–1888)
1.2 adler & sullivan (1888–1893)
1.3 transition , experimentation (1893–1900)
1.4 prairie houses (1900–1914)
1.5 notable public works (1902-1925)
1.6 textile concrete block system

early career
silsbee , other work experience (1887–1888)

in 1887, wright arrived in chicago in search of employment. result of devastating great chicago fire of 1871 , population boom, new development plentiful in city. wright later recalled while first impressions of chicago of grimy neighborhoods, crowded streets, , disappointing architecture, determined find work. within days, , after interviews several prominent firms, hired draftsman architectural firm of joseph lyman silsbee. wright collaborated silsbee—accredited draftsman , construction supervisor—on 1886 unity chapel wright s family in spring green, wisconsin. while firm, worked on 2 other family projects: souls church in chicago uncle, jenkin lloyd jones, , hillside home school in spring green 2 of aunts. other draftsmen worked silsbee in 1887 included future architects cecil corwin, george w. maher, , george g. elmslie. wright befriended corwin, whom lived until found permanent home.

feeling underpaid quality of work silsbee (at $8 week), young draftsman quit , found work designer @ firm of beers, clay, , dutton. however, wright realized not ready handle building design himself; left new job return joseph silsbee—this time raise in salary. although silsbee adhered victorian , revivalist architecture, wright found work more gracefully picturesque other brutalities of period. wright aspired more progressive work.

adler & sullivan (1888–1893)

wright learned chicago firm of adler & sullivan looking make finished drawings interior of auditorium building . wright demonstrated competent impressionist of louis sullivan s ornamental designs , 2 short interviews later, official apprentice in firm. wright did not along sullivan s other draftsmen; wrote several violent altercations occurred between them during first years of apprenticeship. matter, sullivan showed little respect employees well. in spite of this, sullivan took [wright] under wing , gave him great design responsibility. act of respect, wright later refer sullivan lieber meister (german dear master ). formed bond office foreman paul mueller. wright later engage mueller build several of public , commercial buildings between 1903 , 1923.

wright s home in oak park, illinois

on june 1, 1889, wright married first wife, catherine lee kitty tobin (1871–1959). 2 had met around year earlier during activities @ souls church. sullivan did part facilitate financial success of young couple granting wright five-year employment contract. wright made 1 more request: mr. sullivan, if want me work long 5 years, couldn t lend me enough money build little house? sullivan s $5,000 loan, wright purchased lot @ corner of chicago , forest avenues in suburb of oak park. existing gothic revival house given mother, while compact shingle style house built alongside wright , catherine.

according 1890 diagram of firm s new, 17th-floor space atop auditorium building, wright earned private office next sullivan s own. however, office shared friend , draftsman george elmslie, hired sullivan @ wright s request. wright had risen head draftsman , handled residential design work in office. general rule, adler & sullivan did not design or build houses, obliged when asked clients of important commercial projects. wright occupied firm s major commissions during office hours, house designs relegated evening , weekend overtime hours @ home studio. later claim total responsibility design of these houses, careful inspection of architectural style , accounts historian robert twombly suggest sullivan dictated overall form , motifs of residential works; wright s design duties reduced detailing projects sullivan s sketches. during time, wright worked on sullivan s bungalow (1890) , james a. charnley bungalow (1890) both in ocean springs, mississippi; berry-macharg house (1891) , louis sullivan s house (1892) both in chicago; , noted 1891 james a. charnley house in chicago. of 5 collaborations, 2 commissions charnley family still stand.

the walter gale house (1893) queen anne in style yet features window bands , cantilevered porch roof hint @ wright s developing aesthetics

despite sullivan s loan , overtime salary, wright short on funds. wright admitted poor finances due expensive tastes in wardrobe , vehicles, , luxuries designed house. supplement income , repay debts, wright accepted independent commissions @ least 9 houses. these bootlegged houses, later called them, conservatively designed in variations of fashionable queen anne , colonial revival styles. nevertheless, unlike prevailing architecture of period, each house emphasized simple geometric massing , contained features such bands of horizontal windows, occasional cantilevers, , open floor plans become hallmarks of later work. 8 of these houses remain today, including thomas gale, robert p. parker house, george blossom, , walter gale houses.

as residential projects adler & sullivan, designed bootleg houses on own time. sullivan knew nothing of independent works until 1893, when recognized 1 of houses unmistakably frank lloyd wright design. particular house, built allison harlan, blocks away sullivan s townhouse in chicago community of kenwood. aside location, geometric purity of composition , balcony tracery in same style charnley house gave away wright s involvement. since wright s five-year contract forbade outside work, incident led departure sullivan s firm. variety of stories recount break in relationship between sullivan , wright; wright later told 2 different versions of occurrence. in autobiography, wright claimed unaware side ventures breach of contract. when sullivan learned of them, angered , offended; prohibited further outside commissions , refused issue wright deed oak park house until after completed 5 years. wright not bear new hostility master , thought situation unjust. threw down [his] pencil , walked out of adler , sullivan office never return. dankmar adler, more sympathetic wright s actions, later sent him deed. on other hand, wright told taliesin apprentices (as recorded edgar tafel) sullivan fired him on spot upon learning of harlan house. tafel recounted wright had cecil corwin sign several of bootleg jobs, indicating wright aware of illegal nature. regardless of correct series of events, wright , sullivan did not meet or speak twelve years.

transition , experimentation (1893–1900)

after leaving louis sullivan s firm, wright established own practice on top floor of sullivan designed schiller building on randolph street in chicago. wright chose locate office in building because tower location reminded him of office of adler & sullivan. although cecil corwin followed wright , set architecture practice in same office, 2 worked independently , did not consider partners.

in 1896, wright moved out of schiller building , nearby , newly completed steinway hall building. loft space shared robert c. spencer, jr., myron hunt, , dwight h. perkins. these young architects, inspired arts , crafts movement , philosophies of louis sullivan, formed become known prairie school. joined perkins apprentice, marion mahony, in 1895 transferred wright s team of drafters , took on production of presentation drawings , watercolor renderings. mahony, third woman licensed architect in illinois , 1 of first licensed female architects in u.s., designed furniture, leaded glass windows, , light fixtures, among other features, wright s houses. between 1894 , 1910s, several other leading prairie school architects , many of wright s future employees launched careers in offices of steinway hall. in 1897 wright received patent prism glass tiles used in storefronts direct light toward interior.

william h. winslow house (1893) in river forest, illinois

wright s projects during period followed 2 basic models. first independent commission, winslow house, combined sullivanesque ornamentation emphasis on simple geometry , horizontal lines. francis apartments (1895, demolished 1971), heller house (1896), rollin furbeck house (1897), , husser house (1899, demolished 1926) designed in same mode. more conservative clients, wright designed more traditional dwellings. these included dutch colonial revival style bagley house (1894), tudor revival style moore house (1895), , queen anne style charles e. roberts house (1896).while wright not afford turn down clients on disagreements in taste, conservative designs retained simplified massing , occasional sullivan-inspired details.

nathan g. moore house (1895), oak park, illinois

soon after completion of winslow house in 1894, edward waller, friend , former client, invited wright meet chicago architect , planner daniel burnham. burnham had been impressed winslow house , other examples of wright s work; offered finance four-year education @ École des beaux-arts , 2 years in rome. top off, wright have position in burnham s firm upon return. in spite of guaranteed success , support of family, wright declined offer. burnham, had directed classical design of world s columbian exposition, major proponent of beaux arts movement, thought wright making foolish mistake. yet wright, classical education of École lacked creativity , altogether @ odds vision of modern american architecture.

wright s studio (1898) viewed chicago avenue

wright relocated practice home in 1898 in order bring work , family lives closer. move made further sense majority of architect s projects @ time in oak park or neighboring river forest. birth of 3 more children — catherine in 1894, david in 1895, , frances in 1898 — prompted wright sacrifice original home studio space additional bedrooms , necessitated design , construction of expansive studio addition north of main house. space, included hanging balcony within two-story drafting room, 1 of wright s first experiments innovative structure. studio poster wright s developing aesthetics , become laboratory next ten years of architectural creations emerge.

prairie houses (1900–1914)

by 1901, wright had completed 50 projects, including many houses in oak park. son john lloyd wright wrote:

william eugene drummond, francis barry byrne, walter burley griffin, albert chase mcarthur, marion mahony, isabel roberts , george willis draftsmen. 5 men, 2 women. wore flowing ties, , smocks suitable realm. men wore hair papa, except albert, didn t have enough hair. worshiped papa! papa liked them! know each 1 of them making valuable contributions pioneering of modern american architecture father gets full glory, headaches , recognition today!

arthur heurtley house (1902), oak park, il



darwin d. martin house, buffalo, new york



hillside home school, 1902, taliesin, spring green, wisconsin

between 1900 , 1901, frank lloyd wright completed 4 houses have since been identified onset of prairie style . two, hickox , bradley houses, last transitional step between wright s designs , prairie creations. meanwhile, thomas house , willits house received recognition first mature examples of new style. @ same time, wright gave new ideas american house widespread awareness through 2 publications in ladies home journal. articles in response invitation president of curtis publishing company, edward bok, part of project improve modern house design. home in prairie town , small house lots of room in appeared respectively in february , july 1901 issues of journal. although neither of affordable house plans ever constructed, wright received increased requests similar designs in following years. wright came buffalo , designed homes 3 of company s executives including darwin d. martin house in 1904.

other wright houses considered masterpieces of prairie style frederick robie house in chicago , avery , queene coonley house in riverside, illinois. robie house, soaring, cantilevered roof lines, supported 110-foot-long (34 m) channel of steel, dramatic. living , dining areas form virtually 1 uninterrupted space. , other buildings, included in publication of wasmuth portfolio (1910), wright s work became known european architects , had profound influence on them after world war i. called cornerstone of modernism .

wright s residential designs of era known prairie houses because designs complemented land around chicago. prairie style houses have combination of these features: 1 or two-stories one-story projections, open floor plan, low-pitched roofs broad overhanging eaves, strong horizontal lines, ribbons of windows (often casements), prominent central chimney, built-in stylized cabinetry, , wide use of natural materials—especially stone , wood.

notable public works (1902-1925)

in 1900 wright designed house of cornell s chapter of alpha delta phi literary society. wright designed larkin administration building (completed in 1904, demolished in 1950) other notable public buildings include unity temple, home of unitarian universalist congregation in oak park. lifelong unitarian , member of unity temple, wright offered services congregation after church burned down, working on building 1905 1909. wright later said unity temple edifice in ceased architect of structure, , became architect of space. many architects consider world s first modern building, because of unique construction of 1 material: reinforced concrete.

wright in 1926

wright designed midway gardens (1913, chicago, illinois), geneva inn (1911) in lake geneva, wisconsin, banff national park pavilion (1914) in alberta, canada , imperial hotel, in tokyo (1922).

textile concrete block system

in 1920s, wright designed textile concrete block system reinforced internal system of bars. wright first used textile block system on john storer house in hollywood, california, in 1923. house used in films, television, , print media represent future. typically wrightian joining of structure site series of terraces reach out , reorder landscape, making integral part of architect s vision. according wright s organic theory, components of building should appear unified, though belong together. nothing should attached without considering effect on whole. unify house site, wright used large expanses of glass blur boundary between indoors , outdoors. ennis house , samuel freeman house (both 1923), wright had further opportunities test limits of textile block system. designed textile block house aline barnsdall, community playhouse ( little dipper ), never constructed. wright s son, lloyd wright, supervised construction storer, freeman , ennis houses. architectural historian thomas hines has suggested lloyd s contribution these projects overlooked.