A Tale of Two Houses

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The work of Frank Lloyd Wright is well documented and so is his history, but his nod to modernism, the Guggenheim Museum, retains many of the elements of a Wright structure in his later years. Originally, with his prairie style houses, long stretches of horizontal lines and rectilinear patterns found favor as seen in the F. B. Henderson house in Elmhurst, Illinois, 1901 and continued with a more mature style (Organic) in Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1937.

F.B. Henderson House, Elmhurst, Illinois 1901

Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona 1937

His love of the cantilever persisted throughout most of his life. However, as his ideas on organic architecture grew and ripened, he began introducing circles and semicircles into his artistic quiver. At flwright.org it is stated:

While it is not easy to define organic architecture, there are principles at work in Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings that transcend his personal expression. It is important to note that Wright was not the first architect to use the term organic architecture, nor was he the last. The concept of an organic style meant different things to different architects and manifested itself in a variety of ways.

For Wright, organic architecture fit into its environment much like a plant in nature. The purpose of the building should match the activity of those that occupy it. The notion of an organic architecture, motivated Wright to design everything in a residence, from the windows to the furniture. Most Wright homes are full of built in cabinetry consisting of seating to storage.

Taliesin West, Garden Room Main Room, Showing Furniture

He uses many of the same furniture designs in different places, just as he used many of the same geometric forms in different buildings. Toward his later years, Wright began using circles and semicircles as well as various other shapes one sees repeated in his various designs. No longer do we see a stark, horizontal slash, but a rising, spiraling circle.

Guggenheim Museum, Completed 1959

The Guggenheim spirals upwards in exaltation of the artwork inside. Looking more natural than a heavy, stone neoclassical structure or the unyielding stature of an International Style modernist work, the Guggenheim’s smooth, rhythmical ascent places it among the most beautiful and imaginative creations of humankind.

Guggenheim Museum Atrium

Another building dominated by the curved form is Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, Arizona.

Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1958 (completed 1964), Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Gammage Auditorium, a venue for theater, classical music and now all sorts of popular entertainment, features many of the architectural devices Wright obviously loved. Seen are the repeating semicircular windows, the drapery like effects adorning the arches, the dominance of curved surfaces and the longs sweeps of platforms guiding individuals into the structure. The sculptural quality of the building is strongly enhanced by the creamy shades of pinkish beige and the jumping copper arches on the walkway leading in. Indeed, the interior is festooned with curved surfaces as well.

Gammage Auditorium Walkway

The Baghdad Cultural Center, Designed in 1957 and Never Built

As one can see in this image of the Baghdad Cultural Center, designed by Wright when he was 90, and not built for his patron, King Faisal of Iraq who was assassinated, many of the same ideas found in the Guggenheim and Gammage are reused.

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In January of this year the Norman Lykes Home came up for sale with an asking price of 3.6 million dollars. The house sits on a bluff overlooking a desert valley and was Wright’s final design before he passed away in the same year of the design, 1959. The house became the project of Wright’s apprentice, John Rattenbury who oversaw its construction and completion in 1967.

The design of the house has been referred to as looking like a series of gears in a clock because of its series of concentric circles. One also sees circular cut outs and semicircular windows as previously experienced in the above images. Another influence of Wright’s not to be overlooked is his use and fondness for sculpted cement block. Found in many of his structures, sculpted cement block, especially in the southwest, became quite familiar in offices as well as residences.

Norman Lykes Home, Designed 1959, Completed by Wright’s Apprentice, John Rattenbury, 1967

Interior views:

The second house, also in Phoenix, Arizona, presents the same architectural philosophy, with many of the same elements. In a “Modern Castle in the Air” in House Beautiful from 1955, the David and Gladys Wright House is described:

Here in the Arizona desert, where man might easily be the least significant feature, he is king. His house is a castle in the air, curving above the hot, dusty floor of the desert, looking out in all the directions above the tree tops of orange groves, “the lawn of the house,” toward the surrounding mountains among which it stands securely, as naturally, and as fully as nobly as they.

The David and Gladys Wright House, designed by Wright and built in 1952, was threatened with demolition by a developer, designated a historical landmark to prevent its destruction and finally purchased in order for renovation and transformation into a cultural center. To see more about the gut wrenching effort to save this house start at this curbed.com page.

The house was designed by Wright for his son David and his daughter in-law and described as a precursor to the Guggenheim Museum. It swirls around a central point and lifted off the ground, looks out on its surroundings and contains many of the details seen above. Many consider this house as an equal in beauty and innovation to Falling Water. Indeed, the house epitomizes Wright’s notion of organic architecture.

David and Gladys Wright House, 1952 (Photo by Lockley)

Early Picture of the David and Gladys Wright House Showing Circular Plan

(Notice the sculpted cement block around the bottom of the cantilevered area.)

For a link to a beautiful video of the David and Gladys Wright House:

A look at the interior of the house:

The David and Gladys Wright House reminds me of a poem by Keats called Endymion. It begins with:

A THING of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
’Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

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Personally, I find this residence exquisitely beautiful, with a lyrical quality that turns architecture into visual poetry. With its sweeping, upward circles, one might think, since it was designed so close to Wright’s demise, that he looked to heaven for his work. In spite of this romantic notion of the last of Wright’s work, it is easily seen the commonality of the motifs and impulses of his later concepts, which whether or not are brought forth by divine inspiration, are incredibly wonderful to behold.

For some other links on these Wright residences:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/home/2015/05/02/wright-house-owner-neighbors-battle-museums-future/26731083/

http://curbed.com/archives/2015/08/12/wright-house-phoenix-restoration-plans.php

http://archinect.com/news/tag/170099/david-and-gladys-wright-house

http://davidwrighthouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/House-Beautiful.pdf

http://davidwrighthouse.org/mission/history/

http://curbed.com/tags/david-and-gladys-wright-house

The Last House Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Could Be Yous for 36 Million