Arguably America’s greatest architect and among the world’s most gifted, Frank
Lloyd Wright was also a man of boundless energy. In a career that spanned
over 74 years, he designed more than 900 works–including houses, offi ces,
churches, schools, libraries, bridges, museums and many other building types.
Of that total, over 500 resulted in completed works. Today, over 400 of these
buildings still remain.
However, Wright’s creative mind was not confi ned to architecture. He also
designed furniture, fabrics, art glass, lamps, dinnerware, silver, linens and
graphic arts. In addition, he was a prolifi c writer, an educator and a philosopher.
He authored twenty books and countless articles, and lectured throughout
the United States and in Europe.
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in 1867, in the rural farming town of Richland
Center, Wisconsin, just two years after the American Civil War ended and
passed away at the age of 91, in 1959.
While there is evidence of Wright attending both high school and the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, there is no record of him graduating from either. In 1887
Wright moved to Chicago, and by the early 1890s he was already head drafts-
man at the architectural fi rm of Adler & Sullivan. During this time he designed
and built his own Oak Park home and later added an attached studio when he
established his own practice. Though a tumultuous private and professional
life would ensure that Wright would always be surrounded by controversy, he
was also recognized as a brilliant architect by his peers.
No other architect took greater advantage of setting and environment. No
other architect glorifi ed the sense of “shelter” as did Frank Lloyd Wright.
“A building is not just a place to be. It is a way to be,” he said. Wright’s work–not
least Robie House–has stood the test of time.
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