Frank Lloyd Wright

by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Peter Goessel

A building by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is at once unmistakably individual, and evocative of an entire era. Notable for their exceptional understanding of an organic environment, as well as for their use of steel and glass to revolutionize the interface of indoor and outdoor, Wrights designs helped announce the age of modernity, as much as they secured his own name in the annals of architectural genius. This meticulous compilation from TASCHENs previous three-volume monograph assembles the most important works from Wrights extensive, paradigm-shifting oeuvre into one authoritative and accessibly priced overview of America's most famous architect. Based on unlimited access to the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives in Taliesin, Arizona, the collection spans the length and breadth of Wrights projects, both realized and unrealized, from his early Prairie Houses, through the Usonian concept home, epitomized by Fallingwater, the Tokyo years, his progressive living architecture buildings, right through to later schemes like the Guggenheim Museum, New York, and fantastic visions for a better tomorrow in the living city. Author Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who served as Wrights apprentice during the 1950s, discusses recent research on Wright and gives his own insights on these game-changing buildings.

Genres: Architecture, Biography, Nonfiction, Art

504 pages, Hardcover

First published June 29, 2015

Reviews

[Topaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great monograph on Frank Lloyd Wright. As detailed in the product description, it is an abridged version of the larger format 3-volume monograph also by Taschen. However, this is a much more manageable book, both in size and cost and does a good enough job covering all the major works and projects by FLW.

The book is heavily illustrated with color photos and architectural drawings, sketches, and renderings throughout. It appears none of the photos are contemporary but rather pulled from various archives. So it's likely you will have seen many of these images elsewhere.

The text on each building/project is fairly brief. When architectural drawings are included, the text basically describes the layout and how one may move through the building. However, this is not very useful as the architectural drawings are reproduced in such a small size, you can't make out any details or writing. This is almost always the case with this book which is unfortunate, but perhaps that is not the case with the larger format volumes.

Overall this is a great book for any FLW fan, or even someone who is just discovering FLW. It is a very large and heavy coffee table-type book, but also provides a lot of useful information that will likely encourage the reader to seek out other books to learn more about FLW.

Photos of the actual book at Amazon

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of Wright's life and works covering all his major realized and unrealized projects. The pictures, drawings, and diagrams are fantastic. My only complaint is the writing on the building plans can sometimes be difficult to read.

[Morris Yen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great update from Taschen's previous edition.
More pictures and project drawings + good introductory biography