Frank Lloyd Wright: Complete Works, Vol. 3, 1947-1959

by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Peter Gossel (Editor)

Part of an exhaustive three-volume monograph featuring all of Wright’s 1,100 designs, both realized and unrealized. This volume covers the postwar years and the “living architecture” period. Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was one of the fathers of modern architecture; his work helped define the modern era, had a widespread cultural influence, and remains highly influential today, half a century after his demise. The mature work of his final years is the subject of this monograph, including all his designs from that period, even those never built. Based on unlimited access to the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives in Taliesin, Arizona, this penetrating study gives an unrivaled overview of Wright’s groundbreaking work and eventual ”starchitect” status—included are drawings he made for an unrealized house intended for Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller. Together with two forthcoming companion titles, this monograph will cover Wright’s entire oeuvre, from his early Prairie Houses, through the Usonian concept home and “living architecture” buildings, to late projects like the Guggenheim Museum and his fantastic vision of the “living city.” Author Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who served as Wright’s apprentice during the 1950s, highlights the latest research and gives fresh insights into the work, providing new dates for many of the plans and houses. A wealth of personal photos also illustrates the working routine at Frank Lloyd Wright’s fellowship. This volume starts in 1943, when Wright’s organic “living architecture” introduced ideas for the use of solar energy and curved open spaces. In addition to many private projects and the Guggenheim Museum, the period up to 1959 includes Wright’s astonishing plans for a new Baghdad; his only realized high-rise tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma; the crystal figure of the Beth Sholom Synagogue in Pennsylvania; and plans for an endless row of houses with floor plans based on hexagons.

Genres: Architecture

581 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I often do with books like these, I looked at every page but read almost nothing except an occasional caption and a bit of the final page about Wright's drawings. (My wife who scoffed at me when I placed the three books on our dining room table, actually paged through also but read much more of the text than I did.)

The three books are an amazingly complete collection of Mr. Wright's work. They are also overwhelming in their page after page of drawings and photos and text (at least half of which is in German) as well as their size and weight. They are each 16" by 12.5" and 2 inches thick. They each weigh almost 14 pounds. (The circulation people at my library were also a bit overwhelmed by them and I only expected a single volume; carrying all three out to my car was a challenge.)

Wright's designs are in chronological order. Each is identified by some classification number without significance to me, the name of the person or company for whom he was designing, occasionally a name for the building, the location where the building was intended to be built, the date, and finally the word "Project" if the plan was never acted upon and no building erected. (It is stunning how many of his designs never came to fruition.) In the earlier books the fate of a building was also mentioned, as many of them burned down or were demolished.

If you know Wright's work and unique, signature style you'll find little here that is new other than the amazing breadth of his endeavors, the sheer volume of his prolific production. Again and again there are "Projects" which might have drawings pictorially representing his vision for the building and usually some blueprint-like schematics for the layouts. I didn't bother to look closely at most of these unless they were the elaborate, sprawling and sweeping illustrations of places of worship, community centers, amusement centers, city centers, even skyscapers. (A few are even depictions of a night view of a lit-up building.) But the actual designs that did get built usually have photographs of the finished building, often a home. The more elaborate the home, usually due to its size and scope and the natural landscape upon which it sits, the more photos.

I often preferred the drawings, in a soft palette of water colors with plants hanging from every outside ledge or balcony, which made the building look romantic. The early photos are in black and white and were a disappointing manifestation of the imagined house, and always looked smaller. But real is real.

In these books you'll see lots of wide, low homes with extensive overhanging eaves. Lots of horizontal lines and angled roofs sometimes with spiky peaks. Some of the more elaborate designs have circular porches that look like landed spaceships from the 50's or like something from a Frank Frazetta illustration.

The inside photos of the later homes are in color and have a similar vibe: always a fireplace, a rug, lots of wood and stone and brick, with natural light pouring in, often from windows up high on the wall, and some subdued lighting reflecting off the ceiling. There are usually a few plants and always a bunch of books on shelves.

If you are mildly curious about Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural work, you might find more concise books with more pictures. But if you are a serious fan or completist, check these out. They are from Taschen publishing and are beautiful combinations of art and infomation.