| 8th
graders study Frank Lloyd Wright
Every civilization is partly defined and recognized by its architecture, and throughout history individual architects have contributed largely to the quality of life 
within their own societies. Frank Lloyd Wright was probably the most significant
native-born American architect of the 20th century.
Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867, in Wisconsin. His mother covered the walls of the nursery with pictures of architecture to encourage him in this pursuit. Wright designed a total of more than 1000 buildings and 600 were constructed. His Prairie House designs are seen mainly in the Chicago area and into Wisconsin. He believed that a structure should be in harmony with its natural surroundings. He even built a house around a tree so the tree would not be cut down. He always incorporated Earth, Wind, Fire and Water into his designs. His eye for details extended not only to the structure but also to the furniture and the windows. He was a genius in designing stain glass windows for each structure. Wright despised artificial light, so he took advantage of natural lighting – even moon lighting to give each room character. The Pre-Algebra class at Prairie Middle School researched some of Wright’s most famous structures: Taliesin West (Arizona), The Imperial Hotel (Tokyo), The Robie House (Chicago), The Hollyhock House (California), The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Wisconsin), The Hanna House (California), and Falling Water (Pennsylvania).  Each
group designed a bulletin board, depicted the internal and external views
of the structure, a description of the geometry used within the structure
and a short biography of Wright and the people who contracted the building.
The students also colored velum reproduction windows, which will be on
display at the spring concert. The 8th graders were in awe of his talent
and how nature and geometry were uniquely combined in each building. They
also were very disturbed when they found out that over ½ of his
structures have been torn down. The Imperial Hotel for example was
built to house the guests of the Emperor and the design was to be earthquake
proof. Wright saw that it was as the hotel survived the massive earthquake
in 1923. The hotel was torn down in 1969 for a more “modern hotel”.
From the time Wright started designing until the day he died (April 9, 1959) his buildings set a precedent. We can only imagine how homes would appear today if he had not chosen the career his mother led him towards. |
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