Frank Lloyd Wright and his 10 most striking creations

Frank Lloyd Wright is arguably the most well-known and revered architect of America in the 20th century. He believed there was a right way to design in the world, a natural architecture which served both functionality and beauty without sacrificing anything. He saw in offices, houses, and temples, the potential not only for art, but also for artistry – the ability to build dignified structures with a respect for the environments.

Frank Lloyd Wright and his most most striking creations

Wright conceived of over 1,000 designs and also executed around half of them over his 70-year career. He had a sweeping vision, spanning places of worship; museums, schools, and office spaces; private homes and hotels. In 1936, he started designing “Usonian” as an affordable-housing solution in the United States, a number of which still stand up to now. In the same year, eight of his buildings earned UNESCO status for pivotal role in the development of modern architecture.

Underpinning the designs of Wright was his belief that Nature, with a capital “N”, was sacred. His philosophy of “organic architecture” proposed that built environment had better accommodate the natural world in a greater whole. He drew inspiration from Japanese art and architecture, especially its emphasis on spirituality, harmony, and geometric simplicity, which praised the Japanese understanding of structure as “miraculous.” That is evident in differating degrees across his oeuvre. In 1957, Wright described the goal of an architect in missionary terms: “to help people understand how to make the world a better one for living in, life more beautiful, and to give rhyme, reason, and meaning to life”, or in other words, a perfect unity of materiality, philosophy, and the natural world.

There are the most striking creations of Frank Lloyd Wright to understand the celebrated architect.

  • The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York City, the US
  • Jiyu Gakuen Girls’ School, Tokyo, Japan
  • Unity Temple, Chicago, the US
  • King Kamehameha Golf Course Clubhouse, Hawaii, the US
  • The Dwight D Martin House, Buffalo, the US
  • Taliesin, Wisconsin, the US
  • Fallingwater, Pennsylvania, the US
  • Johnson Wax Headquarters, Wisconsin, the US
  • Ennis House, Los Angeles, the US
  • Yodokō Guest House, Ashiya, Japan
A Comparison of Modern Day Landscaping and Medieval Times Landscaping

A Comparison of Modern Day Landscaping and Medieval Times Landscaping

Landscape architecture has evolved since medieval times, and we have seen various changes regarding landscaping. As technology advances, we have seen various improvements in various aspects. These all aim at discovering better ways of doing things and hence a better experience for the people. Here are some of the notable changes that have taken place in landscape architecture.

Discovery of Better Architectural Drawing Technologies

Architectural Drawing Technologies

During the medieval times, landscaping architecture was done as a poorly sketched diagram. Amazingly, the landscapers were still able to interpret the drawings and came up with appropriate results that suited the times. As times went, technology started changing and as building architecture diagrams were evolving, the same was taking place in the landscaping environment. Therefore, the landscapers in the middle century had better architectural diagrams than those used in the medieval times. In the 20th century, it is possible to do a landscaping architecture diagram within a few hours.  Through this, people are able to achieve quicker and faster results as compared to medieval times.

Smaller Land Is Available in Modern Landscaping

The modern-day landscapers are faced with more challenges which are times hard to tackle. Compared to the mediaeval times, there was a larger space that could be utilised as the population was smaller then. However, the modern landscapers are forced to use the little available space economically to make sure space is enough for the many things they want to do with it. This is because of increased population. Both the residential areas in urban and rural areas have become smaller than used to be. The urban population is also growing rapidly leading to demand better utilisation of space. This has led to the start of various courses that are driven towards making sure the land is economically used. There are also advanced technologies that are aiming at ensuring a better economic use of space.

Advanced Designs in Landscaping

Advanced Designs in Landscaping

People have become better skilled, and this has led to advanced designs. The architectural designs are accommodating better landscaping designs in the modern-day landscaping. This is compared to the medieval times landscaping where landscaping involved simpler designs. Therefore, people are able to achieve more sophisticated designs than was the case in the medieval times.

Better Machinery Is Used in Modern Day Landscaping Than in Medieval Times

In the medieval times, people did not have advanced machinery like they have in the modern days. Therefore, it was often done using human labour and other inefficient tools meaning it took a long time to do landscaping than it takes in the modern-day landscaping. In the modern day landscaping, there are better tools which means that landscaping can be done faster than was the case in medieval times. The earth movers are a good example of some of the machines that are used in the modern day making it a good venture.

These are some of the differences between medieval times landscaping and modern-day landscaping. As times progress and mode discoveries are being made, we will see better landscaping methods being discovered and hence these changes will go on.

The Growth of Modern Architecture

The Growth of Modern Architecture

Modern architecture also commonly known as modernism refers to architecture that arose from early in the 20th century but was fully embraced after the World War 2. The change was brought about by industrial revolution where technology was embraced leading to the use of different materials in constructing buildings and structures. However, it is not until later when the changes started being seen all over Europe and America where the most accomplished modernists started crating different structures using the newly discovered building materials. It is from this change that paved way to some of the most magnificent and big buildings located all over the world.

Modern Architecture in Europe

The Growth of Modern Architecture2

Before the architectural revolution started, there were a lot of changes in terms of construction materials with the invention of cast iron, reinforced concrete, and the most exciting plate glass. These changes inspired the architectures at the time to use them to create great structures such as the crystal palace which was constructed using plate glass and cast iron in 1851.

Francis Coignet became the first architecture to use concrete that was reinforced with iron in construction and in 1853 he constructed the first iron reinforced building which was four stories near Paris. The elevator invention in 1852 made it easier and practical to envision longer buildings since there was a way to reach them.

In the early 20th century, the use of reinforced concrete moved from constructing industrial buildings to residential houses where the technology was used in constructing apartments. The concrete offered more opportunities ad designs for the architectures to explore while creating buildings that were stronger and more beautiful.

Modernism in America

The Growth of Modern Architecture

Modern architecture in America was started by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright who came up with the first tall building that was steel framed. He went ahead and created some of the well-known architectural masterpieces such as Prairie and Robie Houses. He pioneered using different designs and materials to create buildings that were a lot different from anything that existed at the time.

By this time the first sky scrapers were being constructed using a steel frame. They began due to the realisation that there was need for more space yet the land wasn’t enough. The home insurance building was among the first sky scrapers to be put up at 10 stories high. This continued up until early 20th century where the Woolworths building was constructed, and at the time it was the tallest in the world.

The modernism trend continued spreading to more parts of the world such as Russia and in Germany where the Bauhaus was constructed making it one of the most popular modern structures at the time. By mid-20th century creativity had taken center stage, and there was a blend between art and architecture which has seen some of the most beautiful buildings being constructed. Since then modern architecture has grown so much with a lot of mistakes being made which has led to the current buildings now with some of the tallest buildings being constructed all over the world.