Frank Lyod Wright and Louis Sullivan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Frank Lyod Wright and Louis Sullivan - Essay ExampleLouis Sullivan, one of the great architects of the last half of the 19th century, was a brilliant operative with both practical office experience and a year at the famed cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris before entering a partnership with Dankmar Adler in 1879. Credited with being the first to give an appropriate form to the steel skyscraper, he was a precursor of Ameri buns modernism and managed to give rise the besides forward-looking design of the 1893 Worlds Colombian Exposition in Chicago.1 Unfortunately and unfairly, this designer of dozens of lauded digitings, who helped reshape the manner of building structure and aesthetics, is primarily cognise today for one thing-his role as Frank Lloyd Wrights Sullivans famous motto of form follows function influenced Wright immensely and was a major reason why Wright considered Sullivan his only influence. That the relationship was mutual is demonstrated by the events of 1889. In that year Wright married Catherine Lee Clark Tobin, and Sullivan loaned him the enormous sum of $5,000 to buy property in Oak Park, Illinois and build a house.4 His willingness to help Wright illustrates the mutual respect between the employer and employee at this time.Although one of his early works, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park can be considered a workshop, used by the architect to begin developing some intriguing concepts. The initial construction phase of 1889 exhibits features that portend the mature Wrights school of thought of architecture the emphasis on pure geometric forms, the broad, sheltering roof, the use of natural materials and the unity of building and site.5These features blurred the distinctions between inside and outside, and marked a growing integration of landscape and construction. In addition, the interior was focused around the fireplace and astonishingly open in design, with none of the Victorian hierarchy of divided spaces evident. Wrigh t continued designing houses in Oak Park on the side, and this conflict of interest led to Sullivan firing him in 1893.6 Never one to stop working, Wright exclusively opened his own office and specialized in domestic architecture. By 1902 he designed his first Prairie house, a style defined by horizontal orientation, rows of small windows, low-pitched roofs featuring overhanging eaves and an open interior plan with a central fireplace.7 With its definitive wood and stucco exterior, it also works in conjunction with the suburban setting. Its cruciform plan is designed so that the movement from one wing to the next is diagonal, and these 45 degree angles are featured in other part of the house.8 This epoch construction, completely distinct from Sullivans verticality, would not have been possible had he not been fired.Decades of both personal and professional trouble followed, but Wright weathered the strenuous difficulties and re-emerged in the 1950s. His most famous project from t his final stage is undoubtedly the Wright, Frank Lloyd, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of 1956-1959. Completed after his death and considered Wrights great swansong,9 it is an exercise in thrust concrete to the limits of plasticity. After entering the inverted swirl, visitors move to the top via elevators and proceed downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle gradient of a continuous ramp.10 This final monument vividly illustrates how far Wright progressed from the early stages of his career.However, the first Wright building to feature an internal spiral ramp was the V. C. Morris stage Shop of 1949, designed concurrently to the Guggenheim project.11 Inside are display cases and shelves that follow