Frank Lloyd Wright; The Early Work of the Great Architect

New York: Gramercy Books, 1994. Second printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. viii, 164 pages. Oversized volume measuring 12-1/4 inches by 12-1 inches. Profusely illustrated with black and white photographs and drawing. This edition is an unabridged reproduction of the contents of seven 1925 issues of the Dutch Magazine Wendingen, as published by C. A. Mees (Santpoort, Holland, 1925) and titled The Life-Work of the American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Included are all the original photographs, plans, and drawings, exactly as they appeared in 1925. Almost all of the text of the Dutch edition was in English, and in this new edition the essays retain the typographical oddities, awkward grammatical construction, and occasional misspellings of the original. The Foreword by Nancy Frazier was written for this edition, and two articles, by Robert Mallet-Stevens and Erich Mendelsohn, that were published in Wendingen in French and German have been translated into English. Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 - April 9, 1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer, and educator, whose creative period spanned more than 70 years, designing more than 1,000 structures, of which 532 were completed. Wright believed in designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture." As a founder of organic architecture, Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing three generations of architects worldwide through his works. Wright was the pioneer of what came to be called the Prairie School movement of architecture, and he also developed the concept of the Usonian home in Broadacre City, his unique vision for urban planning in the United States. In addition to his houses, Wright designed original and innovative offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums, and other structures. He often designed interior elements for these buildings, as well, including furniture and stained glass. Wright wrote 20 books and many articles and was a popular lecturer in the United States and Europe. Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time." In 2019, a selection of his work became a listed World Heritage Site as The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Raised in rural Wisconsin, Wright studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin and then apprenticed in Chicago with noted architects Joseph Lyman Silsbee and Louis Sullivan. He opened his own successful Chicago practice in 1893, and developed an influential home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois in 1898.