Wrights mother believed that he was destined to build incredible things.
She decorated his room with architectural drawings and provided him with geometric toys to help his development.
Wright would credit these toys and his mothers predictions as his first introduction to design.
From left to right: Taliesin, Taliesin West, The Guggenheim, Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, Unity Temple, Hollyhock House, Fallingwater, Robie House
Wright worked under prestigious architectLouis Sullivanbefore eventually leaving to pursue his own work.
He quickly transformed the landscape of American residential architecture and made a name for himself.
Throughout his nearly seven decades of practicing, he built across many scales of architecture.
Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Juan Ignacio Kinder/Shutterstock)
Wright even completed some of his best work years after the public considered him worn out and near retirement.
The first of these shocking projects wasFallingwater, often considered to be his masterpiece.
TheSolomon R. Guggenheim Museumcame soon after.
Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Nagel Photography/Shutterstock)
Today, Wrights work is still considered to be some of the best truly American architecture in the country.
Scroll down to see some of our favorite FLW projects and their importance to architecture.
It is sometimes called the first modern building in the world.
Robie House in Chicago, Illinois (Photo:Stock Photosfrom EQRoy/Shutterstock)
Materiality plays an important role in Unity Temples modernist reputation.
Partially from a very restrictive project budget, Wright chose to use reinforced concrete extensively throughout the project.
Wright addressed the issue with heavy concrete walls with few openings.
Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Juli Hansen/Shutterstock)
Instead, light entered through the square stained-glass ceiling.
His design carefully manipulates the internal volume that results from the careful manipulation of walls and smaller interior details.
This house marks the first-ever completely American architectural style.
German Warehouse in Richland, Wisconsin (Photo:Stock Photosfrom MaxyM/Shutterstock)
Wright did not necessarily know or notice that he had created the first style.
Instead, critics began to understand the common themes that defined the style by studying his work.
They learned that Prairie-style houses were inspired by the Midwest landscape and culture of the U.S.
Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, California (Photo:Stock Photosfrom trekandshoot/Shutterstock)
These houses also followed the German idea ofGesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art.
Like many other buildings that define modernist stylesincluding the AmericanMid-Century ModernismRobie House reinforces horizontality by shifting horizontal planes.
Balconies, terraces, and large horizontal walls of glass blur the line between interior and exterior.
Tokyo Imperial Hotel in Inuyama, Japan (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Alon Adika/Shutterstock)
His interior space centered around a chimney, which often symbolized the heart of the home.
It is a massive 800-acre estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin that includes many Wright-designed buildings.
It acted as a testing center for his architectural ideas and the place where his disciples learned his practices.
Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Yevgen Fedorenko/Shutterstock)
In reference to Taliesin, Wright said, I meant to live if I could an unconventional life.
German Warehouseis aMayan Revivalwarehouse in Richland Center, Wisconsin.
The warehouse later even included a Frank Lloyd Wright-themed museum.
Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Jim Packett/Shutterstock)
The building is still available for public tours by appointment.
It is a great example of Wrights Mayan Revival architecture.
The Mayan-inspired details are typically abstractions of the hollyhock which was the clients favorite flower.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, New York (Photo:Stock Photosfrom Tinnaporn Sathapornnanont/Shutterstock)
The buildings were mostly rendered in concrete and stone, making them appear monumental.
The most recognizable portion was the symmetrical lobby and the reflecting pool still remains.
It was disassembled and rebuilt at Meji-muraan open-air architectural museum near Nagoya.
Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium in Tempe, Arizona (Photo:Stock Photosfrom TRAVELVIEW/Shutterstock)
The answer is because it seemed to perfect the ideas that defined all of Wrights work.
If you study the photo of Fallingwater, you may be able to understand some of these qualities.
Wright passed away six months before the Guggenheim officially opened in 1959.
The ramping is the main point of contention that the Guggenheim faced in its early years.
Imagine you are an artist and your work has been chosen to be displayed on the curving central walls.
The Guggenheim opened up common questions in museum architecture.
Many critics believed that the museum had failed.
Wright decided to adjust this paper project for the auditorium.
Gammage Memorial Auditorium features the same thin concrete columns and interlocking circles.
