Frank Lloyd Wright And Olmsted: A Legacy Of Design

2264 Words5 Pages

Introduction:
Frank Lloyd Wright is one of America’s most influential architects that has left a legacy of structures that are collaged with Nature (Mead, 2014, February). Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture, has left a legacy of tranquil spaces hidden within parks that are known for their “picturesque” qualities (Mead, 2014, January). These two men are completely different with the designs that they’ve created simply because they are using different mediums, but ultimately there aren’t a lot of contrasting elements to their designs. The similarities are evident when you begin to look at their main priority when designing; mental health and wellness. With health and wellness as a mutual focus it is easy to find that they had complementary design influences, theories, and design principles. To create a design that successfully helps to soothe the mind they both found that Nature is the best tool to use. This tool is now their unique contribution to design history, and as a result it stands out as something that today’s designers want to mimmic when focusing on mental health and wellness.

Thesis:
Although Wright and Olmsted created successful designs using different mediums, they both have helped to change the way that contemporary designers approach health and wellness as a focus in their own designs.

Influences:
Past experiences and travel were a common ground for Wright and Olmsted as far as inspirations go. Both have personal experiences with nature and a toured land that were used to fuel designs. Wright has reportedly been influenced by a number of different things throughout his entire career, but the most consistent inspiration was Nature. By growing up on a farm he was very close to Nature, a...

... middle of paper ...

...Olmsted’s principles.
With health and wellness as a topic that is still very relevant as there become more urban developments, it is valid proof that Wright’s and Olmsted’s design principles and theories are useful precedents for contemporary designers.

Conclusion:
The design principles that Wright and Olmsted lived by helped to create a standard for following generations. Using Nature as an inspiration and a employing a consistent programmatic style have been characteristics that designers have picked up on from Wright, and plan to continue using. Juxtaposing nature and thick urban life, and finding innovative ways to mix the two, has become a signature characteristic that points to Olmsted. Both, Frank Lloyd Wright and Frederik Law Olmsted have had a heavy influence on designers today when it comes to including nature in design, but in very contrasting ways.

The Influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on Frank Gehry in the Design of his Own House
2675 Words | 6 Pages
...nian architects. Frank Lloyd Wright, on the other hand is considered as one of the founders of modern architecture but what is certain is that they have both had a tremendous influence on the world of architecture today.
Read More
Frank Lloyd Wright Essay
1220 Words | 3 Pages
Two years after his move to Chicago, Wright married Catherine Lee Tobin. Wright was anxious to build his own home so he negotiated a five-year contract with Sullivan in return for a loan for the necessary money to build his home. Purchasing a wooded corner lot in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, he built his home which was comparable to the East Coast shingle style but had Wrights own flair added to it as he liked to experiment with geometric shapes. After a while, accelerating expenses tempted him to take on independent residential commissions. He did these in his own time, but Sullivan became aware of them in 1893 and decided Wright has breached their contract. The split between the two men was not mended for almost twenty years. However, this split opened up the door to Wright finally going out on his own and open an office to design ho...
Read More
Frederick Law Olmsted: The Father Of American Landscape Architecture
1317 Words | 3 Pages
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) was considered the father of American Landscape Architecture. He is known throughout history for his landscape creations such as Central Park in New York City and Niagara Reservation in New York. Olmsted was an avid travel and had a keen eye for understanding the environment around him. He did not only evaluate the environment, but he also took interest in the people around the world as well. In Journey to the Southern Seaboard States, Frederick Olmsted travel to the southern states of the United States (we focused on Washington D.C., Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia). Olmsted describes his journey as travels. He goes into great detail about the environment, the people, and makes many comparisons of south
Read More
Frederick Law Olmsted
2540 Words | 6 Pages
Landscape architecture has been around since the beginning of time, but it was not until Frederick Law Olmsted came along that the idea of integrating design into the landscape with plants, water, and structures that it turned into a thriving profession. To many, Olmsted is considered “a pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture, an urban planner, and a social philosopher, one of the first theoreticians and activists behind the national park and conservation movements” (Kalfus 1). Growing up, he did not ever graduate from formal schooling and just sat in on a few classes while at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Instead, he acquired his education from being out in the world through traveling and reading. He had a hard childhood. His mother died when he was just four years old and on his journeys around the world to Europe and China, he became sickly with seasickness, paralysis of the arm, typhoid fever, apoplexy, sumac poisoning, and at times suffered from depression. For many years he went on a journey within himself to find out whom he really was and what he wanted to do with his life, career wise. Frederick had one brother, John Hull, who died in 1857. This left Olmsted feeling empty and at loss of what to do. That was when Calvert Vaux came and filled the space in Olmsted’s life that his brother left. Vaux convinced Olmsted to enter the Central Park Commissioner’s design competition with their design entitled the “Greensward Plan.” With the success in that project, Olmsted figured out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, which was to become a landscape architect. Olmsted practiced from the years of 1857 up until he retired in 1895. Olmsted’s two boys, adopted son John Charles and biological son Frederick La...
Read More
Frank Lloyd Wright
1340 Words | 3 Pages
1 Years with Frank Lloyd Wright: Apprentice to Genius by Edgar Tafel- McGraw-Hill Education (April 1979)
Read More
Frank Lloyd Wright
4276 Words | 9 Pages
It appears that from the very beginning, Frank Lloyd Wright was destined by fate or determination to be one of the most celebrated architects of the twentieth century. Not only did Wright possess genius skills in the spatial cognition, his approach to architecture through geometric manipulation demonstrates one aspect of his creativeness. Forever a great businessman, Wright seemed to know how to please his clients and still produce some of the most innovative and ridiculed buildings of the early century. While the United States appeared to be caught up in the Victorian style, Frank Lloyd Wright stepped out in front to face the challenge of creating "American architecture" which would reflect the lives of the rapidly growing population of the Midwest United States. Howard Gardner in his book "Creating Minds" does not make any mention of Frank Lloyd Wright, an innovator who drastically influenced architecture of the twentieth century around the world.
Read More
Architecture And Architecture Of Frank Lloyd Wright And American Architecture
864 Words | 2 Pages
Do you have a living room, open floor plan, or carpet flooring? Most homes in America today have these basic essentials, and Frank Lloyd Wright can be credited for this. Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most influential Architects in American history. These innovations in modern architecture may not have occurred without him. Wright developed the Prairie style of architecture in 1909. This style is distinguished by horizontal lines on the exterior, a low pitched hipped roof, long bands of windows, wide overhanging eaves, and brick courses or wood bands. Frank Lloyd Wright’s innovations in architecture positively influenced the way American homes were built, therefore affecting their lives. His concept of an open floor plan encouraged families and people inside their homes to interact and relax
Read More
Aesthetics Should Never Take Precedence Over Function
1684 Words | 4 Pages
From the early Greek temples of yesteryear, to the high-tech autonomous buildings of tomorrow, the question of whether the function of a building or its aesthetics qualities are more important has plagued the minds of architects around the world. Webster's II New College Dictionary (Please do not use the encyclopedia or the dictionary to open your essay--way too high school.) defines aesthetics as "The branch of philosophy that provides a theory of the beautiful and of the fine arts" (18). The definition of Functionalism is defined by Webster's as "The doctrine that the function of an object should determine its design and materials" (453). Now, if the function of an object decides the type of design and materials used how does one integrate aesthetics into design, and moreover, how important are aesthetics to an architect? Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest and most renowned architects of the 19th and 20th centuries, and while his buildings where lauded for displaying great artistic design, the issue of function was compromised by the blatant fact that his roofs leaked. This is because he let the aesthetics of his buildings become the focus of the structure, and neglected to adequately address the function of the building allowing for this problem to take root in his designs (Palermo, 4 Mar. 1999). As is apparent from Frank Lloyd Wright, there is a certain balance that has to be attained between aesthetics and functionalism in order for a structure to be appreciated as a successful building.
Read More
Frank Lloyd Wright
1286 Words | 3 Pages
Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, who was a pioneer in the modern style, is considered one of the greatest figures in 20th-century architecture. Wright was born June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. When he entered the University of Wisconsin in 1884 his interest in architecture had already acknowledged itself. The university offered no courses in his chosen field; however, he enrolled in civil engineering and gained some practical experience by working part time on a construction project at the university. In 1887 he left school and went to Chicago where he became a designer for the firm of Adler and Sullivan with a pay of twenty-five dollars a week. Soon Wright became Louis Sullivan’s chief assistant. Louis Sullivan, Chicago based architect, one of America’s advanced designers. Louis had a profound influence on Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was assigned most of the firm’s home projects, but to pay his many debts he designed ‘Bootlegged Houses’ for private clients in his spare time. Sullivan disapproved, resulting in Wright leaving the firm in 1893 to establish his own office in Chicago.
Read More
The Falling Water House by Frank Lloyd Wright
2553 Words | 6 Pages
Frank Lloyd Wright has been called “one of the greatest American architect as well as an Art dealer that produced a numerous buildings, including houses, resorts, gardens, office buildings, churches, banks and museums. Wright was the first architect that pursues a philosophy of truly organic architecture that responds to the symphonies and harmonies in human habitats to their natural world. He was the apprentice of “father of Modernism” Louis Sullivan, and he was also one of the most influential architects on 20th century in America, Wright is idealist with the use of elemental theme and nature materials (stone, wood, and water), the use of sky and prairie, as well as the use of geometrical lines in his buildings planning. He also defined a building as ‘being appropriate to place’ if it is in harmony with its natural environment, with the landscape (Larkin and Brooks, 1993).
Read More
Contemporary Design Issues Issue Assignment
1552 Words | 4 Pages
Design has established itself as core elements in societies helping countless communities build infrastructure, invent new ways to better living conditions and create design desirable for consumption hence bettering the economy. Though this is a positive, most designers of the 21st century use their skills and their designs alike for those who can afford it; designing for what’s in fact the minority, 10% of the world’s population. The reason why developmental aid and design for development is essential to improving standards of living for those who live in developing countries, but to also bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Ilse Oosterlaken (2009, p.100) equates most designs for development that use a `participatory' process as having a limited, user-centred approach; and suggests instead a more universal design approach, which she calls ‘capability sensitive design’. This essay will illustrate designs that have contributed to developmental design through capability sensitive design approach, considering sustainable design that are not only better the environment, community health and social welfare but the country’s economic standing. Through evaluating each example’s potential for real, sufficient, diverse and lasting value for the targeted users we can determine each design’s efficiency.
Read More
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Architecture Of The 20th Century
1140 Words | 3 Pages
In the category of modern art, the field that I’m personally fascinated by is architecture. The reason I say this is that architecture is more than just a piece of art, but a masterpiece of the combination of intelligence, physics, and the work of the imagination. I just happened to be in luck when I visited the MOMA because the museum was currently exhibiting a special collection of archives and the designs of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The show displayed all the drafts of the most iconic buildings the Frank Lloyd Wright had designed in his career, and this made it very difficult for me to decide which piece I want to write about because every one were very intriguing.
Read More
Wright and Le Corbusier
1861 Words | 4 Pages
nature. He called this Organic Architecture. Wright felt the relationship between the site and the building, and the needs of the client where very important. In contrast to Wright, Le Corbusier displayed industrialization rather than nature. ...
Read More
Sustainable Cities
1604 Words | 4 Pages
... architectures would led to a more organic organization beneficial to the people that choose to make their lives in this city. Although this model of a sustainable city is not a perfectly closed loop, it lays the foundation for one that is. Over time, with constantly evolving and improving technology and new methods of design from the scale of products to buildings, the gaps in the loop could be closed, and a “true” sustainable city could be fully realized.
Read More
Interior Design Importance
748 Words | 2 Pages
Design has major impact with concerns to environmental qualities. This field is a direct study of the relationship between behaviouristic actions of its inhabitants. Designers constantly interact with people and communicate to solve the needs of their clients regardless of large or small scale projects. Analysis is key in combining creativity with managerial design solutions. These outside-of-the-box designers have the ability to create beautiful, safe and functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces using common factors, designing for communities as well as,
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

Frank Lloyd Wright And Olmsted: A Legacy Of Design

The Influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on Frank Gehry in the Design of his Own House

Frank Lloyd Wright Essay

Frederick Law Olmsted: The Father Of American Landscape Architecture

Frederick Law Olmsted