Frank Lloyd Wright

My sister took me to Oak Park yesterday. What a fun part of Chicago! We decided to detour on our way home and go by a few of Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright's houses. Although I am not a huge fan of this architect, I can appreciate his genius and definitely took away some inspiration. The statue below is perched on his studio. I think it says a lot about FLW. I seriously want to get inside this man's head. That is the architect himself. Some of his works are such a curious combination of Tudor and where he was headed- pure Prarie Style. Next door to the house (the right side of the photo below) is a serious Victorian manse. I wonder what he was trying to say? Not very subtle, was he? This was his first commission in 1895 and in 1922 a fire destroyed a big portion of it. Mr. Wright immediately returned to town to redesign and rebuild it. Already the perfectionist- couldn't even let anyone else touch his work. At this house we actually saw the owner outside. I guess a lot of the residents of these homes are elderly. One of the houses also had a wheelchair lift on it. What does the future hold for them with the real estate market like it is and the cost of upkeep and maintenance?

This house was really remarkable. The turret is all very narrow wood plank siding. What a beautiful work.

It was fun revisiting that portion of my History of Architecture class. FLW was one of those geniuses that you just try to imagine what is going on in his brain and the drama that constantly surrounded him. The inspiration I took away was more about design process. Really looking at what are you trying to say with your work; where are you going in with your ideas- I know, sometimes us designers are a little wacky.