Sitting Room On The Left example essay topic

Frank Lloyd Wright: A Comparison of his Early Work with His Projects in Alabama Time has ravaged many of the greatest works of art that mankind has created but one form of art has far outlasted all of the rest. Architecture is the art of buildings but it spills over into designing furniture, bridges, and even cities. There have been many great architects, from the classical builders of ancient Rome and Greece to the Modernists of the last century. All of these men were great in their own right but perhaps the most famous architect ever is Frank Lloyd Wright. What is it that makes an architect stand out from the others in the field? It is a combination of older comfortable designs and cutting edge techniques.

Also, it takes a certain amount of perfectionism in even the smallest details such as window design, furniture, and even the types of stones that make up a walkway. What is it that gives an architect that creative genius to be remembered as one of the greatest? Is it learning from other greats and implementing their ideas into new designs? Is it taking designs from nature and turning them into great manmade monuments? Is it turning experiences from life into blueprints that will continue to inspire for years to come? The answer is impossible to find by examining only one architect but some insight may be gained by examining the life and training of the architect and by comparing the early works with the later.

The first work to be examined is Taliesin. Located in Hillside, Wisconsin and begun in 1911. Taliesin was built as a lasting monument to his lover, M amah Borthwick (Cheney). It was named after a medieval epic poem from Wales called " The Book Of Taliesin".

It was built at a time in Wright's life when his personal and professional lives were nearly in ruins. He referred to Taliesin as a " refuge and retreat for the woman, the work, and himself". (Levine 76) When Wright began building Taliesin he had turned over control of his architectural firm to Hermann von Holst and had finally been granted a divorce from his tumultuous marriage to his first wife, Catherine. These demons that haunted Wright can be seen in his design for Taliesin and the way he threw himself head long into the completion of the project. Throughout the design for the house Wright mixes elements of the natural landscape to strengthen the lines of the house and to bring out it's natural beauty. The lines of the house roof blend naturally with the hillside the house is built into and the floor plan is designed to give the illusion of being surrounded by nature from any point within the house.

The design also creates an immense sense of space and vista. The floor plan is arranged in a manner that at first seems complex then takes on a charming simplicity. When arriving through the entrance gate, a left turn must be made into the driveway and the driveway must be followed to the courtyard at the end. To the left of the driveway a magnificent garden sits with a bubbling fountain at the far end. Upon entering the house is a large workroom that is bordered on the right by the Logg in room. From this room there is a small entry that leads to the living room on the left, the kitchen on the right, and a terrace looking out into the depths of a forest directly in front.

To the left of the kitchen is one of the house's four bedrooms and farther ahead to the left is one of the house's three bathrooms. Past the bathroom is another of the bedrooms, which is connected to another bedroom straight ahead and to the left or to a sitting room straight ahead and to the right. In between the sitting room and the bedroom is another of the bathrooms and when traveling from the sitting room to the kitchen through a side door is an enclosed yard. Upon Entering the workroom to the left is a terrace over looking a hillside at the rear of the house.

The terrace is connected to a sitting room on the left. The sitting room is adjoined to a bathroom on the right, a bedroom straight ahead, and a kitchen to the left. The bedroom is connected to a large courtyard on the left and a room that is used to store horse drawn carriages immediately forward. The carriage room is connected to a horse stable directly forward and the stable is connected to a passageway on the left, which leads to another forest on this side of the house.

Straight across the passage way is a stable for a few milk cows which has a hayloft above it. Forward past the cow stables leads to a small garage, which is connected to a milk room that serves as the base for one of the houses most prominent features; the " Romeo and Juliet Tower". Levine quotes Wright as saying of the tower Of course you had a hard time with Romeo and Juliet. But you Know how troublesome they were centuries ago.

Each is indispensable to the other... neither could stand without the other. Romeo, as you will see, will do all the work and Juliet cuddle alongside to support and exalt him. Romeo takes the side of the blast and Juliet will entertain the school children. Let's let it go at that.