Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture of the Interior at the Stark Gallery
Frank Lloyd Wright is widely regarded as one of the most prominent artists of the twentieth century. Wright spoke on the significance of democracy in architecture. Frank is a significant artist, and he felt that a house was more than just a stunning piece of art. His interior design philosophy demanded that the inner spare convey freedom. Satisfactory apartments have furniture that was designed as part of the original design. As a result, he regarded the whole as an integral structure. Wright never trusted his customers' interior design skills to monitor the futility and consensus of their houses. He also felt that the produced furnishings were elaborate and poorly created making them inappropriate in customers' homes. The article will present a gallery review of Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture of the Interior at the Stark Gallery.
The Realistic Character of Inner Space and the Creation of the Greater Whole
The article will discuss how Wright's method to visual enrichment is organic ornament which was developed out of his belief that is the visual character of a form which represents the entire house. The Drawings and photographs in the gallery display the intelligent ways Wright exploited the sensation of open place while accommodating the various gatherings for day-to-day living. Finally, the rejection of previous construction styles contributed to the creation of his new techniques in planning. There was the creation of functional fittings to reduce the space on the floor as illustrated in the photograph of a bedroom in the Mossberg House. Most of his fittings are not decorated, but it has the different senses that attract an individual.
Using Reproduction Drawings and Photographs to Enhance the Realistic Character of Inner Space
Using the reproduction drawings and the photographs in the exhibition, Wright developed the realistic character of inner space, and within the structures, he developed an indispensable designate of the greater whole. Whereby, he considered every aspect of the house from the complete construction, to the inside, down to the lowest particulars and features from the start as a distinct idea in development. In his drawings he included objects that were not for decoration purposes alone but were constructed to present continuations of the complete attractiveness of the building, appealing to the watcher's senses of sight as well as touch with shade, surface, pattern, outline, elegant coupled with the shadow. Wright designed so many structures including offices, churches, schools, multistory building, hotels, as well as museums. In addition to this, these homes designs evolved when the American life transformed from the Victorian period to the casual, customer based way of life of the contemporary age. Wright used words such as construct and geometry based on the different forms found in nature to generate a new, modern visual idiom in his construction and plan. Therefore, the major themes in the gallery are realistic character of inner space, creation of indispensable designate of the greater whole, and creation of objects that were not for decorative purpose but for creation of beauty.
Appropriate Lighting and Furnishings in the Exhibition
The lighting used in the display is suitable because it allows for proper viewing of the designs. Most of the drawing are presented clear which enhances the mood of the presentation in the gallery. The lighting used in the system allows for proper viewing of the products by different audiences. Most of the drawings in the exhibition are meant for arrange of visitors because the pictures can easily be understood by different people. The photos are simple because Wright's design philosophy motivated his creations making furniture form an integrated part of his plans. According to his beliefs, architecture, interiors, and furnishings must arise from the same conceptual values an approach described as Organic Architecture. He did not like the elaborate, historicist fittings prevailing in America in the 1890s, and developed the idea of Organic Architecture that needed to be the building itself and reflected the same blueprint ideologies and constituents as the construction(Meryle 168). Therefore, to fulfill this dream, he had to come up with his design despite having slight woodworking knowledge. The artist also designed several interior foundations of his constructions like the fittings and discolored glass material illustrated in the gallery.
Furnishings and Fittings in Wright's Designs
Wright designed and constructed furnishings that complete and complement each home with the aim of bypassing the matter of non-suitable fittings (Donald 23). From the gallery, it is clear that the accessories were made in such a way that they appeared as an extension of the room. He was mainly influenced by the Japanese art and furniture, which made him develop simple, sophisticated, and subtle furnishings. These furnishings were based on a triangular grid that added attraction and congruence to the homes. Wright relied on built-ins and free standing to produce secondary space in his homes. Built-ins constructed during this time became a noticeable and shared habit starting with his house. These Built-in pieces were wide-ranging from the floor lamp, bookshelves, couches, seats, writing desk, and tables. Furthermore, the self-supporting furniture aided the creation of a spatial stream and exposed space. These furnishings and fittings presented in the gallery are of greater priority in his works as they create a unique perspective of his drawings.
The Dining Room and Living Room Designs
Similarly, the moveable fittings presented in the gallery were constructed from organic resources. The pattern was used because Wright believed that the fittings should resemble the family unit. The dining room was one of the principal places in the designs. Wright made it have a central table as a place where the family needs to sit together. He created the all slatted back chairs, which symbolized a piece of Wright furniture with a neighboring table and guarding the family against the external environment. The dining table and chairs created a clear room in the eating zone with moveable fittings like the chairs, glass art lamps, stands, beds, and sofas. The living room centered on an enormous specific fireside whose creation is naturally well-lit by the leaded crystal skylight put on top of it. The room is made of the geometric ceiling that is not covered, and it is geometrically inclined in a way that put emphasis on the distinct crafting. Initially, the fitting was made of a water moat that was not Wright's original creation although the idea of having waters was an attraction with Oriental beliefs of landscape and feng shui.
Innovative Designs and Materials
The British Arts and Crafts movement started in 1889, presented designs made using simple furniture in local oak that Wright felt reflected fashionable American self-governing ideals (Franklin 45). From the gallery, his style was structurally and functionally innovative and most of the tome made of metal. Wright never advocated for standardized, useful furniture, but rather devised each object for a single inner use and customer. Additionally, he constructed the book in shelves with a line of clerestory windows placed at the top of the wall. He also used brick and wood that defined his constructions style. The use of red tile in his home is a typical example of his style of buildings. Poured concrete was used to construct the public structure described as Unity Temple in Oak Park. The Illinois was used a groundbreaking building choice, and Wright was forty years, and the Unitarian church was completed using the interior design, which motivated his creations. Some of his implemented elements in his creations included natural light, open areas, Japanese-type hanging lanterns, flat, leaded glass, horizontal or vertical banding, which in turn creating a feeling of tranquility, holiness, and synchronization.
Wright's Adaptations and Conclusion
During his early days, he experimented using different themes, and they included the central fair place, carved mantel, natural illumination, leaded glass pane, use of natural rock and timber, groups of color, and twisted architecture fashioned part of his internal design. He also used the Prairie-style features, which included the interior of the massive house, inner chimney corner, curved upper limit, rows of openings, exposed floor scheme, and leaded glass. Wright also developed bounded passages of luminous glass with groups of color. He also created the open space of the Rotunda whirls in mounting headway to the central skylight. The structure had six stages of verandahs combine close exhibition parts with the general area of the main gallery. The Guggenheim is a modern design that does not have a central fireplace, and it forms part of his adaptations of other forms of constructions (Meryle 168). The Rosenbaum House constructed in Alabama, and it constituted a central social hub, which included combination living room, dining area, and library, as well as doors that authorized direct access to the external space. The Textile Block Houses are the most predictable for their elaborate concrete particulars, which included the geometric walls of the bedroom. In this construction, he made small changes in floor levels to differentiate the private room from other public rooms while creating a sense of interconnectivity and privacy.
Conclusion
Wright constructed his designs based on his vision of the future because he saw the need of having free homes that were more open, livable, and less restrained. He discovered the need to construct interior design from the soil and for the land whereby he based his constructions on original context. Most of his works managed to influence the modern construction techniques. Most of his drawings and photographs of the interior designs illustrate the indigenous ways he maximized the feeling of open space while accommodating the different activities of daily living. His rejection of past styles contributed to the development modern visual style of generalization and geometry. The new style had a deeper meaning as the structure and the sources were all connected to nature. Therefore, the designs expose how all foundations in Wright's plan convey the all-embracing abstract geometric direction of a house.
Work Cited
Donald W. Hoppen, The Seven Ages of Frank Lloyd Wright: The Creative Process, Dover
Publications: New York, 1993
Franklin Toker, Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E. J. Kaufmann, and America’s Most
Extraordinary House, Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 2003
Meryle Secrest, Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography, University of Chicago Press: Chicago. 2003
.
