Wright: two personal glimpses

Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, editor. Frank Lloyd Wright: His Living Voice.
Fresno: The Press at California State University, 1987. Pp. 207. $25.95 cloth, $15.95 paper.

Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer and Carl Nordland, editors.
Frank Lloyd Wright: In The Realm Of Ideas.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1988. Pp. 191. $42.50 cloth, $24.95 paper.

Although Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings in 35 states, 91 — approximately one-fifth — of his 433 buildings are located in Illinois, the consequence of his prolific early practice in Chicago and Oak Park from 1887 to 1909. Wright's modest Oak Park home and studio is a major architectural landmark open to the public, as is the nearby Unitarian Church, and the extravagant 1903 Susan Lawrence Dana House in Springfield is a state-owned museum. Some two dozen buildings in other states, notably the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and "Fallingwater" in Pennsylvania, are also open for inspection.

Since Wright's death in 1959, his legacy has been explored in a steady flow of publications. The two books reviewed here are typical of the increasing attention to America's greatest architect, but they have unusual features that make them especially valuable.

Frank Lloyd Wright: His Living Voice contains the transcripts of 72 extemporaneous breakfast talks to his staff in the 1950s, plus 32 pages of photographs. Included with the volume are audio cassettes of 12 of these talks, in the hope that this will "recreate, at least in part, the firsthand experience. . ."that his staff received on these occasions.

Frank Lloyd Wright: In The Realm Of Ideas is an oversized volume, two-thirds devoted to a full-color reproduction of a major exhibit (striking photographs and drawings of Wright's buildings, with captions from his writings) that is currently touring the nation, and one-third allocated to five essays on aspects of the architect's life and work. The exhibit, the first major one from Wright's extensive archives, will be on display in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry in the summer of 1989. (Not covered in the book is an important feature of the exhibit, a furnished 1,800 square-foot house, designed in the 1950s.)

The goal of these publications is to convey the significance of Wright's architectural philosophy. In Frank Lloyd Wright: His Living Voice, the tapes and the printed texts accomplish this with a personal flavor. The talks are good examples of Wright thinking out loud; the rephrasings, the rhetorical questions and even the background sounds are helpful in communicating the circumstances of the talks.

Frank Lloyd Wright: In The Realm Of Ideas focuses on four important Wright concepts: space, respect for the site, materials and methods, and architecture for a democratic society. The work illustrated ranges back and forth over his 70 years of practice. Although Wright, and his art, changed over time, he was remarkably constant in his principles, and thus the editors' disregard of chronology is not inappropriate. Looking back on his early career, Wright said, "I was sure of my ground early, and have hewed to the centerline ever since."

The five essays of In The Realm Of Ideas provide an interesting contrast. Two by architectural historians relate Wright to his era, and are appropriately dispassionate. Three by longtime former associates contain extensive personal details, and art uncritical. From its three perspectives (Wright's own words and designs, the scholarly analyses and the views of close associates), In The Realm Of Ideas is a welcome innovative treatment of Wright.

One of the personal essays, "The Second Career: 1924-1959," claims that Wright's work during his 60s, 70s and 80s — a period of "creativity unprecedented in the annals of architecture" — can be "traced" to Olgivanna (his third wife) and to the Taliesin Fellowship (his staff), both linking the architect to younger generations. The devoted support that Wright received from Olgivanna and his youthful staff was increasingly important in his last years, but one does not know what he might have achieved in a different environment. Wright was always self-confident and optimistic, and his "low" of the 1920s was probably not as severe as that following the 1914 tragedy of the murder of his lover, Mamah Cheney, and the simultaneous destruction by fire of his great home, Taliesin — two blows from which he recovered without such support.

I believe that the growing Frank Lloyd Wright literature will lead, ultimately, towards his recognition as the greatest creative figure in American history. These publications break new ground by offering his "thinking aloud" on tapes and by presenting diverse views of his work. Still missing from the literature, however, is what every giant ultimately receives: thorough, critical examination by many independent scholars. History acknowledges genius only after it survives successive rounds of such scrutiny.□

Mark Heyman, a charter member of the Sangamon State University faculty, was on Frank Lloyd Wright's staff from 1954 to 1959. As a member of the Dana-Thomas House Foundation, he has been active in the preservation of the Susan Lawrence Dana House.

June 1988 | Illinois Issues | 34