Frank Lloyd Wright
B.Jun 8, 1867-Apr 9, 1959
Architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Hand-Picked Quotes

Frank Lloyd Wright was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century architecture. His design philosophy, known as organic architecture, emphasized harmony between human habitation and the natural world with both aesthetic beauty and functionality in mind.

Wright's work spanned over seven decades, during which he designed more than 1,000 structures and completed around 500. He was known for his innovative use of materials and technology, often experimenting with new building techniques and concepts. Among his most famous works is the Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania, a masterful integration of a home with a natural waterfall.

Another notable project was the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. This structure broke from traditional museum designs with its unique spiral ramp and open rotunda, challenging conventional museum-going experiences.

Wright also had a significant impact on residential architecture. His concept of the Usonian house aimed to create affordable and beautiful homes for the average American. These houses were typically small, single-story structures with a strong emphasis on simplicity and natural materials.

Throughout his career, Wright was not just an architect but also an educator and author, spreading his ideas through lectures and writings. His legacy continues to influence architects and designers worldwide, with his buildings attracting thousands of visitors each year and his philosophies still taught in architecture schools. Wright's dedication to creating designs that were both functional and beautiful has cemented his status as a key figure in modern architecture.

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In the words of Frank Lloyd Wright:
I attend the greatest of all Churches. I put a capital N on Nature, and call it my Church.
The ultimate creative thinking technique is to think like God. If you're an atheist, pretend how God would do it.
Individuality realized is the supreme attainment of the human soul, the master-master's work of art. Individuality is sacred.
A building should appear to grow easily from its site and be shaped to harmonize with its surroundings if Nature is manifest there.
Human beings can be beautiful. If they are not beautiful it is entirely their own fault. It is what they do to themselves that makes them ugly.
I never design a building before I've seen the site and met the people who will be using it.
I doubt if there is anything in the world uglier than a Midwestern city.
Wood is universally beautiful to man. It is the most humanly intimate of all materials.
Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for human use.
The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built.
You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammer on the construction site.
Bring out the nature of the materials. Let their nature intimately into your scheme.
We create our buildings and then they create us. Likewise, we construct our circle of friends and our communities and then they construct us.
If you wisely invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.
Simplicity and Repose are qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.
Many wealthy people are little more than janitors of their possessions.
Love is the virtue of the Heart, Sincerity is the virtue of the Mind, Decision is the virtue of the Will, Courage is the virtue of the Spirit.
More and more, so it seems to me, light is the beautifier of the building.
You can't make an architect. But you can open the doors and windows toward the light as you see it.
I wouldnt mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking.
All the more I study Nature do I revere God, because Nature is all the body of God we will ever know.
Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.
To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in knowledge of simplicity.
Youth is a circumstance you can't do anything about. The trick is to grow up without getting old.
You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having.
The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.
A professional is one who does his best work when he feels the least like working.
The measure of a man's culture is the measure of his appreciation. We are ourselves what we appreciate and no more.
Democracy is the opposite of totalitarianism, communism, fascism, or mobocracy.
I hate intellectuals. They are from the top down. I am from the bottom up.
If you foolishly ignore beauty, then you will soon find yourself without it.
Wherever human life is concerned, the unnatural stricture of excessive verticality cannot stand against more natural horizontality.
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