Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, in 1867.

Frank Lloyd Wright is generally considered to be America’s most influential architect. During his career of over 70 years, he designed more than 750 buildings, ranging from private homes to banks, churches, complexes and museums. He pioneered a type of single-dwelling architecture known as the prairie style and influenced numerous architects through his Taliesin Fellowship. Wright’s innovative designs introduced many new elements in architecture. His use of defined or suggested spaces rather than enclosed spaces revolutionized interior architecture, but he is perhaps best known for his philosophy of organic architecture. Wright believed that buildings should be true to their own space and time, rather than any particular style of architecture. He felt that structures should be harmonious with their sites and should blend with and complement them. One of the best examples of Wright’s organic architecture is Fallingwater, a Pennsylvania vacation home suspended above a waterfall. Of this masterpiece, architecture critic Paul Goldberger says, “I remember the first time I went to Fallingwater, taking a long walk down, looking at it from across the waterfall and you just wanted to sing. Just looked at it and you wanted to start singing some song or doing something. There was nothing really to say. It was so extraordinary.”

ARTSEDGE
Students use Internet research, language arts activities and visual arts activities to learn about Frank Lloyd Wright, his work and his legacy in The Wright Way (9–12).

In Architectural Clues (5–8), students identify meaning in visual form, understanding that there is visual as well as verbal language. They then use blocks to create a building with a recognized function, such as a church or school.

Architecture and Nature (5–8) creatively teaches the elements of architecture through the design and construction of model birdhouses and the study of nesting birds.

Xpeditions
Students design theme parks that showcase some of the world’s natural and architectural wonders in Wonderworld Theme Park (3–5).

Illuminations
In Real Estate Tycoon (6–8), students design, build and sell a house. The profits are then invested using a stock market simulation.

Students learn about the math involved in architecture as they design and build a three-dimensional model of a clubhouse in the unit Junior Architects (3–5). In the process, students learn major concepts such as using basic linear measurement, understanding and creating scale representations, and exploring perimeter and area measurement.