without a doubt the most famous name in
American architecture history Frank
Lloyd Wright designed everything from
houses churches and schools to
skyscrapers hotels and museums we take a
stroll through his 70 plus years of
designing through the 1800s and 1900s
I'm Glenn and here are 15 iconic and
beautiful building designs by the
architectural legend himself Frank Lloyd
Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland
Center Wisconsin back in 1867 after
attending the Prairie School of
Architecture Wright began working as an
apprentice at the firm of adler and
sullivan it was here that he would work
directly under the father of skyscrapers
himself Louis Sullivan Wright worked
under Sullivan until 1893 when the two
parted ways after the apprentice began
accepting private commissions Wright
carried Sullivan's dream to develop a
unique style of American architecture
with him as he founded his own firm over
the next 70 or so years Wright did
exactly that becoming the pioneer of
what would be referred to as the Prairie
school movement he strongly believed
that buildings should be designed to
harmonize with humanity and the natural
world which he dubbed organic
architecture let's check out some of
Wright's best examples
number 15 starting off with perhaps
Wright's most famous or at least most
lauded work Fallingwater Wright designed
this picturesque house in 1935 with the
building completed three years later
fallingwater was designed specifically
for his friend Edgar Kaufmann who had
requested Wright build him a family
holiday home facing the bear run nature
reserve waterfall right went one better
and actually designed it around the
30-foot landmark after spotting a rock
that jutted out over the top of the
flowing water what we are left with is a
three-story home that is built around
the rock edges and blended with a color
palette to match its surroundings
becoming part of the natural scene
number fourteen many consider the great
cliff grounds and buildings to be one of
the most ambitious summer estates frank
lloyd wright ever took on it was built
in 1927 and was eventually dubbed the
jewel on the lake due to its beauty and
perch on a cliff above lake erie near
buffalo the estate covers 3.5 acres of
ground with three separate structures as
well as the gardens themselves being
designed by Wright Wright remain friends
with the family who commissioned the
build the Martins some 20 years after
finishing the design after the Martins
passed away in 1951 the estate was
bought by a Roman Catholic teaching
order and turned into a boarding school
the residence is now a public museum
after being restored to the original
design in 1997
number thirteen sticking in buffalo next
up we have one of the earliest examples
of writes prairie style in the Darwin
Martin house the original design was
completed in 1903 just a year after
Darwin Martin's brother had commissioned
Wright to design a house of his own in
fact Darwin Martin contacted right after
seeing the quality and beauty of his
brother's home Wright was given a large
corner lot to design and build the
Darwin Martin house and it is fair to
say that he didn't like waste the main
martin house eventually covered almost
every inch of the given land along with
a 100 foot long pergola connecting the
house to a conservatory a carriage house
with stables the barton house and
eventually a gardener's cottage the
barton house was constructed for
Martin's sister and her husband the
gardener's cottage rounded off the build
in 1909 number 12
one of the most instantly recognizable
museums in the world the New York
Guggenheim Museum is a true work of art
upon entering the grand white building
visitors can gaze up the full ninety-two
feet to the glass dome at the very top
of the building between the floor and
the dome six storeys worth of art and
exhibits flow into one with a continuous
ramp spanning more than one quarter of a
mile all the way to the top
however the eye-catching structured did
come with some controversy as it led to
21 artists signing a letter of protest
against the design they claimed that the
curvature of the walls made it extremely
difficult to hang their paintings in the
way they were intended some also claimed
that the building itself was trying to
compete artistically with the works it
should be showing off the museum was the
final major project built and designed
by Wright with it eventually opening six
months after his death in 1959
number eleven completed in 1959 and
located in Elkins Park Philadelphia the
Beth Shalom congregation building was
the only synagogue Wright ever designed
it is said that he wanted people to see
the structure like a luminous Mount
Sinai hence it's fiberglass pyramid
appearance among the low office
buildings and hedges around Elkins Park
the building reaches for the stars and
certainly catches the eye of any
passerby the build came about after
rabbi Mortimer J Cohen wrote to right
before guiding him through the design
process with insights into Jewish
rituals symbols and theology in the
daytime the building is illuminated by
natural sunlight while at night it
shines blue and gold fluorescent light
into the sky it was named a National
Historic Landmark in 2007 number 10 the
child of the Sun is also known as the
Florida Southern College architectural
district and was built by Wright between
1941 and 1958 over 20 years right
enjoyed a fantastic relationship with
the visionary president of the college
dr. Lud Merrill Spivey as well as the
college itself the child of the Sun was
originally supposed to comprise of a 20
structure academic village although only
half of the project was ever completed
despite this it still remains the
largest single-site collection of
architecture by right in the world it
was named as a National Historic
Landmark in 2012
number nine the Avery coonley house was
built between 1908 and 1912 with Frank
Lloyd Wright himself labeling it as one
of his best ever works the residence is
located on the banks of the deplane
River in Illinois sat on a unique little
Peninsula the Avery coonley house is
actually a National Historic Landmark
within a National Historic Landmark as
it resides within the Riverside historic
district the low hanging ceilings long
flat eaves and art glass windows
encapsulate some of the iconic fixtures
of Wright's prairie style the estate
includes the four wing main residence
staple coach house gardener's cottage
and raised and sunken gardens by the
landscape architect jens jensen the
house had been on and off the market for
nearly a decade originally listed at two
point eight nine million dollars but
finally sold for 1.15 million in
February of 2019
number eight for frank lloyd wright's
first family home the young architect
approached Luis Sullivan for $5,000
after signing a five-year employment
contract with Adler and Sullivan to fund
the project he wanted to build a house
in the Oak Park suburb of Chicago for
him and his wife Catherine to raise a
family in the original home was designed
in 1889 and featured a simple shingle
style three-bedroom house
however the Wright family would go on to
live here for twenty more years and
Frank kept adding to the design as time
went by but this is created as an
embodiment of Wright's design and style
developments through the entirety of his
early career number seven the Civic
Center was an especially important
design from Frank Lloyd Wright as he won
the right to be lead architect out of
Hopi create a building that represented
a government that was open to the people
to achieve this welcoming and community
feel right didn't stop at the building
exterior as he went on to design every
door every sign and every single piece
of furniture the project was approved in
1958 but unfortunately groundbreaking
did not commence until after Wright's
death with his protege and son-in-law
both continuing the construction in his
absence Wright claimed the Marin County
natural landscape was among the most
beautiful he had ever seen something he
tried to capture and take advantage of
in the design
number six the First Unitarian society
commissioned right in 1946 to design a
meeting house in Madison Wisconsin it
was fully built by 1951 and was hailed
as one of the most innovative examples
of church design in history it has since
been designated a US National Historic
Landmark
and with 1500 plus members it is one of
the biggest Unitarian congregations
across the entirety of the United States
it isn't hard to see why this piece of
architecture is so lauded either with
its elegant use of smooth golden-brown
wood and large glass windows emphasizing
natural light the fact that is still so
heavily used and even added to today is
a true testament to the beauty of the
original design
number five one of the smallest Frank
Lloyd Wright projects the Seth Peterson
cottage covers just 880 square feet of
living space it was designed in 1958 and
encapsulates everything right believed
in about using natural beauty to enhance
design using a mixture of wood and local
sandstone the tiny house blends nicely
into its surroundings on the edge of a
steep woodland hill next to Mirror Lake
unfortunately chef Peterson took his own
life before then 90 year-old Wright
completed the project the state of
Wisconsin bought the cottage in 1966 and
boarded it up for preservation until the
seth Peterson cottage Conservancy was
formed in 1989 this group now holds a
renewal beliefs to rehabilitate and
operate the right house number four this
next design is a fantastic example of
Wright's late career rounded style
something we have already gazed upon in
the Guggenheim Museum this home dubbed
the spiraling house features a circular
design in order to capture the wind and
cool the building it was created for
Frank's son David and his wife Gladys
and was built in Phoenix Arizona
the structure covers 2,500 square feet
and features a spiral walkway kitchen
Tower roof terrace plunge pool and
shaded garden even the internal
furniture echoes the circular theme
including the signature March balloons
carpet designed by Wright himself David
and Gladys lived in the house until
their deaths with it currently being on
sale for twelve point nine million
dollars after changing hands repeatedly
through the years
number three perhaps one of the most
picturesque right designs of the lot the
norman likes house is an architectural
masterclass in how to use natural beauty
in building designed in 1959 just before
his death the late career round style
can be seen yet again in this right
project the house is built into the side
of a mountain in phoenix and offers a
breathtaking view of the palm canyon
from every single room the building is
made of concentric circles and cylinders
specifically designed to sit upon the
uneven and rocky mountain surface the
original design depicted a two-story
family home with five bedrooms and three
bathrooms and was built for Norman and
Amy likes outstanding beauty both inside
and out it's no wonder this hit the
market for 3.2 five million dollars in
2018
number two the hollyhock house was
influenced by 7th century Mayan temples
as Wright shifted away from his known
prairie style in 1919 this is one of the
first examples of the Mayan revival
movement predominantly seen in the 1920s
and 30s the project was commissioned by
Louisa line barn Stalin oil heiress who
wanted an avant-garde theater and
cultural complex however only the main
residence and two apartments were ever
finished Wright was eventually fired
from the project after artistic
differences and Barnsdall donated the
residence to the city of Los Angeles in
memory of her father in 1927 it fell
into disrepair before a restoration
project began in the early 2000s and it
was eventually reopened to the public in
2015 and is now part of the barn stall
art park foundation
number one if you thought the hollyhock
house looked like a Mayan temple
wait until you see this the house was
created using 27,000 separate
interlocking decorated concrete blocks
covering 5500 square feet it was
designed in 1924 for Charles and Mabel
Ennis hitting the National Register for
Historic Places in 1971 vanna's house is
just as grand on the inside as it is on
the out and that is largely thanks to
billionaire Ron Burkle Buerkle bought
the building in 2007 after it had been
listed as a most at-risk structure since
a 1994 earthquake Buerkle is said to
have spent seventeen million dollars on
restoring the house to Wright's original
vision the house has been featured in
Hollywood blockbusters such as Blade
Runner and is now on the market for 23
million dollars
the smallest structure ever designed by
Reich came about after 12-year old Jim
Berger was worried about his dog Addie
staying outside in the winter right had
previously designed the Bergers house
and planned with a dog house to match it
designs were completed in 1957 and it
was built in 1963 after being thrown
away in 1973 Jim and his brother Eric
rebuilt it from the original plans in
2010 for a documentary and there we have
it
15 iconic and beautiful designs by
America's most famous architect Frank
Lloyd Wright which one was your favorite
let us know in the comments below and
feel free to suggest your favorite
architects
too and maybe you'll see them in a
future video
[Music]
hey guys this is Cathy highs enjoy this
video
tell us in the comments below what you
found to be the most interesting and why
also if you haven't done so yet make
sure to hit the bell notification next
to the subscribe button stay up today
with all of our latest videos thank you
for watching
I'll see you guys next time
[Music]