Wright Wednesday: Part 2
What makes a great architect great?
Everyone agrees that a structure that stirs the emotions of anyone who experiences it is what good architecture is. Is that emotion the influence that makes a great architect. Well I don’t! It is the majority, but I think the architect still needs to be responsible. That is the conflict I have when anyone talks about how great an architect Frank Lloyd Wright was.
One of the biggest responsibilities I believe an architect has, is to the clients budget. When a client hires an architect to create a home or even a skyscraper their budget shouldn’t just be a consideration.
Two examples, and the most blatan, of how Frank Lloyd Wright used the clients budget as a consideration are Falling Waters and The Johnson Wax Headquarters. In both cases the clients budgets were blown away in order to create what FLW wanted. Falling Water was designed within two and half hours while the client was driving to the initial presentation meeting. FLW also chose to disregard the clients wish to save a boulder they frequently picnicked on to build on top of it. This created the need and expense to blast into the boulder to create a footing. Making the Kaufman’s vacation home cost twice as much as they expected.
The Johnson Wax Headquarters followed a similar path. FLW’s design revolved around a unique support structure that was costly and time consuming. The Johnson Wax Headquarters would not be the architectural icon without the lilly pads but were they really the responsible option for the client? NO! and FLW was known to have said so.
Am I way off? Where am I going wrong? I really would like to have this conversation, so please leave a comment and see where this goes. Also, keep sending me your experiences at a FLW site.
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POSTED IN: Architects, Historical Architecture
3 opinions for Wright Wednesday: Part 2
James
Mar 15, 2007 at 11:26 am
I think you may be raining on innovation’s parade here. If everyone thought like this, almost every building would look alike.
It takes somebody with the skills and yes, the ego to push the boundaries of anything.
Sure he was full of himself, but he knew what he liked. That certainty ultimately attracted many clients to him. People who didn’t(or didn’t realize yet) that they didn’t want the bog standard house\building.
FLW wasn’t the first and won’t the last architect to go over-budget by the way. It is easier to get more money out of wealthy private individuals because they have the money to part with to begin with.
Although FLW is no prince, I do realize he was a little too self centered as I learned when I saw the Darwin Martin house. Martin helped keep FLW’s career going and it looks like FLW took advantage of their friendship financially. But Martin was a businessman and a grown-up. He could make his own decisions.
Adam
Mar 15, 2007 at 12:42 pm
James,
You are right. Don’t get me wrong I admire and am inspired by FLW’s work. I will also admit, the two clients I gave as examples probably had the money, but that doesn’t give you the right to spend it. A better architect can be innovative and keep the budget in check. Being innovative doesn’t have to be expensive.
Offbeat Homes » Wright Wednesday: Reflection
Mar 21, 2007 at 11:07 pm
[…] Wednesday I raised the question, “Is a budget, and the architects (Frank Lloyd Wright) ability to meet it, a reasonable […]
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