Frank Lloyd Wright And The XX Century

Architecture is the crystallization of the spirit of its age, and this certainly applies to the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959). Wright pioneered Modern Architecture in response to industrialization, new materials, and changes in society. Then he created a new home for the 20th century in response to the decentering brought about by the end of perspective painting, the end of absolute space and time in physics, and end of a privileged position for humans in science and society. And Wright created a new notion of who we can be as human beings, bringing together the individual of the West, and the integration in the flow of nature of the East.

Before Wright, most architecture was based on the past, as we see, for example in the Beaux Arts that referred back to ancient Rome. After Wright, architecture, including that of the leading European Modern Architects, was based on an honest expression of the functions, spaces, materials, and structure of a building. Wright worked in the Midwestern United States, a region that prided itself on being remote Europe, where he developed a uniquely American, modern, and democratic architecture.

We begin with a brief overview of Wright’s work, a biographical sketch, and a look at the architecture at the time he began his career. Then we go into some depth on each of Wright’s major works: his Prairie Style houses, Fallingwater, Johnson Wax, the Guggenheim Museum, and more.

But we are not done. Next we will look at the culture of decentering that defined the 20th century and Wright’s role in its unfolding. And finally we will look at what Wright meant by Organic Architecture, and how it unifies the cultures of the West and the East and creates the potential for a new way of being human.

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WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

WEEK 2: EARLY WORK

WEEK 3: CALIFORNIA HOUSES AND OTHER WORK

WEEK 4: WRIGHT IN THE 1930s

WEEK 5: WRIGHT IN THE 1950s

WEEK 6: PATTERNS IN WRIGHT’S WORK

WEEK 7: WRIGHT AND THE 20TH CENTURY

WEEK 8: ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

WEEK 9: WHAT WRIGHT TELLS US ABOUT TODAY

WEEK 10: RE-CREATING WHO WE ARE AS HUMAN BEINGS

On completing this course you will be familiar with the arc of Frank Lloyd Wright’s career and have an in-depth understanding of some of his key buildings. You will understand how the relationship between Wright’s architecture and that of key European architects, as well as with Picasso’s Cubism and Einstein’s relativity. You will understand how the 20th century decentered us in every aspect of our lives. You will have an understanding of how architecture is the crystallization of its culture, why architecture is called the mother of the arts, and how architecture embodies and even creates our notion of who we are as human beings. And you will have the ability to apply this broad approach to the understanding of art, architecture, and culture to other areas of your interests.

Your main obligation is to watch, absorb, and enjoy the lectures. Reading and the viewing of online videos is at a minimum. Watch the lectures and enjoy the images and descriptions of some of the most important buildings of the 20th century.

If you have time to watch the videos and do some brief reading and viewing of online videos, you have time to take this course.

You will be assigned discussion groups on suggested topics, and there will be a peer graded final exam.

Those completing the course requirements, including viewing all lectures, participation in the discussion groups, taking quizzes, and passing the final exam, will be offered a Certificate from Open Online Academy.