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Frank Lloyd Wright, America's Most Famous Architect

By , About.com Guide

Portrait in black and white of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1942.

Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesen, Wisconsin, December 1942.

Photo by Joe Munroe ©2003 Getty Images
Frank Lloyd Wright has been called America's most famous architect. During his 70-year career, Wright designed 1,141 buildings, including homes, offices, churches, schools, libraries, bridges, and museums. Five hundred and thirty-two of these designs were completed, and 409 still stand.

Born:

June 8, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin

Died:

April 9, 1959 in Arizona, at age 91

Education:

When he was 15, Frank Lloyd Wright entered the University of Wisconsin as a special student. The school had no course in architecture; Wright studied engineering.

Apprenticeship:

Leaving school after a few semesters, Frank Lloyd Wright apprenticed with J.L. Silsbee and Louis Sullivan.

After working with Louis Sullivan for six years, Frank Lloyd Wright opened his own practice.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright:

Frank Lloyd Wright's Important Ideas:

Famous Quotes by Frank Lloyd Wright:

"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."
New York Times Magazine (4 Oct. 1953)

Read more Frank Lloyd Wright Quotations >>

More About FLW:

Frank Lloyd Wright never attended architecture school. As a child, he worked on his uncle's farm in Wisconsin, and he later described himself as an American primitive - an innocent but clever country boy whose education on the farm made him more perceptive and more down-to-earth.

Frank Lloyd Wright pioneered a long, low style known as the Prairie house. He experimented with obtuse angles and circles, creating unusually shaped structures such as the spiral Guggenheim Museum (1943-49). He developed a series of low-cost homes that he called Usonian. And most importantly, Frank Lloyd Wright changed the way we think of interior space.

Frank Lloyd Wright was married three times and had seven children. His work was controversial and his private life was often the subject of gossip. Although his work was praised in Europe as early as 1910, it was not until 1949 that he received an award from American Institute of Architects.

To learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright's tumultuous life and marriages, see Frank Lloyd Wright, The Most Famous Architect of the 20th Century from our Guide to 20th Century History.

Also see Movies About Famous Architects >>>

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