A Somewhat Hazy View of Frank Lloyd Wright

The Frank Lloyd Wright show has been up for over a month now at the Milwaukee Art Museum and I just took my second walk through of the exhibit. Besides realizing my brother didn't know the difference between the architect and the well-known writer of The Phantom of the Opera, I realized how good of a designer he was. In fact, I found myself drawn to the "secondary" aspects of his career more than the well-known buildings most people remember him for. Don't get me wrong, his buildings are gorgeous. While he may not have been the most skilled or practical engineer (many of his buildings are falling apart, leaking, have never been built or have already been demolished) the combination of horizontal slabs, thin lines and his drive to work in harmony with the natural environment create stunning panoramas of the American countryside. But he also sought to build "complete" homes. Houses that were not just a shell that the buyer filled with whatever they desired, but completely filled living spaces in which he designed everything from the fireplace hearth and couches to the light fixtures and towel holders. He mirrored the homes with matching furniture, each detail painstakingly planned, drawn and then built to exact specifications. It's these desks, chairs, benches, rugs, windows and banisters which I think would really steal the show. The detailed desk in the third room is a miniature house in itself with overhangs, accents, thick pillars and long horizontals. The drawers are tiny doors with all the molding and panels, the shelves the rooms, and the desktop the expansive landscape for which everything is designed to accompany.

The show left me wishing for more, which is probably good and bad. I liked the sketches and step-by-step drawings, seeing each aspect of the creative process, but not being an architect, something was lost in translation. I would have liked to see some more photos of finished buildings, some more written history on each project or his overall philosophy on his individual pieces. Also, I would have liked to see more of the "detail" work. the furniture, windows, rugs and such. Since the show lacked much of the "finished" architecture, the actual objects there really helped to understand the aesthetics being presented in the accompanying drawings and the more, in my opinion, the better it would have been. It was great to see the drawings, the many models, and the few furniture pieces there, but with all of the sketches, I wasn't quite sure what was envisioned in every case. It was a very interesting and informative show, but for someone unfamiliar with architecture, not to mention if you were unfamiliar with FLW's work in general, I could definitely see a lack of overall understanding of the show. For the projects accompanied by photos, video, models or furniture, the beauty was real and understood, but for the pieces where only sketches were present, it was a tough road to tread to reach the full vision of the celebrated architect.


The Frank Lloyd Wright show will be up until May 15th