Frank Lloyd Wright's Biography

Frank Lloyd Wright thought differently than most other architects. He thought that buildings should be modern, without all the extra decorations most buildings had at the time he was designing buildings. Frank thought that modern buildings should be made out of natural materials and that buildings should look like they were part of nature. During his career he created a large variety of architectural forms. His works ranged from buildings typical of the late 1800's to very modern designs like his plan for a mile high skyscraper.

Frank Lincoln Wright was born on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. The Civil War had been over for nearly twenty years. He later changed his name to Frank Lloyd Wright. His parent's names were William Wright and Anna Lloyd Jones. William was a teacher, musician and a Baptist minister, Anna was a teacher as well.

When the Wright's went to the Centennial Exposition in 1876, Frank played with wooden toy blocks that his mother bought for him. The blocks Anna bought for Frank were called "Gifts", the blocks were made by the German educator Friedrich Froebel. Friedrich believed that children should learn naturally as opposed to the constant drilling by a teacher in a classroom. The blocks were designed to teach and stir a child's imagination.

As a boy, Frank Lloyd Wright spent his summer's working on a farm with his Uncle Lloyd Jones. One day on the farm, Frank ran across a field and sat down to take a refreshing drink of water, as he put the bottle of water down Frank found himself face-to-face with a rattlesnake! He quickly and carefully grabbed a nearby pitchfork and shoved the snakes head between two of the tines, having successfully trapped the snake Frank then disposed of the snake by pummeling it with the water jug.

During his school years, Frank developed a friendship with a disabled boy named Robie Lamp. Their teenage years were spent doing experiments that they thought would lead to great inventions. Frank was a misfit in school, nervous around girls and impatient with boys. Frank knew he wanted to be an architect when he was young, he often wandered up and down the streets of Madison, Wisconsin studying the buildings. Frank went on to study architecture at the University Of Wisconsin. He was admitted to the University as a special student because he hadn't finished high school. He went on to become a supervising architect for four buildings that were built on the lakeside campus. After only one year of reading and writing on campus Frank decided to become part of the action out in the real world. Frank headed to Chicago to find a job without a high school diploma or a college degree.

Chicago was a very energetic city in the second half of the 19th century. Frank decided to show his designs to an Adler and Sullivan, one of the top firms in Chicago at that time. Adler and Sullivan liked what they saw and decided to bring Wright on. Frank immediately began helping with the design of the Chicago Auditorium. Frank felt like a "a good pencil in the master's hand." Frank chose the Adler and Sullivan firm because they were considered revolutionary. Frank idolized Sullivan and called him "Lieber Miester" which was German for Dear Master. As Frank's reputation grew some of his co-workers began to pick on Frank so he decided to take up boxing as a means to defend himself. The Adler and Sullivan firm went on to become the Chicago School Of Architecture.

Around this time Frank met his future wife Catherine (Kitty) Lee Tobin. Upon discovery that Frank had a girlfriend Anna, Frank's mother became very upset with him. After revealing his engagement to Kitty Anna treated Frank's future wife very bad. Anna even went so far as to faint during the couples wedding day on June 1, 1889. Even so the Wright's started a family soon after they wed. To save money the newlywed's briefly moved in with Anna and her sister Maginel. Catherine took to hiding in closets to avoid confrontations with her mother-in-law.

Frank soon found a suitable plot of land in Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, to design and build his own house on. There was one problem though, Frank had no money to build the house so after borrowing money from his mother and Louis Sullivan the Wright's finally had a place of their own. Frank's self designed home was a wood framed cottage style house complete with plenty of windows and an inviting living room with a fireplace. Frank also included in the design a second floor so he could continue his own designs away from the Adler and Sullivan firm. Frank used all natural building materials like brick and wood to create his very own home. Frank later went on to design The Penfield House and The Imperial Hotel in Japan which survived an earthquake in 1923.

Source: Frank Lloyd Wright by David K. Wright