Designer of the Month: Frank Lloyd Wright

I must admit, I've been thinking about having Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) as a Designer of the Month from the very start, but wasn't quite certain about how I would want to approach this. Wright is one of those designers whom it seems everyone knows at least something about; he's one of America's most well-known architects, with his designs firmly tied to that of the American landscape.

Frank Lloyd Wright. Courtesy of LIFE Magazine archives.

Not only was Wright a prolific architect, but he was also a designer of furniture, fabrics, glass, dinnerware, textiles and graphics, in addition to his work as a writer, educator and a philosopher. But this breadth of design work is exactly what makes Wright such an interesting focus for a Designer of the Month, and why I'm not even going to attempt to spend these next few weeks simply reiterating Wright's biography. Instead, I'm going to take advantage of the 5 Fridays in December to showcase examples of Wright's architecture. Of course, saying that Wright was an architect only covers a portion of the design work that he dedicated his life to. Wright designed not only structures, but many of the interiors of his buildings as well, and it is through this architecture that all of elements of Wright's designs can also be viewed. And so, next week, I'll show you some of Wright's residences, including American System-Built Homes, the Robie House and the Rosenbaum House, week 3 will focus on Taliesin and Taliesin West, we'll look at the iconic Fallingwater in week 4, and finish up with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in week 5.