Prairie Style


Book Description

Showcasing several rarely published Wright houses in new photos, this lavishly illustrated book is devoted to the Prairie Style of domestic design. 225 illustrations.




Frank Delos Wolfe


Book Description

In 1912, San Jose architect Frank Delos Wolfe, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, applied the architectural style of the Midwestern Prairie School to the California bungalow. The result was something unique to Northern California--an ornate and strikingly modern home that suited the California lifestyle and appealed to those who wanted something decidedly different.With more than 200 photographs, author Krista Van Laan presents a look at the work of Frank Wolfe focusing on the years 1912 through 1922. Set against the backdrop of the Santa Clara Valley during a period of economic and architectural growth, "Frank Delos Wolfe: California Prairie Architecture" tells the stories of these special buildings and their special owners and establishes Wolfe's place among American architects.




Alfred Caldwell


Book Description

"Compared with the land, everything else is illusion. The cities are the startled thoughts of sleep." -- Alfred Caldwell Alfred Caldwell is one of the twentieth century's pre-eminent landscape designers. Called a "genius"by Jens Jensen, he corresponded with Frank Lloyd Wright and visited him at Taliesin in Wisconsin. He collaborated regularly with German city planner Ludwig Hilberseimer and worked behind the scenes with Craig Ellwood in California on projects that brought Ellwood prominence. Caldwell taught architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology at Mies van der Rohe's invitation and at the University of Southern California, earning a reputation at both institutions as the most demanding and inspiring professor on the faculty. Yet this radical thinker consistently attacked academic peers and the parks and roads they designed, cried out against the loss of natural prairie lands to unchecked urban expansion, often began lectures with provocative discussions of the atom bomb, and even asserted that capitalism would likely collapse and be replaced by a more just communist economic system. In Alfred Caldwell, Dennis Domer has collected essays, poetry, drawings, autobiographical writings, and correspondence of this enigmatic figure who has guided and inspired a generation of landscape designers and architects. Caldwell's writings -- on topics ranging from landscape design to the role of technology in the twentieth century to the history of architecture -- offer proof of the creative genius of this passionate individual. He attacked the ideas behind urban renewal and promoted instead an organic, decentralized city that carefully exploited the environmental advantages ofplacing polluting industries downwind, gave residents ready access to healthful sunlight, separated traffic from pedestrians with green space, made walking to work possible, and formed neighborhoods into new settlement units. Dennis Domer's introduction provides more than just a complete chronology of Alfred Caldwell's life. Through his exhaustive use of varied sources as well as taped interviews and letters, Domer offers an unprecedented study of Alfred Caldwell that establishes irrefutably his place beside the other giants of twentieth-century landscape design.




Purcell & Elmslie


Book Description

Purcell and Elmslie: Prairie Progressives explores the work of two important members of the organic architecture movement, and celebrates their tremendously important contributions to American architecture and the Prairie School. Wishing to return to simplicity and honesty, Purcell and Elmslie created homes and buildings that were consistent with a democratic society-simple forms, the natural use of textural materials and decoration, and buildings that accommodated the nature of a site. As did Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Purcell and Elmslie held the conviction that a building does not end with its simple structure, but reaches its final and logical culmination in the clothing-color, situation and natural environment, together with its decoration of glass, terra-cotta, and other textural materials. The firm of Purcell and Elmslie was tremendously successful in the sense that their small open-planned free-flowing houses could be shared by a great number of Americans of moderate means. Projects discussed in this book can be found throughout the Midwest, including Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and more. The time has come to recognize the work of these progressive architects of the Midwest. Purcell and Elmslie: Prairie Progressives includes: Comprehensive biographies of George Grant Elmslie and William Gray Purcell The Work of the Firm The Domestic and Non-Domestic Work of Purcell, Feick and Elmslie Work after the Firm Broke Up The Late Work of Purcell and Elmslie A Catalog of Major Projects




Prairie Boy


Book Description

A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People * A NSTA/CBC Best STEM Book Frank Lloyd Wright, a young boy from the prairie, becomes America's first world-famous architect in this inspirational nonfiction picture book introducing organic architecture -- a style he created based on the relationship between buildings and the natural world -- which transformed the American home. Frank Lloyd Wright loved the Wisconsin prairie where he was born, with its wide-open sky and waves of tall grass. As his family moved across the United States, young Frank found his own home in shapes: rectangles, triangles, half-moons, and circles. When he returned to his beloved prairie, Frank pursued a career in architecture. But he didn't think the Victorian-era homes found there fit the prairie landscape. Using his knowledge and love of shapes, Frank created houses more organic to the land. He redesigned the American home inside and out, developing a truly unique architecture style that celebrated the country's landscape and lifestyle. Author Barb Rosenstock and artist Christopher Silas Neal explore the early life and creative genius of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, highlighting his passion, imagination, and ingenuity.




The Architecture of Barry Byrne


Book Description

"Barry Byrne (1883-1967) was one of the first significant apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright, studying in Wright's Oak Park studio from 1902 t0 1908. He followed Wright's principles, but forged an individual style more reminiscent of Louis Sullivan and Irving Gill, with taut planar skins enveloping modern space plans. From 1914 to 1917 he was the American partner of Walter Burley Griffin. In 1922 he designed the first modern Catholic church, St. Thomas Apostle in Chicago, and concentrated on Catholic churches and schools for much of his career. This book charts the entire length of Byrne's work, highlighting its qualities while discussing the cultural conditions that kept it in the shadows of his more famous contemporaries. In 1924 he traveled to Europe where be met Mies, Mendelsohn, Oud and other modernist architects there. He was the only Prairie School architect to build in Europe, designing the concrete Church of Christ the King, built in 1928-31 in Cork, Ireland. Illustrated by more than 100 photographs and drawings, this is the first book-length study of Byrne"--




The Prairie School


Book Description

Inspired by Louis Sullivan and given guidance and prominence by Frank Lloyd Wright, the members of the movement sought to achieve a fresh architectural expression. Their designs were characterized by precise, angular forms and highly sophisticated interior arrangements-an approach that proved immensely significant in residential architecture. H. Allen Brooks discusses the entire phenomenon of the Prairie School-not just the masters but also the work of their contemporaries. Drawing on unpublished material and original documentation as well as on interviews, he assesses each architect's contribution and traces the course of the movement itself-how and why it came into existence, what it achieved, and what caused its abrupt end.




The Architecture of Henry John Klutho


Book Description

Frederick H. Schultz was one of Jacksonville, Florida's most prominent citizens in the latter half of the 20th century. An investor, civic leader, civil rights champion, philanthropist, and advocate for education and the arts, Schultz went on to become Speaker of Florida's House of Representatives. He also served as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors under Paul Volcker during a pivotal time in this nation's economic history. This is his autobiography, published posthumously.




A New Garden Ethic


Book Description

In a time of climate change and mass extinction, how we garden matters more than ever: “An outstanding and deeply passionate book.” —Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals Plenty of books tell home gardeners and professional landscape designers how to garden sustainably, what plants to use, and what resources to explore. Yet few examine why our urban wildlife gardens matter so much—not just for ourselves, but for the larger human and animal communities. Our landscapes push aside wildlife and in turn diminish our genetically programmed love for wildness. How can we get ourselves back into balance through gardens, to speak life's language and learn from other species? Benjamin Vogt addresses why we need a new garden ethic, and why we urgently need wildness in our daily lives—lives sequestered in buildings surrounded by monocultures of lawn and concrete that significantly harm our physical and mental health. He examines the psychological issues around climate change and mass extinction as a way to understand how we are short-circuiting our response to global crises, especially by not growing native plants in our gardens. Simply put, environmentalism is not political; it's social justice for all species marginalized today and for those facing extinction tomorrow. By thinking deeply and honestly about our built landscapes, we can create a compassionate activism that connects us more profoundly to nature and to one another.




Frank Lloyd Wright


Book Description

"The mid-twentieth century was one of the most productive and inventive periods in Frank Lloyd Wright's career, producing such masterworks as the Guggenheim Museum, Price Tower, Fallingwater, the Usonian Houses, and the Lovness House, as well as a vast array of innovative furniture and object design. With a wide variety of shapes and forms-ranging from honeycombs to spirals-this period defies simplistic definition. Simplicity, democratic designs, and organic forms characterize Mid-Century Modern, and, mentoring such mid-century talents as Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler among others, Wright was one of its most influential proponents. Frank Lloyd Wright: Mid-Century Modern is a comprehensive examination of an under-explored period in Wright's career, a time dating from roughly 1935 to 1958, during which this master architect was at his most daring and innovative."--Jacket