Frank Lloyd Wright

The ninth of April 2009 was the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, who remains one of the big names of the twentieth century, with buildings which have achieved iconic status as well as innumerable publications, exhibitions and documentary films. Margo Stipe, who administers the archive of the Frank Lloyd Wright collection, is now taking a different direction with this book, in which she provides a direct insight into Wright's life and working methods with facsimile drafts, letters and black and white photographs.

This must have been the sensation experienced by the client for whom Wright built a prairie house in Highland Park (1899-1909), when he opened the envelope with the first ground plans and elevations. In addition to a luggage tag from the hotel the parchment wallet from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1913-1922) contains a closely written sheet of notes by Wright as a draft for his autobiography. The page before contains a fold-out draft design for a mural, yellow and faded and covered in the signs of age. Private family photos, drawings and excellent colour photos showing the present-day condition of the buildings and many quotations by Wright receive an expert commentary by Margo Stipe.

And of course the 1943 letter from Hilla von Rebay, in which she requests Wright to design the Guggenheim Museum, is there, written in a large round hand - 3 small blue letter cards: "Dear Mr. Wright - could you ever come to New York and discuss with me a building for our collection of non-objective paintings. (…) I want a temple of spirit, a monument! , and your help to make it possible." Frank Lloyd Wright states just as confidently (1953): “I know well that my buildings see clearly not only the color, drift and inclination of my own day but feed its spirit. All of them seek to provide forms adequate to integrate and harmonize our new materials, tools and shapes with the democratic life-ideal of my own day and time. Thus do I know work that is for all time.”

Facts:
Author: Margo Stipe
92 pages with fold-out, pockets and documents,
150 illustrations, sketches and plans
28.3 x 28.7 cm, bound in slipcase with audio CD
Callwey Verlag, Munich 2009
Publisher's recommended price: 49.95 EUR
ISBN 978-3-7667-1781-8
Text German