Critical Modernism: Critical Regionalism

Russel Wright is an American industrial designer and architect that lived during the early to mid twentieth century. Many of Wright’s ideas and designs were considered to modern at time, drawing influences from not only ingenious designers like Frank Lloyd Wright but nature as well. Wright’s influences would lead him to create a design style unlike any at the time; a style that would eventually become almost standard in many homes in the United States. The designer Russel Wright and his wife, Mary Wright together published a guidebook known as Guide to Easier Living. In it contains numerous suggestions and thoughts on home architecture, interior design, as well as product design. Many of the thoughts and suggestions conveyed in the book can be seen in present-day design and architecture. Wright’s book also laid the groundwork for his home, Dragon Rock, which of itself possesses elements of design that are seen in today’s homes. Russel Wright’s Guide to Easier Living is clearly a response to interior design at the time; containing numerous design ideas, Wrights guide influences Wright’s own future works.

For example, many buildings in the newly sovereign post-colonial states portray ethnic, cultural and religious patterns in order to cause nationalistic feelings among the populations. I totally agree with Miodrag Suvakovic’s argument, which claimed that ‘‘architecture is a political and ideological practice that uses its techno-aesthetic and techno-artistic strategies to participate in the organisation of individual and collective human life’’. In my view, the most interesting architectural distinguish is between liberal and extremely socialist (such as communist) political ideologies. Liberal ideologies are more open, free and creative than socialist ones, which usually are practical rather than beautiful or unusual. Thus, I can claim that liberal ideologies are more intellectually stimulating for architects because there are often less rules and requirements for their work. Socialist ideologies imply that usually there is a certain architectural plan and a set of rules that you have to follow and hence, architects in socialist countries are rarely required to «think outside the box».

Without a doubt, Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest architects in American history and the greatest architect of the 20th century. Nature was his muse and his architectural structures embodied organic qualities. He took full advantage of the technological advances of the 20th century but redirecting the concept of space and employing new techniques; Wright was known for his modern and innovative designs. He believed that, “architecture was not just about buildings, it was about nourishing the lives of those sheltered within them”. Wright is not only one of the most well known architects in America but he is also thought of as one of the most influential architects in the world.

Frank Wright (1867-1959), is an American architect born on June 8th in Richland Center, Wisconsin (Biography.com n.d.). A modern design, he produced an organic and clear American style (Architectural Digest n.d.). Wright founded his own firm and developed the Prairie School- single-story homes with low, slanted roofs and extended rows on the windowpane, using the available materials from local business and clean and not painted wood (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2017). The Robie House (Figure 1) located in Chicago and Unity Temple placed in Oak Park (Biography.com n.d.). Wright was known mainly in Europe but not in the United States. In 1913, Wright designed his home on his maternal ancestors land in Spring Green, Wisconsin (Architectural Digest n.d.). This home was named Taliesin, sadly it got burnt down twice and he still remodeled it again (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2017). Wright wrote two books in 1932: “An Autobiography” and “The Disappearing City,” both are known as architectural literature (Biography.com n.d.). In addition, to publishing the two books, he

In the study of Australian modern architecture, the term regionalism has constantly been discussed. In an architectural sense, regionalism can be understood as an architecture that is derived from its local setting. In relevance to this, elements of regionalism can be found in the works of Sydney Ancher and Peter Muller, two figures that had significant influence in Australian architecture discourse whose works can be seen as being Australian. Nevertheless, as much as how their works respond to regionalism, the proof of overseas principles being adopted is clear.

“Architecture should not be seen as representing a magical transition from the worldly to the heavenly, as had been implied by the Baroque Style, but rather as a medium that told nothing less than the story of the “origins” of mankind.” (Ching 610)

“Learning to read architecture-an ability that centers on a kind of visual and spatially oriented analysis-is not easy” (Carter & Cromley, 2005, p. xvi).The short history of the field makes this guide a valuable tool for emerging scholars as it introduces the field, guides them to conducting research on vernacular buildings, and invites them in participating in shaping the field by adding their own scholarship. What is significant about this guide for young researchers is that is explains how fieldwork lacks categorical clarity and can be messy, and it is in this confusion that researchers can reveal the priorities, values, and lifestyle of the users. Renovations and additions are part of the built form and it results in making it difficult to categorize material, roof type, and windows resulting in the struggle to categorize as the field work becomes more descriptive than prescriptive. It can and does indicate social hierarchies and power dynamics within the culture, by reading this guide young scholars can begin to understand how to read buildings and understand what they tell us. Material culture and vernacular architect explores the relationship between objects and/or buildings with people, and both

Frank Lloyd Wright was born in the year 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Both an architect and writer, he is considered a genius of the American architecture (Kaufmann 1). Wright went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison for a few terms where he took engineering courses (Kaufmann 3). He finally left Madison after a few years and found work with J.L. Silsbee, in architectural detailing. After a few years he opened his own architectural practice. One of his styles that became the residential design of the 20th century in the United States was the Prairie Style. The Prairie architecture was known for its revolutionary approach to the building of modern homes. Wright built about 50 prairie houses in ten years. Two of his major works that stand out is the Guggenheim Museum located in New York and the Marin County government Centre located near San Francisco.

Leon Krier was criticised for publishing a costly monograph on Albert Speer’s architecture (1985)in which, while acknowledging the crimes of the Nazis and the man, Krier nonetheless claimed the book’s only subject and sole justification was “Classical architecture and the passion of building” (cited by Jaskot, ‘Architecture of Oppression’, 2000). Discuss this claim, the controversy and the issues (historical, philosophical and ethical and possibly others) they raise. Can architecture, Classical, Modern or otherwise, be autonomous from politics and valued independently of the circumstances of politics and history that adhere to it?

There is a movement among architects, city planners, designers and real estate developers that desire to return to a simpler way of living. A way of designing communities that at its essence captures the design traditions of years past while also avoiding some of the pitfalls of modern city development. A desire exists to avoid the prefabricated homes and endless urban sprawl of strip malls that have arisen all over the modern American landscape. Some see this as a return to classical traditions of city design that incorporates the rich architectural planning of traditional, small southern towns. For these people, the

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, changes in the dynamics of society caused intellectuals to question the traditions of everyday life. From religious views to the arts of literature, traditional values and forms were rejected, thus defining a line between the two time periods, which can be considered as the start of the Modern era. Also known as Modernism, the modern era used literature as an outlet for expressing the thoughts and feelings of the time. Modern texts use city life, industrialization and globalization, and ironic and satirical themes to showcase their bleak outlook on life post both world wars. The nature of these events are aspects of society

As writer, interior designer, educator, and American architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization” (BrainyQuote). The purpose of this paper will deal with the description of...

We can notice clearly in this house how Sullivan’s teaching and Japanese prints influenced Wright’s design. In general for the Prairie houses, Frank Lloyd Wright used all of those influences to had a radically different idea of the function and appearance of residences. The use of horizontal lines is crucial in this design because they define how the volumes and other elements of the house are displayed, making it look longer and lower than other type of dwellings. Sullivan’s idea about the importance of a building’s interior can be seen in this house design because Wright actually took that and extended the interior outside the house. Moreover, Wright started experimenting with materials that allowed him to materialize his

As suggested by the title, this piece of literature attempts to highlight the importance of sensory experience in architecture. It is indeed a response to what the author terms as ‘ocularcentrism’ of Modern Architecture. Ocularcentrism is the act of prioritizing visual stimuli to all other sensory stimuli available to a human perception. He quotes famous German poet, Goethe, in his defense, “the hands want to see, the

The prominent and imaginative Wisconsin born American architect, interior designer and author, Frank Lloyd Wright hit his architectural milestone in the mid-1930s when he designed his world-renowned master piece in Bear Run, Western Pennsylvania, “Fallingwater” also referred to as Kaufmann Residence. Owing to his unique perspective in architecture which he refers to as “organic”, the structure looks as though it sprung naturally amidst Bear Run's trees and water. Frank Lloyd Wright’s complete body of work was so broad that till date he still remains highly recognized as the greatest architect of all time. His career which lasted for approximately seventy two years was apostrophized with global fame, artistic conquests as