Frank Lloyd Wright: A Master Architect or A Real-Life Meme?

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect famous for his iconic creations that shaped the course of modern architecture. In his career spanning seven decades, he created over 1000 designs and built 532 of them. He was hailed as a master architect and a visionary, but did you know he was also a real-life meme?

Wright was born in 1867 in Wisconsin and was so obsessed with the profession of architecture that he changed his middle name to that of his hero, Thomas Jefferson. He was mentored by architect Louis Sullivan, who coined the phrase “form follows function,” which Wright vehemently ignored throughout his life.

Wright’s eccentricity was evident from the moment he started designing buildings. He liked to use natural materials like stone, wood, and water, and designed buildings with large cantilevers and open spaces. But his whimsical designs often came at the cost of structural stability.

One of Wright’s most famous creations is the Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania, which looks like it’s defying gravity with its cantilevered balconies. A client once complained that the roof of the house leaked and Wright said, “That’s not a leak. That’s a waterfall.”

Wright was notoriously bad at managing his finances, and many of his designs went unfinished due to lack of funding. He once said, “I have been black and blue in some spot, somewhere, almost all my life from too intimate contact with my own furniture.”

Wright’s personal life was just as colorful as his designs. He married three times and had numerous affairs, including with one of his clients. He fathered seven children and was known to be a strict and demanding father. His son, John Lloyd Wright, once joked that he wished he had been born in a test tube.

Despite his flaws and eccentricities, Wright was a true visionary and master architect. His influence can be seen in the design of buildings around the world. He died in 1959 at the age of 91, leaving behind a legacy that will be talked about for many years to come.

So, was Frank Lloyd Wright a master architect or a real-life meme? We’ll leave that for you to decide. But one thing is for sure, his legacy will always make us smile and shake our heads in equal measures.