This is a volume for any student of architecture who is interested in that phrase ‘form follows function’ with regard to the inspiring and revolutionary architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Gwyn Lloyd Jones retraced Frank Lloyd Wright’s steps on journeys he made outside the USA. This volume considers the man along with his buildings. It’s a contemporary look at Lloyd Wright and his celebrated international work.
Lloyd Wright was well-travelled, and these six trips were undertaken to promote his ‘organic’ architecture philosophy. Gwyn Lloyd Jones starts his adventure in Japan, which is the only country outside the US where Lloyd Wright both lived and worked. He travels to Germany to explore the way Lloyd Wright’s visits influenced his ‘Prairie House’ collection. He then travels to Russia and the UK, where Lloyd Wright presented his global ‘Usonian’ concept. The final two chapters look at Italy and the Middle East as part of Lloyd Wright’s legacy, the last chapter having ‘A Short Taxi Ride Around The Persian Gulf’ as its amusing heading.
Travels with Frank Lloyd Wright isn’t a glossy full-colour coffee-table book. This is for those who have perhaps visited some of the buildings mentioned in the text. It’s for those who want to actually understand the Lloyd Wright concept. How did he perceive the relationship between location and materials?
The author meets people who are living with Wright’s organic architecture today and he finds out whether their homes are functional and practical, and the Lloyd Wright work is contrasted with more typical architecture in the countries visited.
This new book from Lund Humphries offers a unique view of this often controversial American architect, and in a thoroughly international context. His legacy continues.
Author: Gwyn Lloyd Jones
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Price: £30
ISBN-10: 1848222262
ISBN-13: 978-1848222267
Art book review by Chrissie Walker © 2018