Selected Topics in Architecture Lecture Series: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Quest for an American Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright departed Wisconsin and headed to Chicago at age 18, eager to immerse himself in the architectural fabric of the emerging and rapidly changing city.  In this session, part of our Selected Topics in Architecture series, David Brashear will trace Wright’s early career, from his start with Lyman Silsbee and his subsequent employment at Adler and Sullivan, where he worked closely with and was influenced deeply by his “Lieber Meister” Louis Sullivan.  Both Wright and Sullivan believed that America should have an architecture of its own, and were strongly opposed to the importation of classical architectural themes from Europe.  When Wright broke with Sullivan and set out on his own, he immediately focused on the development of new architectural motifs that he believed reflected the spirit of American democracy.