Fig. 01 - Frank Lloyd Wright (source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Frank_Lloyd_Wright_portrait.jpg)
Frank Lloyd Wright (Fig.01) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator who had designed over 1000 structures over a 70 years.
Fig. 02 - Olgivanna (Left) and Frank Lloyd Wright (Right) (source:https://architectsandartisans.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/olgivanna-lloyd-wright/6808.0001.jpg)
In the late 1920s, Frank Lloyd Wright and his new wife Olgivanna (Fig.02) struggled to keep his house and studio, Taliesin, out of foreclosure as his business suffered because of his scandal as Olgivanna was his third wife and thirty years his junior. As Frank Lloyd Wright ran out of finances, he hatched a plan to offer apprenticeships which provided him with wealthy young women and men who were eager to learn from him and willing to do anything such as cooking, cleaning, helping out in the farm, etc. Then finally in 1933, a commission came in from a wealthy business man, Edgar Kaufmann, who is also the father of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice. Edgar Kaufmann decided to rebuild his holiday cottage deep in the Pennsylvania Woodland which is now known as 'Falling Waters'.
Fig. 03 - 'Falling Waters' designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Fallingwater3.jpg/1200px-Fallingwater3.jpg)
The 'Falling Waters' (Fig.03) was one of Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest project as it was a vindication of Frank Lloyd Wright's philosophy and was a masterpiece of his theories on organic architecture, which is to integrate humans and architecture together with nature inside and out. Another reason for 'Falling Waters' to be an important piece of work is that nobody envisioned the house to be situated right on top of the waterfalls which directly created a floating, almost dream-like building that is the 'Falling Waters'.
Fig. 04 - Johnson Wax Museum (source:https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/06/johnson-wax-frank-lloyd-wright-racine-wisconsin_dezeen_hero.jpg)
Another one of Frank Lloyd Wright's 'genius' building is the Johnson Wax Museum (Fig.04). Not only does the architecture columns and pyrex tubes create an aesthetic landscape in the great workroom, the columns are able to hold more than 60 tons with multiple hits towards it without falling down during the stress test in front of officials. The only time the column fell was when the wooden props holding it was removed that the weight crashed onto the ground, fracturing a sewer pipe 20 feet underground.
Fig. 05 - Taliesin West (source:https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5038/0843/28ba/0d59/9b00/0a23/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1414197945)
I personally think that 'Taliesin West' (Fig. 05) is also one of Frank Lloyd Wright's 'genius' build. Building supplies were hard to acquire so Frank Lloyd Wright decided to use boulders which are on the site to incorporate them into his build, naming it 'desert masonry'. The roof of the building is also made out of canvas allowing an effect which is kind of a 'natural air-conditioning' that allows the building to works with it's environment and not against it. Causing it to be a 'green architecture' before 'green architecture' existed. The open-air of 'Taliesin West' created a relaxed space for living and working.
Fig. 06 - Unity Temple (source:https://divisare-res.cloudinary.com/images/c_limit,f_auto,h_2000,q_auto,w_3000/v1537448057/bxj7cjybvxmridtlwrqn/frank-lloyd-wright-xavier-de-jaureguiberry-unity-temple.jpg)
Most of Frank Lloyd Wright's work are irrelevant in Singapore, as most of his projects are stretched out across acres of lands which Singapore doesn't have enough of. His builds like the Unity Temple (Fig.06) which is made out fully of reinforced concrete, which is a porous material that is not only vulnerable to cracks and void formations but also susceptible to water leakage as Singapore has a tropical climate and is very humid. The other type of build that is also not relevant in Singapore is 'Falling Waters' as Frank Lloyd Wright's design philosophy of incorporating and merging the surrounding environment into his build. It is not relevant in Singapore because there is very little 'natural' environment as Singapore is just a small island smaller than most city overseas.
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