Famous Interior Designers Series - Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect and interior designer famous for introducing innovative design structures for buildings. He was born in Wisconsin state, US as the son of William Carey Wright and Anna Lloyd Jones in 1867. His career in interior design and architecture flourished from 1885 until his death in 1959, and he has to his credit about 500 completed works including skyscrapers, resorts, museums, churches, government offices, schools, bridges, hotels and a number of other masterpieces. He was also famous for designing most of the interior elements for his buildings including furniture, light fittings, stained glasses and other decorative elements.

Frank Lloyd Wright took a keen interest in promoting organic architecture which blends human habitation with the natural world, and he widely supported the Prairie school of architecture. His organic architecture was clearly a turning away from the traditional European style that existed at his time throughout America. He also developed the concept of the 'Usonian' home for middle income families in the USA.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed custom-built furniture and fittings which integrates ideally with the structure of the building. He was one of the first architects to design and install electric light fittings including some of the first electric floor lamps, all custom-made to match the interiors.

During his childhood, he was given the initial spark in creating designs by his mother Anna Lloyd Jones who gifted him with kindergarten educational blocks which could be assembled in various three-dimensional compositions. Some believe, the geometrical clarity he got in his building designs are a result of his experience with these blocks in his early days.

In 1886, while attending the University of Wisconsin, he joined Phi Delta Theta fraternity and took part-time classes there. He then moved to Chicago without completing his degree, where he joined the Joseph Lyman Silsbee's architectural firm. After working there for nearly one year, he left to work for Adler & Sullivan.

In 1889, he got married to Catherine Lee 'Kitty' Tobin and settled in Oak Park, Illinois. His social status and popularity as an interior designer and architect increased only after marriage with Kitty Tobin, who was the daughter of a wealthy businessman.

Louis Sullivan of Adler & Sullivan Company was one of his mentors who had brought him to the forefront of building designs. Frank had to leave the firm under particular circumstances, and decided to acquire an income by designing homes he referred to as 'bootleg' designs. His famous 'Prairie Houses' were designed between 1900 and 1917 and those designs were custom-built for matching with the landscape of Chicago.

He made his mark in writing by authoring almost twenty books and many articles. As a tribute to his services in the field, the American Institute of Architects recognized Frank as 'the greatest American architect of all time' in 1991.