Frank Lloyd Wright

In the late 19th century and early 20th century the age of the city began to majorly develop. Cities were booming and becoming much larger. Urbanization was more of an attraction in this time. People were lured to the city because it offered new conveniences and technologies that could not be found in rural areas. With the age of the city there was the introduction to many important new things, architecture being one of them.




With all he new conveniences and technologies of the city came new occupations and jobs that had to be filled. As the city grew there would obviously need to be more buildings. The professionalization of architecture began to be in demand and became more popular. Architects began to want a more ordered lay out of the city and the result was the creation of public spaces and public buildings. Architects were designing great public buildings. The city also had to expand upward due to limited space and this was made possible with the new technologies in architecture. One of the greatest figures associated with the early development of skyscrapers was Louis Sullivan. He introduced many modern elements to skyscrapers and architecture such as large windows, sheer lines, and limited ornamentation. Frank Lloyd Wright was a student under Sullivan and used many of his innovations, applying them to low buildings as well. Frank Lloyd Wright demonstrates his influence from Sullivan especially when he used very few furnishings and large sections of window.      

Louis Sullivan was another major architect of the 20th century

Dr. Allison W. Harlan House was Wright’s first house

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the most influential architects of his time and is still considered to be one of the greatest architects today. In 1887 Wright came to Chicago to pursue architecture and was hired by Adler and Sullivan. Wright worked directly under Sullivan for six years but eventually split from the partnership to go out on his own. Frank Lloyd Wright set standards for what would be known as the Prairie style. This style mainly had a long and horizontal theme. One of his most important works that demonstrates this style is the Frederick C. Robie House. Another prominent aspect to his architecture was the influence of nature. Wright described much of his work as organic and was constantly incorporating nature. 

More leisure time was important to the growth of architecture at this time. Since people were spending less time working, leisure time became more usual. Leisure time for women was often spent shopping. Womens importance as consumers was a result of this. Catalogs that were introduced also influenced consumerism and architecture by introducing people to new styles of home decor as well as new machinery and technology for homes. Leisure time also meant people could have time to do other activities in their homes. I believe this factor influenced architecture, especially when Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings demonstrate the flow and brokenness of interior space.
                   
Frank Lloyd Wright stated in an interview that he wanted, “Not an end to cities, but and end to congestion.” I think this quotes especially demonstrates why Wright incorporated so much of nature into his work. With the expansion of cities there was a loss to the connection of nature. He left a legacy of organic buildings. Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision was that the inside and outside of a building be organically unified. He incorporated nature into his buildings by making the inside reach out to the outside by using many windows and even sometimes walls of glass and by the illustration of shelter with overhanging roofs.  

Fallingwater is a famous example of Wright’s organic architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright did a lot for the continuance and modernization of architecture. He was and still is a major influence in architecture. His innovations and ideas continue in architecture today. Frank Lloyd Wright’s works were especially important to the growing cities of the early 20th century.

• Frank Lloyd Wright: Inside and Out This book gave me a lot of information on Frank Lloyd Wright's style of organic architecture. It really explained how he designed his buildings to be in touch with nature and for the inside to be connected to the outside. 
• An American Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright This book showed some important techniques that Wright used in his architecture such as the emphasis of plasticity to increase the sense of interior space and the sense of shelter which was a part of his organic architecture.    
• 20^th-Century Architecture This book reinforced the fact that Frank Lloyd Wright left a legacy of organic buildings.
• Architecture: The Words Greatest Buildings Explored and Explained This book gave me information on Wright's prairie period and his emphasis on openness, open planning, and horizontal buildings. 
• Frank Lloyd Wright, A Gatefold Portfolio This book gave me information on one of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings, The Robie House. It explained how the architecture used to design the Robie House was ahead of its time, contributed to American culture, and demonstrated one of Wright's techniques of unbroken flow throughout the interior. 
• Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation This site gave me a lot of great information on Frank Lloyd Wright's life and biography. Also giving me more information about his work and techniques.
• Mike Wallace Interview with Frank Lloyd Wright This interview gave me an important quote from Wright that showed his desire for an “end to congestion”. This idea of his is demonstrated through his architecture.
• American History By Alan Brinkley had a lot of information on the Age of the City and the growth of cities in America. This was important to the introduction of my topic.  

Carnegie believed that the best way to improve the lives of other people was to educate them while sending them the message that ethics matter wherever you are. I think this is a good approach and it could work to improve peoples lives as long as they keep up with it. However, if you are given the education but don't have resources or opportunities then there isn't much that you can do with it. Though I think the ethics message would be powerful. If I had hundreds of millions of dollars I would be smart with it and I would definitely donate a lot.

  Indians use symbols in their art that reflect their history, represent their ideas and beliefs, and even tell stories. The problem with the symbols and motifs are that people often struggle to find the meaning behind the design. Sometimes Indians are apprehensive about sharing the meanings to traditions, ceremonies, and symbols. However some symbols are so simple they can be interpreted as they are seen. Pictographs and motifs occur often on their pottery and ceramics. Pottery had many important meanings in the Indians lives and therefore the symbols used to decorate the pottery was important too. I focused on some of the symbols used in the Southeastern, Southwestern, and the Plains Indians pottery.
   Pottery and other ceramics were used for a number of things in the Indians life, perhaps its most important roll was being made for ceremonies. The Southeastern's highest artistic achievements were during the Mississippian period, which also was a time of abundant ceremonial life. Ceremonial pottery and other objects were decorated with elaborate designs. Many ceremonial ceramic bottles were decorated in geometric paintings and many were also painted with the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Most Indians pottery, especially the Southwestern Pueblo's, was utilitarian, ceremonial, and tied their social life to the natural environment, from which they made their ceramics. The decorations used on ceremonial pottery was especially distinct.
  There are many examples of designs and symbols used in the Indians art. They represented the world by using one or more circles enclosing a cross, this was called the cosmic or world symbol. The cross, volute, and scroll have been used to indicate the wind, clouds, and rain. The cross was also used to symbolize the god of fertility and rain. The serpent symbol is used in some Cherokee legends to say that the serpent was not a friend because they viewed it as an enemy that must be destroyed. The swastika cross symbol probably represents the winds. This symbol connects to the Muskhogean people's story that says that the wind dispersed the fog that was over the earth, which led to light and sun. So this is obviously an important symbol to Indians, despite its separate connection with Nazis in World War II. It is suggested that the border or hourglass pattern, of the Plains Indians, represents the internal structure of a buffalo. This symbol would have been used a lot since buffalo hunting was so important.Other symbols used frequently by the Southeastern, Southwestern, and Plains Indians include; hand, eye, equal arm cross, arrow, human, bird, sun circles, bi-lobed arrow, crosses, and swastikas.
  A drastic decline in ceramic art occurred after the arrival of the Europeans, however Indian women have returned to making ceramics as an art form. There have always been clear stylistic connections between the past and the present in Indians pottery where the designs continue to be reused, despite the decline after the Europeans. Ceramics continue to be an important part of Indians lives, so as long as ceramics are being made then the symbols used to decorate it will continue to be passed on.


Native American Arts and Crafts This book really helped me get basic information on why the symbols and art were so important to the Indians. This book was also good because it clearly split up the different regions of Indian tribes and gave examples of the ceramics and use of symbols that was specific to each group.
Sun Circles and Human Hands This book was the main source that gave me my information on what specific symbols meant or the stories from different tribes about their symbols.
Collectors Guide to Symbols This site showed some symple and more common symbols used and helped me get information on their meanings.
pottery This site gave me the information that sometimes it is hard to desifer the meanings of symbols because the Indians might be reluctant to tell. This site also showed and explained some good pieces of pottery.
pueblo Indians art This site helped me get some basic information on the arts, especially pottery, and symbols of the Indians, like the Pueblos.

   The ways American cowboys were celebrated and portrayed in popular culture was much different then what cowboys were really like. The cowboy that was associated with "the West" had a heroic image. Cowboys were portrayed as having toughness, freedom, and strength, giving them the "wild West" image. They were seen as people who didn't take crap from anybody and they had the freedom to do what they want. They were also seen as fighters. People liked this version of the cowboy because it made them think that was what the West was actually like, carefree and wild. When in reality cowboys weren't anything like this. Real cowboys were very low payed men. They had the disadvantages of hard physical labor, loneliness, and no real opportunities to advance themselves.
   I think people liked to believe this image of the cowboy because it made the West seem better. People would associate the West with cowboys and freedom instead of some of the hardships and realities about the West. The image of the cowboy distracted people from focusing on the troubles of the West like the Chinese, the land going fast, the lack of jobs, and the idea of possible failure in the West. People would've rather seen the West like the cowboy portrayed it instead of seeing the reality.
   The factors that contributed mostly to the idealization of the American cowboy were the works of entertainers, writers, and artists. Sculptures and paintings of the cowboy came from Frederick Remington. Mark Twain wrote many stories about the heroic qualities of the cowboy. Shows from Buffalo Bill kept the ideals and images of the American cowboy going. These factors were a significant reason for the idealization of the American cowboys.  

   Before we studied this unit I knew the basics about the Post- Civil War South. I knew that even though the war ended, things between blacks and whites were not automatically resolved. And i knew that there was still racial tension throughout the South, with the white Southerners still fighting for white supremacy and doing everything they could to continue to make blacks superior.  I knew that segregation occurred but i didn't know that there was a process that had to lead up to segregation being acceptable. Something that really stood out to me was how hard the white Southerners tried to go around the Amendments, doing everything they could think of to limit blacks rights. I thought it was interesting to learn about how segregation really developed and was made legal during the Jim Crow South.
   I think it's important for people to know the history about where they live because they can understand where they come from. If people know the history of where they live they can also compare what it was like in the past to how it is today. For us, I think it is good to learn about the Post-Civil War South and the events that happened and what people were like. It is important to see how things have changed and see how maybe some things from the past have continued on in a way.

Animoto

Ac Brown This is a history video. I was learning how to use Animoto. It has pictures that describe what America is to me.