Sunday, March 2, 1958

THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE

Page Seven

i

St~ndoy, March 2, 1958 THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE Pane Seven

be more trying than expected, es-
pecially after the classicism of the
World's Fair of 1893. The public
couldn't accept a radical like Sul-
livan; the concept of freedom was
still foreign to American architec-
ture. Wright was forced to watch
his teacher find fewer and fewer
commissions for new work. He saw
Sullivan lose his outward confi-
dence, driven to depend for finan-
cial support on his friends and
students. An artist without a
br-sh, forgotten by most of the
architectural world, Sullivan died
penniless, without having realized
his capabilities. "They killed Sul-
livan and they almost killed me!"
Wright once said. It is no wonder
that Wright bitterly attacked the
public in his writings for many
years after.
These are the facts the public
has never known. What they do
know is that Wright's buildings
are radical, so radical that often
there is absolutely no resemblance
to any building they have ever
seen. Though the Price Tower dif-
fers greatly from Sullivan's mas-
terpiece, the Wainwright Building,
both structures are the outgrowth
of the same idea of indigenous
architecture, of form synonymous
with function.
"There is no true understanding
of any art without some knowl-
edge of its philosophy." Wright
says, and it is true to the extent
that no one is competent to criti-
cize any of Wright's work without
having read at least some of his
writings. Wright's philosophy is
complex and often extremely
subtle. There are very definite
reasons behind every foot of his
buildings. He is in no way cater-
ing to the 'taste' of the public.
Architecture is of the physical
world about us; man's capacity
to carve the elements into shelter.
It expresses man's triumphs over
his own weaknesses, his ability to
mold intellect and spirit together
in-order to alter his environment.
If sincere, it will express the hu-
man spirit in the same way that
Bernard H. Stollman, a
junior in the School of Engi-
neering, makes his first ap-
pearance in the Magazine with
his comments on A Testa-
ment by Frank Lloyd Wright.
His primary qualification for
the job lies in his "long and
abiding interest in the archi-
tect."

painting or sculpture does. But
sincerity means more than en-
thusiasm or emotionalism. Sin-
cerity means dealing with reali-
ties, the reality of the materials,
the site, the purpose, the man.
Thus a building is fantastically
more complicated than a mere
shelter. Our buildings must be
faithful to our belief in freedom,
in the rights of the individual, of
personal integrity. "A new ideal of
civilization arises based upon free-
dom of man's mind guided by his
conscience. Spirit is man's new
power if he is to be truly mighty
in his civilization . . . Therefore
to architecture comes a new sense
of scale; the scale of the human
being, man himself. Greater free-
dom all along the line of habita-
tion becomes not only his desire
but his privilege. A great simpli-
city is now his; the simplicity of
perfect organism may be his in
what he does. Human dignity
based upon union of man's physi-
cal nature with his spiritual sen-
sibilities. Thus comes to us the
new sense of the true building;
free in design, poetic but no less,
an invulnerable shelter from the
elements. Space free - space flow-
ing outward by way of forms ap-
propriate to life and circumstance.
Appropriate in human scale, signi-
ficance comes alive and works for
mankind more at one with the
character of man's spiritual na-
ture."
Unwittingly the word "organic"
has been described. It is this idea
of free expression, of space flow-
ing freely. But this is only an idea
of its meaning. Wright uses pages
of metaphors, images drawn from
other fields of art to explain what
"organic" is but he never quite
succeeds. Sullivan called it "the
searching for realities ... the ten-
fingered grasp of reality." Some-
how, however, it escapes words -
it refers to something a single
sentence or paragraph cannot
quite express.
A Testament contains over 200
illustrations of Wright's work,
from the first drawing submitted
to Sullivan in 1888 in application
for a job, to the startling new
mile-high Illinois Skyeity. His lat-
est buildings are as radical to the
world about him as was the Roble
House in 1909. The proposed Ari-
zona State Capitol in many ways
shows a different use of materials
and building technique than any
of his early works, yet organic it
is, as true to time, place, and man
as anything he has ever done.

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ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE-A full length view of the Wright house in Detroit leaves the viewer
with the impression of looking into a honeycomb.

Wright has always shown a re-
markable consistency; his philo-
sophy of building has changed
little in 60 years of drawing, lec-
turing, and writing. One can see a
few trends in his work but no real
change in direction.
Wright's buildings are his own;
his strong personality permeates
everything he does. Yet his build-
ings perform organically. Even in
photographs the space flows, the
inside is as much a part of the
whole building as is the outside.
His buildings are single entities,
there is no excess, no extra un-
needed ornament. His private
dwellings hug the earth so closely

that they become a part of it. Oft- stract pattern which opposes it.
en one cannot tell where shrub- Criticism of Wright's work can
bery and trees end and where the come only after one understands
building begins. why his buildings are as they are.
Architecture must be beyond To maintain his philosophy in
taste and comparison. Each build- the face of a conservative public
ing must have its own style, it has taken a great deal of courage.
must be true to its own nature, It has meant assuming the role
never subject to comparison to of the radical in society, and being
any other building. Architecture subjected to the abuses society
thus transcends any kind of form- chooses to heap on innovators.
alistic, two dimensional design. Through all this, Wright has con-
The formalism of Le Corbusier in sistently shown the world true
France may be art but often one 20th century organic architecture.
questions whether or not it is He has shown that architecture
architecture. If architecture arises is a limitless medium for express-
from a social need it must be ing the idea of democracy, mdi-
true to that need, never an ab- viduality, and freedom.


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