
Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century
Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N. Art Museum Drive
February 12–May 15, 2011
Curated by Brady Roberts, Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Margo Stipe, and Jim Ballinger
Philip Johnson pegged Wright as the greatest architect of the nineteenth century; could he also be a model for the twenty-first? On one hand, Wright’s organic architecturewith its intricate weaving of part and whole, building and landscapewas a surprising precursor of contemporary interests. On the other, his antiurban fantasies foreshadowed the auto-based sprawl that threatens the planet itself as a viable organism. Centered on major built work such as Unity Temple (1905–1908), Fallingwater (1935–39), Taliesin (1911–59), and Taliesin West (1937–59), as well as on Wright’s exurban “Living City” proposal, this exhibition of models, furniture, photographs, videos, and drawings will encourage a reassessment of America’s favorite architect.