Frank Lloyd Wright is widely hailed as the greatest architect that America has ever produced. He saw excellence as the standard for all his designs and accepted praise as merely his due. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, Japanese architecture, and Mother Nature herself, influences seen not just in his buildings, but palpable in his philosophy as well.

Wright believed in immersive aesthetic experiences. The aesthetic philosophy he would advocate throughout his life would be founded on his formative encounters with nature. This philosophy included concepts like “organic architecture,” a belief that building, furnishings, and inhabitants should exist in complete harmony with the surrounding natural environment, composing a unified whole.

Wright was at the forefront of the Prairie School movement and later would build the first of his “Usonian” houses. Conceived as exemplars of modern, middle-class living, these homes would be standing testaments to his belief in simple, healthful, and affordable shelter for the common man. Wright would designate architecture “the great mother art” from which all other artistic forms spring, and devoted his career to advocating beautiful environments for the many.

“Principles.” Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, n.d. Web.