Nothing can live without entity. Now, organic architecture seeks entity, it seeks that completeness in idea in execution which is absolutely true to method, true to purpose, true to character, and is as much the man who lives in it as he is himself... - FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

THE MOVEMENT

Organic architecture was a movement that began with the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright, he designed buildings that were simple, elegant, incorporated nature and had a cubist appeal. This refreshing style began in 1930s and was a new way of looking at things. It changed the paradigm of elegance; the desire for overbearing designs had decreased. It was the era of form following function.

THE STYLE

The main stylistics of organic architecture is to use materials and a design which would suit the nature surrounding the house. For instance the prairie houses were built in areas that were surrounded with flat land. Therefore the houses too, were flat and did not tower in the middle of the prairie. These suburban houses were built to be "... low, flat horizontal lines meant to blend with the flat land" (Janson 752).

Not only were there short and squat houses that were close to the ground, similar to the Darwin D. Martin House. There were other types of houses built such as Wright's famous house "Falling Water" which conforms to its surroundings. Falling Water is located in Pennsylvania and appears to be "part of the rock formation to which it clings. Reinforced cantilevers slabs project from the rock band to carry the house over the stream." (Storrer p. 230)

INFLUENCE WITH MODERN ART

Upon looking at Falling Water, one can see a cubist presence. The blocks are not in a streamline fashion and have a somewhat disjointed appearance; it is reminiscent of Braque's Le Sacré-Coeur, Paris. Le Sacré-Coeur, Paris was created during the 1910's; it is full of disjointed blocks and is almost impossible to decipher what is exactly in the painting although it is a landscape of the basilica Le Sacré-Coeur. However, it was created in a similar time frame as the beginning of the sketch of the plans for Falling Water, which was finished in 1935. Also, Demuth, a famous artist for painting industrial landscapes as well as other subjects; his painting Aucassin and Nicolette which are of smoke stacks and was created in 1921. The painting is very industrial and not really cubist. Although, it too has a strong presence of the simple block shapes similar to the style of Wright's prairie houses and Falling Water. These painting styles clearly had an influence on the drawings of the prairie houses as well as Falling Water.

Check out these sources

Janson, H.W. History of Art. 3^rd. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1986.

Johnson, Donald Leslie. Frank Lloyd Wright Versus America: The 1930s. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1990.

Meehan, Patrick J. Truth Against the World: Frank Lloyd Wright Speaks for an Organic Architecture. Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1992.

Storrer, William Allin. The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. 1974.