The Great American Architect Architecture can be defined as the art or science of planning and building structures. Architecture is important because it satisfies the basic human need for shelter. Architectural structures serve specific purposes. Examples include: government buildings; other public buildings, such as libraries or museums; commercial buildings, including offices, banks, or shops; buildings for transportation- airline terminals, train stations, etc.; religious buildings; and, of course, residences. Each structure has a function but also a particular character or style. Style is a characteristic, or a number of characteristics that we can identify as constant, recurring, or coherent. In art, the sum of characteristics associated with a particular artist, group, or culture, or with an artist's work at a specific time. This, in my mind, is what makes architecture art.It is impossible to talk about architecture without mentioning the name Frank Lloyd Wright. Many consider him to be the greatest American architect of his time as well as the greatest designer of residential architecture. Wright himself once said, "...having a good start, not only do I fully intend to be the greatest architect who yet lived, but fully intend to be the greatest architect who will ever live. Yes, I intend to be the greatest architect of all time."Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin. While growing up, his mother's side of the family always had a great influence on him. The family was Unitary in faith and lived close together. The family stressed the values of education, religion, and nature. Wright's family spent many evenings listening to Willliam Lincoln Wright read the works of Emerson, Thoreau, and Blake out loud. Also, his aunts Nell and Jane opened a school of their own in which they stressed the philosophies of the German educator, Froebel. Wright was brought up in a comfortable, but certainly not warm...
