Richard Cleary

Throughout his long career, the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) prided himself as an innovative builder and experimented with structural and environmental control systems and construction materials. My study of this dimension of his practice has three interrelated lines of inquiry: 1) identification of critical technological issues in his buildings and projects; 2) assessment of his working relationships with engineers and contractors; 3) analysis of his integration of structural ideas in his theory of organic architecture. This study contributes to the field of architectural history by offering a new perspective for examining twentiety-century architectural practice and enriching the emerging view of building technology as a cultural enterprise.