The Fifties

After the age of eighty, Frank Lloyd Wright was busier than he had ever been, outpacing members of the next two generations. He undertook projects all over the world, seldom declining a commission. At the same time, he became a media superstar who divided his time between the spotlight and the drawing board, and he could not give his work the attention it required. Many projects of his last decade have been criticized as vulgar and repetitive, inappropriate for the site, superficially developed, and far removed from the principles of organic architecture that characterized his earlier work.

These criticisms notwithstanding, three of Wright's buildings from this decade were designated by the American Institute of Architects to be retained with fourteen others as examples of his architectural contribution to American culture --the Price Company Tower (1952), the Beth Sholom Synagogue (1954), and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1956). Many of the houses constructed during the fifties are notable for their siting, their materials and the geometrical themes of their design. His Usonian houses continued to exemplify affordable housing at its best.

Frank Lloyd Wright died on April 29, 1959, in Phoenix, Arizona. It is said that the project on his drawing board was a simple and affordable prefabricated concrete-block house.

Links to photographs and other materials:

Isadore J. Zimmerman House (1950), Manchester, New Hampshire. Color photograph of exterior.

Russell W. M. Kraus Residence(1951), Kirkwood, Missouri. B/W photo of exterior and brief discussion.

Price Company Tower (1952), Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Discussion of building and color photograph of exterior.

Price Company Tower: by Fred Gibson. Three pencil sketches by Fred Gibson, Architect.

Anderton Court Shops (1952), Beverly Hills, California. Color photographs.

Robert Llewellyn Wright House (1953), Bethesda, Maryland. Color photograph of exterior.

Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida. Photographs of Science and Cosmography Building, "Polk County Science Building," (1953) and Danforth Chapel (1954).

John E. Christian House, "SAMARA" 1954, West Lafayette, Indiana. Samara house site; color photographs.

I. N. Hagan House "Kentuck Knob" (1954), Chalk Hill, Pennsylvania. Hagan House web site; color photographs and text.

Kentuck Knob. Color photographs.

Harold Price, Sr., House, "Grandma House" (1954), Paradise Valley, Arizona. Color photograph of exterior.

Toufic L. Kalil House (1955), Manchester, New Hamphire. An example of a Usonian automatic house whose masonry structure could be built from blocks assembled by the client; color photograph of exterior.

Dorothy H. Turkel House (1955), Detroit, Michigan. Usonian automatic house; color image of exterior.

T. A. Pappas House (1955), St. Louis, Missouri. Usonian automatic house; color photograph of exterior.

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (1956), Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Color photographs of exterior.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1956), New York, New York. Digital Archive of American Architectures site; color photographs.

Guggenheim Museum. B/W photograph of museum under construction; another view.

Guggenheim Museum. Official site of the Guggenheim Museum; includes photo of building and discussion.

Frank Bott House (1956), Kansas City, Missouri. Color photograph of exterior view from street.

R. W. Lindholm Service Station (1956), Cloquet, Minnesota. Color photograph of exterior and detail of roof overhang.

Mile High "Illinois" (1956) not built. Color perspective rendering.

Marin County Civic Center (1957), San Raphael, California. Marin Civic Center tourist page with discussion and photographs by Dan Heller.

C. E. Gordon Residence (1957), Aurora, Oregon. Web site of the Gordon House Conservancy, the only Wright-designed building in Oregon.

Wichita State University, Juvenile Cultural Study Center, "Corbin Education Center" (1957), Wichita, Kansas. Color photographs.

Don M. Stromquist House (1958). Color photograph of exterior.

Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, Arizona State University (1959), Tempe, Arizona. Arizona State University page with color photograph.

Gammage Memorial Auditorium. Color photographs.

Norman Lykes Residence (1959), Phoenix, Arizona. Pencil sketch by Fred Gibson, Architect.

Solar Hemicycle House (designed in 1950's, built 1992-95), Kamuela, Hawaii. Color photographs of exterior, interior, and furnishings.