Frank Lloyd Wright Drawings: Masterworks from the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives

Wright designed over 1000 buildings, of which about 500 were actually built. This book includes 300 drawings of his most important projects. Wright was mainly a residential architect, but many of his most important civic and public buildings are here, too. Wright was a great draughtman as well as a great architect, and there is no better way to appreciate his genius than to study his drawings. And this book contains many of his most important projects. Even the greatest of architectural monuments still start out with what might seem relatively ordinary floor plan and elevation drawings, but it is the really the first concrete step toward creating the final building, and Wright was a master draughtsman as well, which this book beautifully illustrates. Also, the floorplan is the only way to visualize the entire internal structure of a building at one glance--even after it's built--since you'd have to remove the roof to see it at that point. :-) Very beautiful and detailed miniature models are often created by architects of important projects, but even those are less common now due to the advent of architectural drawing software, but the original drawings are still a critical part of the overall design process. If you love Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, this book will give you a bird's eye view of many of his most important works.

That Frank Lloyd Wright was an artist is of course no surprise -- however, we often forget that, as an architect, he had to have quite an eye and ability for drawing. To be able to commit an idea down on paper is the first, and sometimes most crucial step, in designing a project, particularly when one has to convince another party to pay for it.This book by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who began as an apprentice with Wright at Talesin West, and directs the FLW archives at the FLW Foundation, is a masterpiece of the artistic design of Frank Lloyd Wright. It has more than 300 illustrations, nearly half of those in full-colour plates, in a wide-page format that makes this a great gift book, coffee-table book, and guide for those serious in the arts. An expert with the craft of draftsmanship as well as creative with flair for the artistic/aesthetic side of his buildings and concepts, these images show an astonishing range through the 300 concept pieces, plans, elevations and perspectives contained herein.Pfeiffer puts these drawings into different categories:- Residential Designs- Religious Structures- High-Rise Buildings- Civic & Cultural Centers- Hotels, Inns & Resorts- Commercial & Educational Buildings- Architecture & Engineering- The Imperial Hotel- Graphic and Decorative DesignsThere are fold-out pages, such as the pages that show Wright's concept for the Mile-High Cantilever Sky-City; such designs are unlikely in today's terrorism-conscious culture. Some projects were never completed, such as this, but others, such as Fallingwater and the Imperial Hotel, were completed. Pfeiffer explores the pictures with history, concept, and Wright's own personal ideas included.A wonderful book!

I got this book last x mas. I still read and look at it every month. I think it's a great review of a very special person who really knew how to draw !

When I first saw the FallingWater House, I saw that FLW was really an special person. This book shows us that all his masterpieces were just a clue of what he was able to do, of the buildings he could create. In FLW Drawings, you can see many perspectives representing his newest toughts and ideas, and proving that he really would have changed the world of architecture if God had givven him 30 years more (as he used to say). article: João Paulo Salgueiro