Today, I am thankful for those who exhibit the wondrous power of adaptation.
Yesterday, I shared the cautionary tale of one of the most notorious fiascos in the history of American corporations, the Edsel. I divulged how the Ford Motor Company neglected their own market research and failed to course-correct, even when the non-traditional design and the complex manufacturing of their ‘game-changing’ automobile encountered a litany of obstacles. In short, Ford failed to adapt to the evolving world around them.
Like the renowned naturalist and Father of Evolution Charles Darwin once articulated, “It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Today, I am choosing to share an alluring anecdote on adaptation, by showcasing one of the true paragons of Americana – the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright.
Despite being regarded as the “greatest American architect of all time,” Wright is also one of our nation’s most complex characters. Born on this day (June 8) in Spring Green, Wisconsin, to parents who were constantly fighting and perpetually strapped for money, Wright’s childhood was not easy. Their financial liabilities led to a nomadic lifestyle. Nevertheless, his mother always envisioned her son to become a builder of breathtaking buildings. To this end, she inspired Frank to become an architect by decorating his bedroom with prints of famous cathedrals and purchasing educational blocks for recreational play. After his parents bitterly divorced when he was 18, Frank was torn. He yearned to become an architect, but he wanted to do so on his terms. His tumultuous childhood made him question the value of college. He did attend University of Wisconsin-Madison for a few part-time semesters before abandoning his formal education for good to pursue his life-long goal.
After dropping out of university, he took positions of increasing responsibility as a draftsman at various architectural firms in Chicago. These roles afforded him the opportunity to showcase his innate architectural skill, until he was fired from his second firm for secretly sketching residential homes for clients in the afterhours. So, he adapted again by going into business on his own, ‘hanging out his own shingle’ designing residential homes with increasingly diverse patterns. He experimented with his now-famous ‘prairie-style’ theme that rejected the traditional box design of houses of the day. Rather, he created horizontal homes with low-pitched roofs, captivating overhangs, and long continuous rows of high casement windows. He incorporated open-floor concepts, especially in the communal spaces of the home, adorned with a central fireplace – elements that are staples of many modern homes today. Despite his vocational success, his personal life suffered, when his first marriage ended in a disgraceful affair and his next marriage ending in sadness, after his second wife was killed in a fire set by a disgruntled employee. Nevertheless, Wright adapted each time. Strapped to rebuild his destroyed home, he wrote architectural books, lectured throughout the country, and threw himself into even deeper into his architectural work. When the Great Depression hit in the late 1920s, he pivoted again by creating ‘blue collar’ housing options that experimented with novel materials and affordable designs, while still retaining the individualistic character of each unique home. His numerous trips abroad also expanded his thinking. His repeated treks to Tokyo to supervise the creation of the Imperial Hotel allowed Wright to immerse himself in the simplicity of Japanese art; his love of this theme would ultimately lead to new structures that highlighted nature, the surrounding landscape, and the local environs. His most famous residential home, Falling Water, serves as a fitting exemplar of this natural motif. Along the way, he would even design stain-glassed windows, light fixtures, furniture, and clothing. As his popularity increased, he was able to showcase his ever evolving work through his design of unique residential communities, commercial edifices, and public projects. His most famous commissioned work became an enduring masterpiece: The Simon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
Frank Lloyd Wright worked until the day he died, at the age of 91 in 1959. In his lifetime, he conceived over 1,100 architectural works, of which 532 were completed. Some of his uncompleted works are currently in production. He wrote over 20 books and gave hundreds of lectures around the world. He changed how we think about architecture in the modern world.
So, the next time someone says you can’t achieve your dream without a higher degree of education, you might want to tell them the story about an ever adaptable architect named Frank Lloyd Wright.
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