Lesson 2

Lesson Plan #2: The Literary Palette:
Following the Wright Path

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

1. continue exploring the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright through literature.

2. appreciate how photographs enhance the written word.

Time Required: One 40-minute period

Advanced Preparation: Preview "Frank Lloyd Wright", (#3461) The World of Art, Reading Comprehension, Educational Insights, 1981 and reproduce a class set of copies to be read aloud in class.

Vocabulary: architect, cantilever construction, “Fallingwater”, organic architecture

Procedure: Students read aloud “Frank Lloyd Wright” (see Resource List).

Upon completion of the read-aloud, students will respond to the following during class discussion:

What was the main idea expressed in this story?

(Wright’s philosophy of “Organic Architecture” utilizing natural forms and shapes in buildings)

How did the Guggenheim Museum take its shape?

(It takes its spiral shape from a seashell)

How do we know Wright created a distinct form of American architecture?

(Wright was a man of vision who was far ahead of his time)

Describe Wright’s home, “Fallingwater”.

(It is a beautiful home built over a natural stream as if it always existed on that spot)

Why do you think Wright is still considered an architectural genius?

(Architects today still use many of his ideas of suiting a particular site and function)

HW/Evaluation: Visit the following website: http://www.thais.it/guggenheim/default_uk.htm – photos and discussion by Wright of his design for the Solomon Guggenheim Museum of New York.

Design a home of your own, draw a picture of it, and write a paragraph telling what materials your house is made of and why.

Teacher Notes: Frank Lloyd Wright had created a museum environment that might overpower the art inside. "On the contrary," he wrote, "it was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before." In conquering the static regularity of geometric design and combining it with the plasticity of nature, Wright produced a vibrant building whose architecture is as refreshing now as it was 40 years ago. The Guggenheim is arguably Wright's most eloquent presentation and certainly the most important building of his late career.