When I read the pop-philosophy novel “The Fountainhead” at 19, I wanted the main character — architect Howard Roark — to be real. An idealistic youth, I was enchanted by author Ayn Rand’s ideas. Her obsession with self-determination worked my cognitive skills, as her devotion to authentic art and architecture touched my spirit. And then I learned about Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous American architect from whom Rand had drawn inspiration for the 1943 tome. Like the fictional architect, Wright envisioned purpose-built structures being of and for the setting and owners. He called this quest for harmonious design “organic architecture.” Throughout his life he articulated that philosophy in words and buildings. “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be…
Tagged: Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Travel