Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #360143 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Amazon.com
Any admirer of the creative talent of Frank Lloyd Wright should not be without this excellent book, which records 50 of his domestic interiors. Diane Maddex, who has written several books on Wright, has assembled a photographic collection of his living and dining rooms as well as playrooms, libraries, and a few public spaces, including Wisconsin's Johnson Wax building and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Wright's signature style--a combination of arts and crafts and the "prairie school"--was achieved by designing human-scale spaces with beautifully crafted materials. Maddex includes the finest examples of this in the book. The rooms span Wright's entire career--from the Robie House in 1906 to the Guggenheim, which was completed in 1959 (after the architect's death)--and they demonstrate the evolution of his style. The photographs are sensational; they capture the light, scale, and color of each interior. Accompanying each photo is a brief description of the clients, their requirements, and what Wright created for them. This is a lovely book that serves as a beautiful historical record of one of the 20th century's greatest architects.

Customer Reviews

Good use of the full size of the book for big photos
A very natural companion book to 50 Favorite Houses by FLW by the same author. I think I prefer this one. It's not often I see photos of the interior of the Marin County Civic Center though there's just one. Despite there being 22 different photographers or souces for photos, they're all credited for 1998, the year the book was printed. This could explain why almost every interior shot appears to have, as much as possible, the same camera angle, that is, to include the ceiling and floors. It gives a feeling of first walking into a room. For some reason I like this book a little better than the 50 Favorite Houses one. Not sure why, maybe it's the rich natural wood colors of his interiors while all the homes in the other book are not as dramatic in color and bright detail as these rooms are. Both are worth having if you can get them at less than full price, which, thankfully, is one of the great strengths of this site. The author does a nice job with her medium sized column of information that is on the facing page of each entry. I'm always a happy FLW big color photo book owner when the book has every single photo (except one of FLW) take up the entire page and maybe half of them also covering a third of the facing page. That's what I want in such books, big color photos of his work taking up as much of the page as possible. Worth it owning this lovely book. chrisbct@hotmail.com

50 Favorite Rooms Review
This book is great either if you are wanting infornmation on Frank Lloyd Wright, his personal life or the works of art he created. It gives examples of his personal choices and styles. Each page includes a full page color picture of one of the rooms he designed.
It also is a good book if you are just looking for examples of interior design or aritechture. It has unique pieces and will give you great ideas!

Excellently arranged; quality overview of great room spaces
The first thing that struck me about this book is how well put-together it is. In "50 Favorite Rooms by Frank Lloyd Wright," Diane Maddex (listed in the credits as "Project Director") has crafted a book that is clean, simple and elegant in its presentation of the architect's trademark design of personal living spaces.

If you've visited more than a few of Frank Lloyd Wright's creations, chances are they won't all be represented here. He completed hundreds of homes and buildings, which means that this book could have been entitled "250 Favorite Rooms ..." and it still would have been too thin. What you do find are superb photos which are amazingly successful in capturing the perspective and harmony of lines, space, furniture, ornamentation and even lighting. My favorite views are inside the homes, but the public spaces are interesting also. You don't have to be an architect to appreciate the mastery in Mr. Wright's designs.

The chapters are grouped by room type (e.g., living rooms, dining rooms), with each of the pictures taking up AT LEAST one full page, and supported by 20-30 lines of text describing key design aspects of the room. The photos are of the highest quality in terms of exposure, lighting and balance. In some cases, the vantage point allows for a look beyond the windows to the surrounding landscape or greenery. A nice touch, indeed. In short, if you're looking for the definitive image of a room, you'll find a bunch of them right here.

If Mr. Wright had designed a book, I think this is what he'd have come up with. I give this my highest recommendation.