"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature." Frank Lloyd Wright.

Frank Lloyd Wright passed away 50 years ago today.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle declared “Frank Lloyd Wright Remembrance Day in Wisconsin, in memory of Wisconsin’s most famous son.” I'm positive this proclamation will go down as Doyle's only meaningful accomplishment in an otherwise lackluster career as governor of the great state of Wisconsin.

Wright, who was declared the “greatest American architect of all time” by the American Institute of Architects, according to the proclamation, was born June 8, 1867, in Richland County and made his home and studio in Spring Green. Six properties in Wisconsin designed by Wright are listed as National Historic Landmarks, according to the proclamation.

Wright referred to himself as "the world's greatest architect" - while he was living. He was not a modest man (and that's putting it lightly). No - Wright can be called many things. Ladies man. Egotist. Manipulator. Conniver. Debaucherer. Control freak. Perfectionist (loosely). Opinionated. Firm. Genius. But "modest" would never make that list.

However those close to him - his wives (married three times + one lover), his close friends and associates and his apprentices - paint Wright in another way. Family man (depends on which child you talk to). Loving husband (depends on which wife you talk to). Generous. A great teacher. When it concerns FLW, emotions run the gamut.

Myself? I'm a fan. I finally got to visit Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin last May, and I toured his Oak Brook home and office in Illinois a couple years ago. I love his Prairie-style homes, Fallingwater, Taliesin - though is block house style in California I could do with out.

Fallingwater, Bear Run, Pennsylvania.

I've been researching two play projects on Wright. Unfortunately, they've been on the back burner while I tackle other plays, but I'll get to them...when the time's Wright (laugh - it's funny). The ideas are gestating inside my head. Wright was famous for that. His apprentices recall that the designs and architectural sketches (whatever you call them) for Fallingwater (above) were drawn on paper in just two hours in anticipation of owner Edward Kaufman's impromptu visit to Taliesin. Kaufman approved them immediately.

What I adore most about Frank Lloyd Wright is his candor and his passion for "organic architecture", a term he introduced and used in his philosophy of architecture as early as 1908. Wright explained it as “form and function are one,” using nature as the best example of this integration. Organic architecture is also an attempt to integrate the spaces into a coherent whole: a marriage between the site and the structure and a union between the context and the structure. for merging architecture and Nature into one. Look at pictures of Taliesin and you'll see how the building itself has become a part of the landscape. Fallingwater is another example.

For past blogs on Wright, check out the following posts: my visit to Taliesin, Architecture as Art and Wright's textile block home, La Minatura in California.