People Who Don't Get It

Here's an example of either a FLW site tour guide giving a poor interpretation or people failing to understand the context of design decisions by only viewing it through the lens of their own personal prejudices. Read this one-sided diatribe if you dare.

Comments

[Jean]

The purpose of my blog post was to comment on the way people take what a symbol of authority (like FLW) says as "gospel" without questioning it. I see this as a problem of people in general. It certainly wasn't a slam against FLW. I think FLW was the greatest architect of the 20th century, maybe all time. But don't the people who are paying the money get some say in what their home will look like?

[Eric]

Frank Lloyd Wright would have been the first person to advocate the questioning of authority. However, there are times when people say or think they want something, when in fact they don't actually understand what it would cost or that there might be better alternatives. There are several examples of clients of Wright's not understanding why Wright was so firm about why a design had to be executed a certain way. They later came to realize that the design as executed was correct and had purpose--something they couldn't have understood or visualized at the time.

Though he was far from being perfect, it's a mis-characterization to say that Wright was a design dictator. For every one story about his inflexibility, there are many more that extol his sensitivity and desire to give clients what they personally needed in their home design. It's just more fun to focus on the negative stories then delve deeper into the principles behind the firm resolve.

While your basic point of "question everything" is admirable, I think the example you chose was based on partial stories and urban legend more than fact.