Frank Lloyd Wright: The Heroic Years: 1920-1932

Frank Lloyd Wright’s wife, Olgivanna, is famously quoted as saying that "My husband seemed to thrive on hardships." From the years 1920 to 1932 Wright’s fortunes were at a low ebb; he was plagued by financial, personal, and professional setbacks, but saw the time as one of challenges instead of one of defeat. Unable to find patrons, his imagination led to visionary, often splendid, architectural conceptions that laid the groundwork for the revolutionary architecture he would build in the decades to follow. During this period he designed almost fifty projects, of which only a few were realized, but those few are seen today as among his most important creations. They include the majestic Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, four exquisite textured concrete block houses in Los Angeles, renovations and additions to his beloved home, Taliesin, in Wisconsin, the Octillo Desert Camp in Chandler, Arizona, and his work as design consultant for the lavish Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Cottages in the desert in Phoenix. Rare and unseen photos as well as little-known drawings from this period are on lavish display in this important work on the master architect.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s wife, Olgivanna, is famously quoted as saying that "My husband seemed to thrive on hardships." From the years 1920 to 1932 Wright’s fortunes were at a low ebb; he was plagued by financial, personal, and professional setbacks, but saw the time as one of challenges instead of one of defeat. Unable to find patrons, his imagination led to visionary, often splendid, architectural conceptions that laid the groundwork for the revolutionary architecture he would build in the decades to follow. During this period he designed almost fifty projects, of which only a few were realized, but those few are seen today as among his most important creations. They include the majestic Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, four exquisite textured concrete block houses in Los Angeles, renovations and additions to his beloved home, Taliesin, in Wisconsin, the Octillo Desert Camp in Chandler, Arizona, and his work as design consultant for the lavish Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Cottages in the desert in Phoenix. Rare and unseen photos as well as little-known drawings from this period are on lavish display in this important work on the master architect.

Author Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer is a trustee of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona, and, as director of the archives there, is the curator of its 300,000 correspondence documents and 22,000 drawings, some of which are shown here for the first time. He has been a member of the Taliesin Fellowship for over forty-four years, and is the author and/or editor of over forty books on Frank Lloyd Wright.