Kenneth Dahlin: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Path to Beauty

The Villa Terrace Museum and Gardens and Boswell present an event with architect and scholar Kenneth Dahlin, who appears with his new book, Frank Lloyd Wright and the Path to Beauty, in which he connects Lloyd Wright's organic theory with his pursuit of beauty, presenting a path for the recovery of beauty in architecture. Tickets for this event cost $20, or $15 for Villa Terrace members. Do note, ticket does not include the book, which will be available for purchase at the event. While there has been a resurgence of interest in beauty in architecture recently, the modern uglification of the built environment means there is no clear pathway to define or find it. In this study, Dahlin’s approach to Wright's organic theory provides such a path to reclaim this beauty. Tracing the evolution of Wright's concept of organic architecture, Dahlin explores Wright's “middle way” - a route mediating between traditional historical precedents and today's novelty-driven architectural culture, often detached from deeper notions of harmony and beauty. Dahlin explores Wright's romanticist roots, including the House Beautiful movement, the centrality of Japanese aesthetics, and his concept of the integrated whole. Grounding Wright's pursuit of beauty in philosophical aesthetics, Dahlin sets the stage for a synthesis of the various strands of Wright's theory into a model theory of organic architecture for the future.