Frank Lloyd Wright

(1867 - 1959)

“The mission of an architect is to help people understand how to make life beautiful, the world a better one for living in, and to give reason, rhyme, and meaning to life.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

Born in Wisconsin, Frank Lloyd Wright has been considered the ‘greatest American architect of all time,’ by the American Institute of Architects. He designed over 1,000 architectural works over a seven-decade career, including homes, skyscrapers, schools, and museums.

Wright’s residential projects were known for blending into the surrounding landscape, using architectural features such as expansive rooflines, floor-to-ceiling windows and doors, and natural building materials, including wood and stone. In line with Modernism, Wright sought to integrate form and function in his projects, aiming to create the stage for a better way of living.

Completed in 1964, twenty-six years after he introduced his Usonian House style, The Gordon House by Frank Lloyd Wright illustrates many of the same characteristics. 

Alvar Aalto

(1898 - 1976)

Alvar Aalto was a Finnish architect known for treating each of his built projects as Gesamtkunstwerk - a total work of art. Together with his wife, Aino Marsio, also an architect, Aalto custom-designed many architectural details, including the furniture, light fixtures, and hardware for his projects. His expansive use of glass brought in abundant natural light and created opportunities for innovation. Similar to other modern architects, Aalto valued functional design and worked to develop forms that not only looked like art but also served a purpose. Aalto also contributed through his use of technology. Not only did he use wood for its simplicity, but he also developed fabrication methods to bend it for use in his designs.

Oregon is very lucky to have one of only two buildings designed by Alvar Aalto in the United States. He had a penchant for libraries, and when he learned about the site at Mount Angel, he agreed to the commission. The result is a visually stunning depiction of how Aalto created a work of art that becomes a stage for its own art, the library collection.