Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) is considered one of the founding fathers of modern architecture. His innovative work, which spanned seven decades, influenced several generations of architects. Although he never built in Europe, Wright's work was published here at an early date and was widely known and appreciated. The present exhibition is the most comprehensive ever mounted in Europe. Forty years after the architect's death, the Vitra Design Museum organized the first European retrospective."

Although Wright designed several of the iconic edifices of the modern age - Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum, for example - , his conception of architecture as a tool for a reordering of society transcended individual buildings. Near the end of his life, Wright published "The Living City", illustrated with drawings into which he integrated many of his realized buildings and unbuilt projects and intended as a blueprint for the future, his valedictorian vision of a reconstructed world. Exhibition curator David De Long has suggested that this ambitious scheme "served as a focal point of his theories regarding an ideal society, providing opportunities for illustrating how his theories might be put into practice." Thus individual buildings are to be thought of as prototypes as well as singular solutions for specific sites. Wright hoped that a new type of social organization would take root in which formerly urban functions would be spread across a carefully planned countryside incorporating markets, businesses and community services all linked by an elaborate road system. Sometimes dismissed as a marginal Utopian fantasy, the "Living City" is, in actuality, central to Wright's thought and crucial to a full understanding of his achievement.

Decentralized city consisting of nine major categories of buildings

Taking as its starting point Wright's own writings, the exhibition explores the nine major categories of buildings, defined by social function, that he envisaged in his ideal, decentralized city. First of these are "Buildings for Work", Wright rethought the spaces in which modern work is done, devising coherent work stations and integrating the interior and exterior structure. "Buildings for Commerce" include retail shops, banks, gas stations, garages and roadside markets. Wright invented new forms congruent with particular kinds of commerce. Wright accepted a number of commissions for "Buildings for Worship and Commemoration". He thought of these gathering places as sources of spiritual unity for the community. "Buildings for Learning" were central to his enterprise from its earliest stages. Wright'schools and universities were open to nature and were places where creativity was nurtured. "Buildings for the Arts" included theaters, museums and more eclectic structures in which performance and other arts were celebrated. "Buildings for Recreation" were often planned as elaborate resort complexes to take advantage of the natural environment. In "Buildings for the Community" were concentrated the civic services necessary for the self-governing of the local population. Wright wanted these centers to be close to people's homes and to serve a limited area. "Buildings for Individual Dwelling" were of varying size and complexity, but always in harmony with the site upon which they were built both in materials and in configuration. Although he completed commissions for many elaborate and expensive homes, Wright always gave equal importance to more modest housing for working people. "Buildings for Communal Dwelling" included both apartment towers which Wright preferred to place in open landscape settings and hotels for temporary habitation.