Today, June 8th, is the birth anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright, America's most significant architect.
Although a trained engineer, he was a self-taught architect. Actually, he absorbed much of the teachings of his mother...who had decided, when he was a very tender age, that Wright should become an architect. It is said that Anna Lloyd-Jones placed pictures of great buildings in his nursery...in order to 'imprint' young Frank with an architectural mindset.
Wright's "Prairie Style" transformed 20th-century residential design...and was committed to 'organic architecture,' the belief that structures should harmonize with both occupants and landscape.
In 1956, at the age of 89, Wright completed a sketch for 'The Illinois,'...a mile-high skyscraper. The building would stand 528 stories tall, and contain 100,000 people. He felt that the structure could be built with available technology.
Speaking of architects, the Architectural Billings Index (ABI), a leading economic indicator of nonresidential construction activity, was positive again in April. The ABI has been positive for 19 consecutive months and 28 out of the last 29 months. The American Institute of Architects reported that the ABI rating in April was 54.2...any score above 50 indicates an increase.
The trend in billings at U.S. architecture firms points towards 2006 as being the best year for nonresidential construction since 1999.
From an investment perspective, Global Real Analytics LLC has reported that commercial real estate total returns outpaced the stock market by over 50% during the past decade...and were up 34% in the U.S. in 2005.
Frank Lloyd Wright quotes:
"A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."
"A man is a fool if he drinks before he reaches fifty, and a fool if he doesn't drink afterward."