1905, Japan through Wright's lens

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Nofukuji Big Buddha, Kobe

Silver gelatin print, 3 ½ x 4 in. Collection of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

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*下文编译自赖特基金会“An Architect's Journey: Frank Lloyd Wright's Photographs of Japan, 1905”。

An architect's journey

Japan through the lens of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1905

In 1905, Wright embarked on his first overseas trip when his Oak Park practice flourished. Unlike other architects of his time, Wright did not choose to travel to Europe, the center of Western architecture, but spent three months traveling to Japan. He was accompanied by his wife, Catherine, and his clients, Ward and Cecilia Willitz. While spending time in Japan visiting important historical sites, he collected woodblock prints that he was very fascinated by in the 90s of the 19th century.

Wright and his entourage sailed from the port of Vancouver on February 21 and landed at the port of Yokohama near Tokyo on March 7. The two couples went their separate ways after arriving in Japan. Wright and Catherine carefully planned their route before leaving Oak Park: along the historic Tokaido that connects Tokyo and Kyoto. This picturesque route, punctuated by towns and villages that provide accommodation for travelers, is widely circulated in the many Japanese prints collected by Wright. The Wrights traveled mainly west by rail, passing through Nagoya, Kyoto, and Osaka, and then to Kobe, Okayama, and Takamatsu.

Utagawa Hiroshige, "Within the Fifty-Three Hours of Tokaido: Shono White Rain", 1832-1834

Woodblock color print

An accomplished amateur photographer, Wright travels with a sophisticated 4:5 camera to document the buildings and landscapes he sees. Upon his return to Oak Garden, the architect collected 40 photographs he had taken and 15 of his purchased photographs of the waterfall in a private album. While he may have taken more photographs during his travels, these curated collections of photographs provide insight into Wright's focus in Japan.

Wright's photographs contain some beautiful garden scenes: one of a winding path through a dense forest, the other of two travelers passing through a mountain road, and a hilltop view of the countryside, as well as multiple images of temples, shrines, and residences. While they exist as architectural documents, many of the images possess details that go beyond architectural documents in order to evoke the experiential qualities of a particular site.

Travelers on mountain trails

Silver gelatin print, 3 ½ x 4 in.,

Collection of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

In a chapter of his 1943 autobiography, "A Song to Heaven," Wright poetically recalls his first sight of Japan. The architect describes such a place: "In the distance, on the stretching blue sea, a pure sky can be seen, and in the distance flocks of white sampan sails are dotted. He spoke of the hillsides carved over time, with curved terraces, pine trees on the summits, and "thatched cottage villages that naturally nest in the corners of the mountains, like birds nest in trees." Wright's descriptions in his autobiography, like his photographs, blur the line between the land he witnesses and the idealized vision of Japan represented by the prints he is keen to collect.

Now, when the anchor of the ship landed in Yokohama Bay, my previous feelings deepened and intensified. Imagine a mountainous land if you hadn't seen it. In the distance, flocks of white sampan sails dot the pure golden sky on the blue sea, and white birds rest on the blue water.

—Frank Lloyd Wright, 1943

On a professional level, Wright's first trip to Japan is a testament to much of the work he has done for architecture over the past decade. In the traditional Japanese architecture and landscapes he witnessed, Wright discovered the organic design principles he pioneered in Chicago Prairie architecture. None of these photographs are images of Wright and his travel companions, and it is clear that the trip was a very personal and evocative experience for the architect, an opportunity to get as close as possible to the world of his ukiyo-e prints.

Today, Wright's Japanese travel photography remains one of the most personal manifestations of his enduring connection with Japanese art and culture, and the influence it had on his architectural design.

Nishi Honganji, Nagoya Annex, Nagoya