Nature and spirit: Arne Korsmo and Frank Lloyd Wright's organicism

Abstract

The Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo (1900-1968) is often associated with the organic principles defended by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) in keeping with his work in the post-World War II (WWII) period. The most emblematic example comes with Villa Planetveien 12 (1955) designed by Korsmo and his collaborators, in Oslo. Prior to WWII, Korsmo had been known as "Norway's Le Corbusier." Nevertheless, by comparing Wright's journey towards the construction of his organic principles from an early age with Korsmo's own path, we are able to identify further parallels between these two architects. Would Korsmo have become organic in "Wrightian" terms even without the direct influence of Wright? Was Korsmo already organic prior to WWII? Our thesis is that the organic Korsmo existed prior to Villa Planetveien 12. We also argue that Frank Lloyd Wright's path towards his organic principles opens a door to understanding both Korsmo's own organicism and his attraction to Functionalism. This thesis presents three assumptions that interconnect crucial events in Korsmo and Wright's life; grounded by the transcendental ideas of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's major reference, the American philosopher, essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).