“Collecting Ourselves” brings together furniture, stained glass and original objects to reveal the house as a total work of art, a central concept of the american architect
Submitted at Mar 20, 2026, 12:00 PM
A Martin House, de Frank Lloyd Wright. (Martin House/Biff Henrich/CASACOR)
Designed between 1903 and 1905 in Buffalo, New York, the Martin House is considered one of the most important works of the early phase of Frank Lloyd Wright — and one of the most complete examples of his vision of architecture as an integrated system. More than designing buildings, Wright conceived each project as a total composition, in which structure, interiors, and objects form an indivisible unit.
It is precisely this expanded dimension of architecture that takes center stage in the new exhibition "Collecting Ourselves", on view from March 27 to September 7, 2026. The show reveals the long and meticulous process of restoring the house — not only its material fabric, but everything that inhabited it.
(Matthew Digati/CASACOR)
After decades of neglect over the course of the 20th century, the ensemble underwent a broad restoration, completed in 2017. Since then, the effort has turned to what Wright considered inseparable from the work: its objects.
Cadeira 'Barrel' de Frank Lloyd Wright. (James Pici/CASACOR)
Unlike traditional exhibitions, Collecting Ourselves shifts the focus from the building to its interior elements — treated here as direct extensions of the architectural design. The show brings together pieces designed or selected by Wright specifically for the house, many of which had been dispersed over time.
Luminária Tiffany & Co. (James Pici/CASACOR)
Highlights include Tiffany & Co. lighting, panels of geometric stained glass, custom furniture, and decorative elements that underscore the architect’s formal rigor. These items do not serve as mere decoration, but as spatial components that reinforce the horizontality, materiality, and language of the Prairie School — an American architectural movement at the beginning of the 20th century that had Frank Lloyd Wright as its leading figure.
Vitrais em uma janela da Barton House. (Libby March/The Washington Post/CASACOR)
The exhibition also highlights the research and curatorial work behind the reconstruction: over decades, specialists traced pieces in private and institutional collections, reconstructing the material narrative of the house. More than assembling objects, the project reveals the behind-the-scenes of preservation, with archives, documentation, and authentication processes that become part of the exhibition experience.
Commissioned by the businessman Darwin D. Martin, the residence was conceived with rare creative freedom, allowing Wright to fully explore his spatial principles. The ensemble includes not only the main house but also ancillary buildings, connected by pergolas and gardens, forming a continuous system.
Por dentro da Martin House. (Matthew Digati/CASACOR)
This approach makes the Martin House a landmark of modern architecture: there, Wright consolidates the idea of fluidity between interior and exterior, the use of striking horizontal lines and, above all, the notion that architecture must encompass all scales.
The exhibition reinforces this importance by showing that the integrity of the work depends not only on its structure, but on the recovery of its original elements. By reintegrating these objects, the house comes closer, for the first time in decades, to the architect’s complete vision.
Frank Lloyd Wright. (Hans Namuth/CASACOR)
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was one of the most influential architects of the 20th century and the leading name of the so-called Prairie School. A proponent of “organic architecture,” he developed designs that sought harmony between building, project, and way of life. His work is characterized by the integration between structure and interiors — including furniture, lighting, and ornaments —, understanding the house as a total work, a concept that finds in the Martin House one of its most radical and complete expressions.
