John H. Howe, Architect: From Taliesin Apprentice to Master of Organic Design

This book about the "pencil in Mr. Wright's hand" is a concise and informative volume about a very creative, capable, and exquisite draftsman who was not only able to take Frank Lloyd Wright's sketchy ideas and turn them into beautiful drawings, but had the skill and creativity for a successful architectural career in his own right. This well written volume includes numerous reproduced drawings of his own designs. Projects and designs are discussed and written about with clarity and respect. That the book reads as well as it looks is a tribute to the authors who are well informed about Mr. Howe and admirers of his work.

This book on the life and work of John Howe is well written and lavishly illustrated with many full-color drawings and both vintage and contemporary photographs. The text and illustrations thoroughly chronicle Mr. Howe's years as a charter member of the Taliesin Fellowship and invaluable associate of Frank Lloyd Wright. The book also tells the story of his post-FLW years at Taliesin and later in California and Minnesota. As a perfectionist, I often feel that a book could have been better in some respect. Not so in this case. This book is a definitive volume of the life and work of an outstanding architect in the organic tradition and provides new insights into the working methods of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Fellowship. Highly recommended!

Finally, John Howe gets his due! Not only for his superb drafting & renderings but for his original architectural work as well. The authors are to be commended producing such a work. This volume clearly reinforces that yes, Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius but he had many talented people surrounding him over the course of his career. Marion Mahony Griffin is another architect that has been recognized in the past few years for her excellent contribution to the organic architecture idea. Hopefully, future scholars will reveal others who were an integral part of Wright's legacy.Wes Peters for his architectural engineering is another architect that comes to mind within the Wright inner circle.Recommended, excellent illustrations and text.

Great book, however it is not really "complete" and lacks many of the finished & unbuilt home plans & there are few photos of the home interiors. I would like to make a more complete book myself at some point in the future. I was also surprised more of John's (Jacks') original sketches from early projects or at Taliesin days were not included as they do exist. At LEAST this is a 1st attempt at documenting this great Architects achievements and contribution to the Architectural (scholastic) and aesthetic world around us. Also his invaluable contribution to Taliesin & helping Mr. Wright create wonderful homes with great documents & drawings, perspectives

This is what I would have done had I the resources of the author. It is everything I knew about John H. Howe at Taliesin and in private practice. The provide images are an excellent documentation of his wonderful creations.

As a general overview of John “Jack” Howe’s architectural career, this is an excellent book. It is well designed and well written, with an abundance of both photos and Howe’s refined renderings. As Frank Lloyd Wright’s chief draftsman for decades, it’s impressive how Howe went on to be a successful architect who practiced under Wright’s philosophies but with his own interpretation of them. That Howe was able to produce so many clear, resolved designs that echoed but did not copy Wright is impressive. That he was brave enough to be jailed for being a conscientious objector during World War II only added to his legacy.After reading the book from cover to cover, I came away with two main impressions. First and foremost was that Howe had a singular talent in that he was a superlative delineator and interpreter. His renderings were second only to Marion Mahoney’s (whom the authors credit), and he developed his own style that obviously pleased Wright. He was clearly able to take Wright’s sketches and words and develop them into buildable substance. He was also able, it seems, to filter and tweak such directives to the point where his voice added to “the master’s” and thereby lighten Wright’s load to some degree. Howe lacked an ego, or so I gained from reading this biography. This brings me to my second impression:Who, exactly, was John Henry Howe? By the time I finished the book, I still didn’t know. He joined the Taliesen Fellowship at age 19 and left 5 years after Wright’s death when Howe was 51. He started his own firm in Minneapolis at age 54. He ended his practice at age 80 and died 4 year later. Beyond that, I came away knowing next to nothing. Nothing except that he was, apparently, a white male from Evanston, Illinois and married Lu Sparks, a white female from somewhere else. He was afflicted by Guillan-Barré syndrome (an immune system disorder) at age 73, but the book never mentioned if this potentially paralyzing disease ever affected him for more than the few weeks indicated. He seemed to be miraculously cured of it, in fact, because the authors never mentioned it again and it did not seem to slow Howe down or result in his death. That’s just the beginning of the mystery, however.Did John and Lu have any kids? Does the book know or care?Did John have any interests beyond being an architectural delineator and architect? Did he have hobbies? Like any sports? Did he like music? Was he even literate? Was he a one-dimensional, boring automaton? We suspect that he was, but we don’t know from this book!He moved to Minneapolis and practiced there from 1967-1993. Did he have any interaction whatsoever with the University of Minnesota’s architecture degree program? Did he have any interaction with AIA or AIA Minnesota? Apparently not! One might infer that he held the AIA in disdain, and the U of M as ineffectual. We’ll never know from this book.He was clearly a “disciple” of Wright, but was he religious in the traditional sense at all? Given his prison term at Sandstone, he clearly had a moral compass, but what was his moral magnetic north? The book fails to say.I’m not trying to nitpick. I liked the book and felt that it helped shine a light on an architect whose achievements are worthy of praising. But it left me with the impression that Howe was a one-trick pony of a man. I’d like to think that he was more than that!! Howe had integrity and loyalty and consistency, and that’s more than one say about many persons today!Interestingly, John Howe does not have any Wikipedia entry. Perhaps this worthy book (criticism excepted) might start to correct this.

After 20plus years with him, Howe learned the right and the Wright way, just as FLLW learned from Sullivan.

Great book. Very insightful on Frank Lloyd Wright and his architectural practice.