Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Organic Thesis
Organic Thesis
ENVIRONMENT
by
BRIAN L. POWELL, B.S.
A THESIS
IN
ARCHITECTURE
Subi iitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfmment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
Approved
Accepted
December, 1995
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my committee members, Professor Robert Coombs, Dr. Michael
Jones, and Dr. Rumiko Handa, for their patience with me, as well as their imput into my
work. I would like to thank my parents for their insistence that I fínish, although they
thought I was not listening. Last I would like to thank various authors, primarily fíction,
u
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES v
LIST OF FIGURES vi
CHAPTER
Thesis Statement 1
Description of Thesis 2
Infroduction 19
Art Nouveau 30
American Transcendentalism 32
Organic Architects 35
ui
Louis H. SuIIivan (1856-1924) 35
V. PROJECT DOCUMENTATION 73
Introduction 82
Project Statement 82
The Site 83
The Program 84
The Entry 85
The Stacks 86
Art Gallery 87
Book Processing 87
The Adminisfration 88
The Auditorium 88
Bathrooms 88
iv
The Formal Expression 89
Stmcture 90
Waxahachie, Texas 94
Historical Description 94
Surrounding Areas 95
Physical Characteristics 95
Historic District 96
REFERENCES 97
APPENDIX
VI
LIST OF FIGURES
vn
CHAPTERI
Thesis Statement
FoIIowers of organic architecture can be divided into two groups, those that have
classical sympathies, and those that have gothic. This is in reference to the origins of
organic architecture in the nineteenth century rivalry between the gothic revival
movement and the neoclassical. Organic architecture grew from the rationalist
VioIIet-le-Duc and John Ruskin were the primary influences on Frank LLoyd Wright,
who could be called the fírst organic architect. He said that organic form grows its own
stmcture out of conditions as a plant grows out of the soil.' While most of his writings
about architecture relied on similar metaphors to convey his meaning, his architecture
followed a strict logic which is not conveyed in his writing. One particular critic
understood this when he said, "In this sense the laws of organic planning fínd their
continuation and completion in the extemal stmcture; and the manifold arrangement of
parts, the lively grouping of building masses, are to be viewed as a result of the inner
became apparent that architects vsath classical sympathies, such as Alvar Aalto, have had
' Donald Leslie Johnson, Frank Llovd Wright versus America: the 1930's. (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: theMITPress, 1990), 67.
2
more success in designing within the urban environment than those architects, such as
Frank Lloyd Wright^, who were sympathetic to the relatively "modem" teachmgs of
Ruskin and VioUet-Ie-Duc. The term "modem" is used to highlight the historical position
of these two architects, who were seeking to replace Neoclassical architecture with an
architecture that was appropriate to their time. That was one of Wright's goals. Aalto
This thesis is based on the following two hypotheses: (1) Despite Wright's antithapy
toward cities, the urban environment is appropriate for organic architecture." (2)
Organic architecture both influences and reflects the organic nature of the urban
environment. The written thesis wiU be informed and supported by the design
Description of Thesis
This thesis is arranged in two parts: the theoretical exploration, and the design
project. This format allows the author to demonstiate his understanding of architecture
in both graphic and written forms. This is necessary because architecture is both a
building is quite literally a permanent part of the lives of people, and it becomes
important for the architect to recognize both the basic needs as well as the higher needs
of people. Basic needs can be met by simply erecting the most convenient stmcture and
"ftid
3
fumishing it with what is at hand. The architect is also concemed with higher needs,
usually addressing issues of beauty. As the actual art isjionverbal, careful graphic
representation of the building is necessary as the most economical means for exploring
architectural hypothesis.^ The written part of this thesis concems the clarification of the
The theoretical exploration includes a review of the works and design methods of
Louis H. SuIIivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, and Hugo Hãring, and the major
influences on their careers. Each architect has a different approach to organic form and
philosophy. Some built in urban environments and others did not. This review will
reveal the influences that either hindered or helped the creation of organic form within
The author's design exploration is situated in a small scale urban enviromnent. The
vehicle is a library for EIIis County, Texas. The site is in Waxahachie, Texas, a small
from Fort Worth.^ The majority of the urban buildings in Waxahachie were built before
the tum of the century. The city has been slowly growing over the past few years, due in
^ An actual building is the ideal medium for any architectural exploration. This was an
attitude adopted by Mies van Der Rohe who believed that architecture began with the
materials of a building not a piece of paper. Although Mies does not fall under the
umbrella of organic architecture, he was also heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Peter Blake, The Master Builders: Le Corbusier. Mies van Der Rohe, Frank Llovd
Wright, (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc, 1976), 169-195.
^ Time is based on the use of Interstate Highway 35, at 55 m.p.h. Commuters from
Waxahachie to Dallas and Ft. Worth wiU be more concemed with how long it will take to
arrive at their destinations. The range of human tiavel has been extended so much that
time has become a more relevant measure of distance than miles.
4
part to the people commuting to the larger metiopolitan areas to work, Waxahachie
appeals to many people as a place to live. A large number of the population are retirees,
who are very active both in civic and private forums. There is one small accredited four
year college in the town, the South Westem Assembly of God CoUege. Waxahachie has
attracted several medium sized industrial plants and still has a broad agricultural
industry. This site is chosen because it is an example of penturbia, which is the new
INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURE
"Organic form grows its own stmcture out of conditions as a plant grows out of the
soil."* This statement is a metaphor that Frank Lloyd Wright used to define organic
architecture.' This is a process of design that develops a unique building from its initial
character and its site using organic form to create an effect on the user of the building.
Organic forms are not imitated from nature; but the organic architect does emulate the
natural processes of growth and erosion that create organic form. Examples of these
processes include, geological erosion, geological accretion, plant and animal growth.
They are known through direct observation by the architect, or through examining the
observations of scientists. If a building has been designed from the inside out, it is
organic'" The architect has emulated the evolutionary responses of organic entities to
their environment." Organic form follows logically from the design and avoids
The term "initial character" refers to the program of a building and to the materials
chosen. Wright, Aalto, and Hãring gave an equal emphasis to both in their work.'^ These
^Donald Leslie Johnson, Frank Lloyd Wright versus America: the 1930's, (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: tiie MIT Press, 1990), 67.
^U id.
" Geological phenomenon have been included under the term organic based on the
explorations of Alvar Aalto and Reima PietiIIã, both of whom have used a large amount
of geological imagery in their work.
6
architects are connected to the Functionalist movement as participants or in Wright's case
forerurmer. This connection suggests that the requirements of a building contain at least
a part the character of a building. If possible, materials were often decided on before a
form was given to the building, weaving their characteristics into the early stages of
This has an important implication for the use of materials. An organic architecture
develops form in a way that is analogous to biological growth,'" requiring the architect to
design a building from the specifíc requirements of both the program and the site.'^ In
fact, an organic architect will state that a building is grown out of the site.'^ This is a
very literal description of the design process of organic architecture." The organic
architect takes the environmental stimulants of the site and adapts the basic aspects of the
building accordingly, while respecting the nature of the materials that are chosen. The
materials play the role of genetic pattems in the building by suggesting a possible range
of responses to the site. Different materials have distinct properties in terms of both
visual appearance and constmction methods. Masonry, wood, steel and concrete follow
"Chapterm,pp 37-55.
"Ibid.
'" Stanley Abercrombie, Architecture as Art: An Esthetic Analvsis, (New York: Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1984), 102.
'^ A building is grovm from the site as opposed to being fitted to the site. Ibid.
" Ibid. This is very similar to statements made by Frank Lloyd Wright about how he
designed a building.
7
different sfruclural logic and serve as a basic pattem for the development of form in
much the same way that DNA. cames the pattem for biological development. This issue
has become confused by twentieth century technology in which brick can be hung on
steel frames that usurps the bricks structural properties. The author speculates that such
stmctures are hybrids and follow their own stmctural logic; they form an interesting
Altman and Martin Chemers quoting anthropologist Florence Kluckhohn (1953) are;
(1) people as subjugated to nature, living at the mercy of a powerful and uncom-
promising nature; (2) people as over nature, dominating, exploiting, and control-
ling the environment; and (3) people as an inherent part of nature, like animals,
trees, and rivers, trying to live in harmony with the environment.^°
These three orientations were presented as a range of values rather than a comprehensive
list. "Most cultures, especially technologically complex ones, are apt to have elements of
all three perspectives embedded in their value systems, and so what we have presented
'*MalcoIm Quantrill, Alvar Aalto: A Critical Study, (New York: New Amsterdam
Books, 1983), 1.
'^ Irwin Altman and Martin Chemers, Culture and Environment, (Monterey, Califomia:
Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1980), 15.
^^Uîid.
''n)id,24.
predominant in cultures located in harsh climates such as found in deserts. Organic
technology, such as HVAC systems, reduce the influence of this orientation. The second
orientation, people as above nature, has been the predominant orientation in westem
cultures for the past two hundred years and results from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian
holds the view that" humans are separate from nature, are superior to it, and have a right
and even a responsibility to control, subjugate, and bend the environment in accordance
with human needs."^^ The third orientation, people as a part of nature, is predominant
among oriental cultures. It is entirely possible that Wright and SuIIivan were indirectly
influenced by an oriental conception of the unity of man and nature; however, this
exploit nature. Two things can be inferred from this statement; one, the exploitation is
towards a specific goal; and, two, that the goal is for the benefít of people. The primary
^^Jbid.,24.
^'Uîid, 18.
^"^ Wright and SuIIivan emphasized the pedagogical approach to organic architecture,
while Aalto and Hãring emphasized a physical approach to organic architecture. For a
detailed discussion see pp., 34-43.
One of organic architecture's origins was in American Transcendentalism, a
philosophy that began in the nineteenth centiiry." Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David
Thoreau, and Wah Whitinan were the mam fígures in this philosophical movement.^'*
They believed that Man had become estianged from Natiu-e, and that the role of the artist
was to unite both into a natiiral union." The poem, "When the FuII Grown Poet Came,"
Art must come from this blending of man and nature, for it is in nature only that tmth and
beauty are found.^' Man and Nature have powers of creation, and, as suggested in this
^^ Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis H. SuIIivan were both heavily influenced by this
philosophy. For a detailed discussion see p. 37.
26
For a detailed discussion see p. 32.
^^ The author is not sure what the phrase "natural union" meant to the franscendentalists
of the nineteenth century. A general reading of Krishan Kumar's book, Utopia and
Anti-Utopia in Modem Times, suggests that in the transcendentalist's view nature needed
man to be complete as a descendant of the biblical Garden of Eden. The author has
included this footnote in order to recognize that the religions of the US. have played a
role in the development of organic architecture. There is enough material for a second
thesis.
^* Walt Whitinan, Leaves of Grass: The 1892 Edition. (New York; Bantam Books,
1983), 435.
^^This is traceable to Rousseau's attitude toward nature as the source of all tmth and
beauty. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, (ii,59) Quoted by Ronald Grimsley in The
10
poem, the poet is a creature of both. One interpretatíon is that the poet has undertaken
the task of reconciliation of man and nature through the merging of science and art.
Emerson believed that science and art were both explorations of different aspects of
data.^' The Transcendentalists believed that it is possible that knowledge is found within
Transcendentalist philosophy believes that great men have a generic quality that is
fransferred through the teaching process, which causes the ordinary man to achieve
Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis H. SuIIivan considered themselves to be great men.
Wright considered his work to instmct the user and others in a more natural lifestyle.
tmths of nature."^^ Both of these architects valued the artistic qualities of a bmlding over
its practical qualities though this does not mean that they ignored practical concems.
architecture. The craft of architecture refers to the constmction and also to what is known
noted by Dennis Allen Anderson and Jeffrey Karl Ochsner in "Adler and SuIIivan's
Seattle Opera House Project."^^ For Wright and SuIIivan, the use of organic forms were
attempts to instmct people in a more natural way of life. In the works of these architects,
Deism, an earlier philosophy that heavily mfluenced the early United States Republic,
it was imprørtant because it presented an empirical basis for studying nature. Deism held
^^ This does not mean that Sullivan was only a decorator. His work in the Seattle Opera
House indicates a mastery of the craft as well. It was only in SuIIivan's expression that
the craft was regulated to framework, Dennis Allen Anderson and Jeffrey Karl Ochsner,
"Adler and SuIIivan's Seattle Opera House Project," Societv of Architectiiral Historians
JoumaLXLVm, (September 1989): 223-231.
not physically intertere in this world through mystical means.^^ This was the essence of
cosmic order, one held by Sir Isaac Newton, John Bacon and John Lockc^' They
visualized the universe as running like a perfect machine according to unbreakable laws,
which at that time was embodied in the mechanical clock. These laws could be found
only by a rational study of nature, an imperative study, for that was the only way to know
God."" Deism in its purest state rejected any knowledge that was divinely inspired or
acquired in any fashion other than through a rational empiricism. The religious makeup
of the colonies in the United States was, at that time, was predominantly Calvinist.
movement at odds with pure Deism. Certain philosophers tried to reconcile the two
different theologies, notably the Scottish commonsense philosophers"' who believed that
"This theology denies the existence of any source of mystical knowledge such as
divine inspiration, messages from angels, and genius. Kerry S. Walters, Rational
Infídels: The American Deists. (Durango, Colorado: Longwood Academic, 1992), 7.
^^Theology and philosophy at this point in time were essentially the same thing. In
fact, the separation of church and state was not widely practiced until the late cighteenth
century. Ibid., 7.
^' This is a metaphor that is commonly attributed to Sir Isaac Newton. Walters, Rational
Infídels: The AmericanDeists, 16.
40
Uîid
"' Kerry S. Walters, The American Deists: Voices of Reason and Dissent in the Earlv
Republic (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas,1992), 14.
13
the mmd possessed certain self evident mtuitive faculties by which knowledge could be
appraised.'*^ They had more impact on Deism m the United States than Locke or Newton
because their work was more acceptable to the colonist's religious sensibilities,''^
Because of these religious sensibilities, the United States was not as heavily influenced
of the early 1920s was grounded in this through the teachings of Eugene Emmanuel
VioIIet-le-Duc There was a search for the natural laws that govemed architecturc'" Of
metaphor, which is similar to the clockwork universe. There were only a small number
of modem architects who saw the laws in terms of an organism rather than a machine.
Wright brought the idea of an organic architecture to Europe.''^ Aalto and Håring
used organic forms as an altemative to the vogue for industrialized forms of the
Modemist Movement. Aalto and Hãring were empiricists, and both claimed to be
Functionalists. Any appeal to artistic sensibility had to have a quantifíable purpose. This
led to a curious duality in the works of Aalto who would deny any artistic intent in his
42
Jbid., 16.
"^ The works of Bacon, Newton and Locke challenged the tenets of Calvinism too much
for the majority of the colonists. They were scomed by most of the American clergy.
Jbid., 15.
''"Peter Blundel Jones, "Hugo Håring," Architectiu-al Review, vl71 (June 1982): 40-47.
''Chapterffl,43.
14
architecture. His work employed iconographic imagery and other references that appeals
to the artistic sensibilities of people. He did not claim any artistic intent; however, Aalto
did not object to people seeing artistic merit in his work. The artistic touch in his work
A quantifíable human need drove this version of organic architecture, Both Hugo
Hãring and Alvar Aalto were rationalists who based their organic form on quantifíable
phenomena. For Håring there was nothing as important as the physical requirements of a
building.''^ Aalto had a humanistic stance, tempered by a concem for the psychological
function of architecture. In both cases the architects took an empirical approach to form.
Psychology allowed Aalto and Håring to justify historical references, metaphor, and other
Organic architecture was practiced in Europe during the late 1920s; however, it was
not a major part of the Modemist Movement. Organic architecture was closely related
There are three major concepts in the Modemist Movement that were rejected by organic
architecture. The fírst is the machine model of universal order, which is a version of the
''Jones, "HugoHâring."
''SeeChapterlII, p. 54.
15
Enlightenment's clockwork universe. It was rejected in favor of a biological model. The
second is the emphasis placed on mass society over the individual, The third is the
has an effect on how order is viewed. Westem architecture has traditionally associated
Euclidean geometry with order, especially demonsfrated in the gothic cathedrals of the
Middle Ages. tt is tempting to suggest that organic architecture is a total break from the
SuIIivan and Wright created geometric modules to represent growth tempered by Man's
touch.''^ Hugo Håring used Euclidean geometry only when constmction costs resfrained
planning.^'^ Aalto combined orthogonal grids with intuitive organic forms in a deliberate
dissolving of the grid. Pure geometry was not a part of these architects' work, and
platonic volumes were never the ultimate forms of a building. In organic architecture,
geometric forms, such as plan and volume, are associated with human constmction, and
signify the relationship of man and nature in a particular work. For example, Wright's
strict contiol of the geometric module can be interpreted as placing people into the role
"^Hannes Meyers proposed that there was no art in architecture and that all
architectural problems could be solved by inductive reasoning. He was the polar
opposite of Hugo Hãring. Peter Blundel Jones, "Hugo Hãring," Architectural Review.
1982, V. 171 no. 1022,40-47.
'"Jones, "HugoHâring."
16
of caretaker, while Aalto's casual attitude towards geometry can be mterpreted as a
Hãring, and Aalto are not connected by the appearance of their buildings, other than
organic imagery. The approaches of these architects toward design are similar Rather
than classify their works by a catalogue of building parts, the approaches to organic
SuIIivan, Håring and AaUo, though there is no obvious formal pattem m their works. If
the personal attitudes toward the designs of SuIIivan, Wright, Hãring and Aalto are used
The empirical attitude came from Goethe and VioIIet-Ie-Duc, both of whom
advocated an empirical approach to art. Goethe believed that art and science were one
and the same exploration of nature, making the assumption that Tmth can be found in the
measurable qualities of nature either through science or art. In this version of organic
architecture it is required that there be quantifíable reason for the use of form. For
example, Aalto used psychology as a justification for much of his organic form. Håring
used the physical function almost exclusively. Aalto and Håring have replaced the
mysticism of SuIIivan and Wright with psychology. According to the empirical attitude,
the primary purpose of the architect's work was its use in everyday life. AII decisions
are inherent in all people and the presence of those ideas can be confírmed by empirical
research. The architecture of both Wright and SuIIivan was mtended to inform society,
and the promotion of architectural ideas of more importance to them than the physical
comfort of their building. Organic form was justifíed on the basis of the pedagogical
ambitions to teach people to live in harmony with nature, as long as nature was subject to
peoplc
These are the two different approaches to organic architecture, Their difference lies
in the justifícation that architects use in order to meaningfully employ organic form. In
both cases, the architects conclude organic models for architectural form are more
beneficial for people than Euclidean or machine models. The organic model for form
must not be taken too literally when the underlying pnnciples are used to create
architectural form. Architectural form should never be predetermined. When Aalto fried
to create building types the attempt was highly modifíed by circumstances, such as
program, cost and sitc Architectural form is always affected by its environment. This
includes context, though the typical defínition is usually too limiting for the organic
architect. Context, a literary term, often implies that the historical and iconographic
makeup of the area are more important than the actual physical location. As organic
architecture is very site specifíc the use of the word "context" becomes a distraction. The
term "environment" is more correct. In both cases, architectural form affects the soul and
rationalists there exists attempts at communicating through the mtuition, Aalto referred
builds more often because the need of the presence of an actual environment is a vital
part of his work. The expressionist does not build much because the ideas of the
ARCFQTECTURE
Introduction
the conditions found in these industrialized cultures; but, it was not a rejection of
or enslavement, according to the human direction and control given it, for it is unable to
control iíself "^^ Organic architecturc is concemed with the direction of progress. This
concem is fírst seen in the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and is not an original
thought of organic architects. This chapter discusses the major influences in the
development of organic architecture and demonsfrates its place in the history of twentieth
century architecturc
The European Romantic movement occurred between 1760 and 1820, a time of
major historic changes in the European cultures. The materialistic philosophy of Deism
was beginning to take hold of intellectual circles in Europc Deism was technically a
theology, but during that period of history there was very little difference between
philosophy and theology in the Westem World. As Adam Smith published The Wealth
philosopher Goethe was active in Germany, Darwin was beginning to develop his theory
of evolution, the Industrial Revolution was expanding, and the authority of classicism
was being challenged." The latter was not exclusively an architectural phenomenon, but
occurred in literature, in paintings, and in music, which suggests that there was a general
shift in the thinking of the population. The awareness of society as an organism was
begiiming to take hold in the eighteenth century.^" This means that people were no
The begiiming of this challenge to classical authority began a long time before the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It took place in the context of French neoclassicism
century, Claude Perrault began questioning the fraditional view of proportions as laid
illustrates the nature of this challenge quoting Descartes writing to Mersennc Descartes
'^ The subject of classicism is much more complicated than the author realized at the
beginning of this thesis, and apparently the classical architecture serves as a uniíying set
of elements for a large and diverse period of westem history. See Joseph Rywert, The
First Modems: The Architects of the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, Massachusetts:
TheMITPress, 1987).
'" Marilyn Butler, Romantics. Rebels and Reactionaries: English Literature and Its
Background 1760-1830 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), 178.
55
Rywert, The First Modems. 33.
doubt howl and run away whenever he heard its music."" This questioning lead Perrault
to conduct an empirical study of the proportions of past masters. The results of this
study suggested that this classical assumption lacked basis, and brought into question the
distinguishing between two different types of beauty, the positive and arbitiary.^^
"Positive" can be taken to mean beauty that is native to the building and "arbitiary" can
be taken to mean beauty that is subjective, or that which people have tiained themselves
to likc This was the beginning of the Enlightenment, at least in architecture. The
against the materialistic dogma of the Enlightenment, although empirical exploration was
never abandoned. There were two general trains of thought in the late nineteenth
century. One assumed that only an empirical study of nature could reveal tmth and the
other eissumed that an empirical study of nature would veriíy tmth which could be found
within peoplc
philosopher who lived in the eighteenth century, in anything dealing with the European
aesthetics were tied to the development of human morals. In Emile, Rousseau described
his opinion conceming the source of beauty. "The good is only the beautiful in action.
'Mbid
''Ibid,36.
22
that the one is intimately connected with the other and that they both have a common
source in well ordered nature."^'' Unlike his contemporaries, Rousseau was not an
infrospectivc Tmth was found in one's own self rather than measured and quantifíed in
the lab of the scientist.^^ This placed Rousseau in a curious positíon in the eighteenth
century in that he did not believe that science would provide the answers to everything.
"Rousseau, striking deeper still, maintained that the cuU of intellectual progress is
incompatible vÁth man's tme nature, and he feared that it would ultimately destroy what
Rousseau was not against progress itself, but against the way in which progress was
being implemented, and specifícally in the large city. "Man, Rousseau thought, was
intended by nature to live in sparsely populated mral societies, not in vast aggregations
where the individual is socialized out of existencc"^ Rousseau equated the decay of
moral values with the excessive veneration of science and with the overcrowded
**" Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, (ii, 59) Quoted by Ronald Grimsley in The
Philosophv of Rousseau (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 122.
61
He was a chemist before becoming a philosopher. Ibid.
^^ The Tmth as is used here is the order found in naturc Rousseau believed that the
empirical methods of people such as Deirdrot left much out of the order of naturc Such
order, as Rousseau saw it, could be found only by introspection. Mark J. Temmer, Art
and the Influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Chapel HiII, North Carolina; The
University of North Carolina Press, 1973), 93.
63
Uîid, 3.
^F.C. Green, Rousseau and the Idea of Progress (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1950:
reissued 1978.), 17.
23
industrial cities.^^ He influenced the American movements known as Unitarianism and
Frank Lloyd Wright. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's work formed a major part of the basis for
the social stmcture of the United States of America and for the romantic movement in
The literary arts were the primary means of communicating ideas before electronic
communication took its place in the twentieth century. The gothic novel is a part of the
European romantic movement and was a major change in English literaturc As a gem-e
it is very difficult to defíne, or at least to fínd an agreement among literary critics and
historians as to the exact defmition of the gothic novel. The gothic novel was developed
as a popular literature in the late 1800s and was designed to appeal to a mass audiencc
Frankenstein. written by Mary Shelly in 1818, and Ivanhoc by Sir Walter Scott in 1820,
are two of the more famous works produced by this gemc Some critics include Moby
Dick, by Herman Melvile, and The Scarlet letter, by Nathaniel Hawthom, as examples of
the artist tianscending the gothic stylc The gothic novel was very popular among
The gothic novel was one of the fírst instances of a major shift in the arts from a
for the author and publishers, This entailed selling a large volume of books to the middle
"'lbid, 13.
24
class, thus the content had to appeal to a common ground among readers. For more
ideological reasons, the early part of the Enlightenment attempted to "reach Everyman
[that is every reader] through universally accessible modes."^ It was not until the
European Romantic Movement that this successfully happened. Around 1820, the time
that the burgeoning printing technology made books accessible to the general public,
literary artists were exploring the use of private descriptions to communicate with the
general public Literature became more infroverted in nature, at the time the written
The gothic novel is an exploration of the interior, or soul, of the subject. At its
lowest level, comparable to the current romance novels, soap operas and horror movies,
the gothic novel appealed to a mass audience through tts sentiment or its shock valuc At
the highest level, the gothic novel was an exploration of a character's emotional response
architecture through its description of gothic buildings, the gothic novel also cultivated
the public taste for expressiveness. The novel thus served as a reflection of and an
influence on public tastc Art had become a way of looking at the wormy state of
^'Ybid.
^^Horace Walpole wrote what some consider to be the first gothic novel, The Castle
ofOtranto. Horace Walpole also designed "Strawberry Hill," one of the fírst gothic
revival buildings in England. G.R. Thompson, "Romanticism and the Gothic Tradition,"
G.R. Thompson, ed., The Gothic Imagination: Essavs in Dark Romanticism.
(Pullman,Washington: Washington State University Press, 1974), 4.
25
Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852)
archaeologically correct gothic stylc Pugin was one of the major forerunners of the
gothic revival movement and of the Modem Movement. In Tme Principles Pugin
wrote:
All omament should consist of enrichment of the essential constmction of the
building. In pure architecture the smallest details should have a meaning or
serve a purposc Constmction should vary with the materials employed. The
extemal and intemal appearance of an edifíce should be illustrative of, and in
accordance with, the purpose for which it is destined.^'
These are the tme principles to which the title refers to, and a basis of the twentieth
century Modem movement and organic architecturc Two other points made in Tme
Principles, although neither were stated as a principle concemed local and national
styles, where traditional forms should be respected because of climate and cultural
conditions and quality must include social values. Pugin was an advocate of the
archeological accurate copying of the thirteenth century gothic style, but he ran into the
69
Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (New York: The Viking Press, 1971), 81.
^''This is an interesting subject in itself Archeologists, for the most part, piece
together a past without having all of the necessary information availablc Insights into
the past often depend on the background, personality, culture and imagination of the
archeologist. The science is not as random as this sounds, and the interpretation of the
available clues is done through a rigorous methodology. The archeologist vÁl\ interpret
the clues under the influence of his or her, period of time, which, in the author's opinion,
makes archeology very a valuable subject for architect's to study and understand how
forms relate to people across timc
^' This is said with some irony as the author has ran across several substantial
accounts of Ruskin having plagiarized Pugin, but that is a bit involved for this thesis.
26
Gothic Revival
The first building of the gothic revival was Horace Walpole's house, Sfrawberry HiII.
Coincidentally, Walpole was also one ofthe first authors ofthe gothic novel The gothic
architecturc A multitude of reasons exists for the rejection of classicism in favor of the
gothic revival.^^ Among them are the rise of nationalism, the introduction of iron and
glass that did not fít into the neoclassical use of materials, the introduction of new
technologies, and the destmctive pace of the industrial revolution. The Gothic Revival
had, at least in England, a sfrong religious and moral tone set by Augustus Welby Pugin
and John Ruskin, Catholic and Protestant respectively. In France, Eugéne Emmanuel
movement. John Ruskin hated the direction taken by the modem world, and wanted a
retum to the simpler age idealized by the thirteenth century. VioIIet-Ie-Duc was a
visionary who believed that the implementation of gothic principles would ease life for
people and should even form the basis for a modem architecture.
JohnRuskin (1819-1900)
John Ruskin built very little architecture, which is ironic considering the amount of
influence he has had over architecturc He was a proponent of the Gothic Revival
^^ This was by no means a unanimous event and there was quite a battle of styles
between the eclectics, the neoclassicists and the gothic revivalists. The conflict
continued into the modem movement. Two relevant examples cited in section on Hugo
Hãring is his argument with Le Corbusier and Mies van Der Rohe over form. Jones,
"HugoHâring."
27
movement in England, a preservatiomst, and an architectural critic; however, Ruskin did
not have a formal education in architecture, but in the areas of literature and landscape
painting." As a result of the latter, John Ruskin developed a sensitivity to the qualities of
color and texture that was unusual in Victorian England,^" and he valued the expressive
and picturesque qualities of architecture over functional and rational qualities. "...Ruskin
poetry of Wordsworth, whose work John Ruskin greatly admired, also reinforced
Brooks,
[John Ruskin's] architectural education proceeded in fíts and starts, but always
in one direction: from a water colorist's interest in architecture as a subordinate
part of a landscape to his eventual advocacy of building that would eventually
capture the qualities of nature in the curve of their arches and the mass of their
walls."
Kristine Ottesen Garrisen points out in her book, Ruskin on Architecturc that John
Ruskin had a lack of interest in mass, proportion and especially stmcturc'* This may
have resulted in Ruskin's separation of the craft of building from the art of architecture,
by which he meant the omamentation of key points such as walls, capitals and so forth.
'"ftid, 1.
"n)id,9.
'^lbid.,4.
"ftid
the direction that the nineteenth century was heading and called stiongly for the use of
The Arts and Craft movement was a development of the Gothic Revival in England
and was heavily influenced by John Ruskin. It emphasized the craft aspect of
architecture, and discouraged the use of omament. The result was a simple well-built
architecture that respected local custom and materials. In the United States, a similar
development occurred in the Shaker traditions, and as a matter of survival on the frontier.
interest in the architecture of the 1300s.'^ As a theoretician, he was a rationalist who saw
that the principles of gothic architecture were more applicable to the nineteenth century
than the classical principles of the EcoIe-des-Beaux Arts. It was from the gothic
materials such as iron and glass and the programmatic requirements of the new
^'VioIIet-le-Duc was one of the fírst restorers of French gothic architecturc Martin
Bressani, "Notes on VioIIet-Ie-Duc's Philosophy of History: Dialectics and Technology,"
The Societv of Architectural Historians Joumal. 48, No. 4,327-350.
^^* VioIIet-le-Duc was also the father of the current preservationist movement, along
with Ruskin. Actually Ruskin was a preservationist and Viollet-Ie-Duc was a restorer of
gothic cathedrals. Viollet-Ie-Duc's preservation methodologies have become very
29
According to VioIett-le-Duc, there were three points that marked a rational design,
They are function determines form,*' sti^ctural honesty,^^ and the guiding concept of
and Louis H. SuIIivan, particulariy the point about subordinating all decoration to the
undeniablc
Violett-Ie-Duc's view of history is important, but to discuss this one must touch on
his religious views. He stated, "It is as ridiculous to pretend that there is a god as tt is
impertinent to maintain that there is not."*^ That is a statement of an agnostic, and as one
he was free to accept evolution as a viable theory of organic development. During the
process instead of the biblical view,*^ in which himians were advancing toward
*'n>id, 187.
''ftid, 192.
84
Ibid., 209.
technology as an aspect of this evolutionary process, and it was easy for him to accept
vemacular traditions for their development of rational stmcture based on local materials,
and for their harmony v^th local climate, topography, and culturc^^ M. F. Heam
Viollet-Ie-Duc did not restrict the use of vemacular architecture to a local area. This
becomes an important idea in the work of Alvar Aalto, especially after his trips to Italy.
Art Nouveau
the effort to create a national stylc^" This movement, which lasted approximately from
1895 to 1905, was a theoretical offspring of the British Arts and Crafts movement.^' It
''ftid
^' Tim Benton, "Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau," ed. Frank Russell, Art Nouveau
Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1979), 15.
31
was an attempt in Europe to create a new "style" of archttecture that did not rely on
classical form or theory,^^ but relied on nature and materials for its formal expression. Its
treatment of iron as a sinuous material created an orgamc effect in its decoration, though
the building organization was classical in most cases.^^ The exception to this was
Antonio Gaudi's work in which organic forms were based on Gaudi's own imagination
and his Catalonian culture, and his exploration of Gothic stmcturc His design
methodology used models almost exclusively, and even in his stmctural calculations he
used wire models with weights to determine the resulting force vectors. Gaudi's
columns, for example, follow the tme direction of vectors. Taking into account Gaudi's
of architecture.
In Belgium, Victor Horta followed the same goal as Gaudi the establishment of a
modem national stylc In the Hotel Tâssel, Horta used the iron in a manner that offset the
mass of the stonc** The iron is sfretched in an imitation of plant forms, which
foreshadows the organic practice of "growing" a building. The building itself was
conceived along the rationalist principles of VioIIet-Le-Duc, but the lace quality of the
iron is much more than decoration;'' it anticipates Wright's concept of the nature of
'^lbid
•^Mbid
^ The name is misleading to those that speak no Belgium. The English equivalent is
"townhousc" Ibid.
95
Jbid.
32
Hector Guimard was probably the most outspoken architect of the Art Nouveau
Movement. In his theories, he sfressed the need for omament to demonsfrate the nature
of the materials used.^^ Guimard drew his imagery from the fairy tales, and legends of
Francc The organic nature of his work was due to his interpretation of the nature of
materials, and not to an imitation of natural forms.^' This emphasis on the nature of
materials is a part of Art Nouveau theory and it influenced Alvar Aaho through the
American Transcendentalism
In the United States of America, the reaction to Diesm was the American
Transcendentalist Movement, The writers of this movement were extolling the virtues of
nature and reintroducing a legacy of mysticism inherited from the original British
colonists. The divine revelation of Calvinism and the intuitive knowledge of American
over expenencc
^^ David Dunster, ed., Architectural Monographs 2, GiIIian Naylor, "Hector
Guimard-Romantic Rationalist?," (New York; Rizzoli Intemational Publications, 1978),
12,
'^lbid
Emerson, David Thoreau and Walt Whitman, the three major fígures in American
European romanticism, but was combined with other philosophies from European,
especially through the mystic philosophers and, most importantly, Johan Wolfgang
nature than the European romantic movement, and tried to combine science and poetry
into a single art. While American Transcendentalism was a romantic movement, it did
not look to the historical past as the European romantics looked toward the medieval
As a result, at least among organic architects, technology became neither the savior of the
German philosophy and literature had a heavy influence on the United States from
1820 to 1850. '^ Among the artists and philosophers that Goethe strongly affected, Ralph
Waldo Emerson was the most influential in the development of Transcendentalism and
the artistic development of the nineteenth century. Johan Wolfgang Goethe said that
1975), 19.
^'^lbid, 19.
abstiaction but as a physical reality. He was both a naturalist and a poet. He sought to
Emerson was not a naturalist, although he wanted to be onc "" Emerson advocated
a fusion of science and poetry, as Goethe did so before him. Emerson said in his lecture,
Art for Emerson was best if grounded in an empirical reality, the reality of naturc Both
Goethe and Emerson found it impossible to tieat art separately from nature, although
they did not tieat art as an imitation of nature in the neoclassical sensc'"^ The artist
should emulate nature by grasping the idea that she was trying to develop, and to
reproduce the formal development of that idea. This was a dynamic process, which was
similar to Darwin's theory of evoIution.'°" Goethe was influenced by his years of study in
botany and anatomy, which heavily influenced his aesthetic theories.'*'^ Emerson, at least
'"' In 1832, Emerson retired from the ministry and a year later had resolved to become
a naturalist after visiting the Muséum d'Histoire Naturale in Paris. He had experienced a
stiange sympathy with naturc Ibid., 24.
'°']bid.,25.
'"Mbid, 57-58.
"*" The concept of evolution, as laid down by Darwin, is very familiar to the reader, but
very revolutionary at the time it was published in The Origin of Species.
105
Cromphout, Enunerson's Modemitv and the Example of Goethe. 57-58.
35
Beginning with SuIIivan in Ihe United Siates, organic architeclure began to develop
from the theones of Emerson and the poetry of Walt Whitman. The European continent
was the site of a second line of reasoning which did not have the sfrong influence of
Organic Architects
that Louis H. Sullivan was an omamentalist who favored the adomment of key points in a
building""' is worth looking at, if only to clarify the actual nature of Sullivan's work. This
opinion of Menocal has some basis, but the implication that Sullivan was not an
This was a common nineteenth-century attitude and was more dependent upon a fradition
of building craft than modem attitudes allow. Menocal devotes most of his book to the
this architect.
The fírst part of Sullivan's career was as the partner of Dankmar Adler. Adler
was a stmctural, mechanical and acoustical engineer who hired SuUivan because he felt
that his own artistic sensibilities were inadequate to achieve the quality he wanted for his
commissions.'°* Sullivan was to design facades and omamentation. "•' The context in
which Sullivan was designing them was in the design of the early skyscrapers, a building
type which still today requires a team of engineers and architects to design. Although
Adler did design much of the technical details, SuIIivan was not restricted to facade
transcendentalist as possible a program on the exterior of buildings, his work within the
partnership could not have been better suited to his vocation."'" This is not the attitude
of a mere decorator, but of an architect concemed with the entire building. During the
second part of his career, SuIIivan "designed""^ on his own, which indicates that he was
'°'n)id.,43.
'""ftid
'""Dennis Alan Anderson and Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, "Adler and Sullivan's Seattle
Opera House Project," Joumal of The Societv of Architectural Historians 48 (September
1989)223-231.
"'lbid
"^Designed is used in the modem sense to distinguish his activity from that of the
work he did in the offíce of Dankmar Adler. It is unfair assume that twentieth century
attitudes toward design apply to a nineteenth century practice or that SuIIivan was any
less than an architect.
37
the design of the Seattle Opera House as documented in the Joumal of The Societv of
Architectural Historians"^ indicate that he had a larger role m the design process and
David S. Andrew, in his book, Louis Sullivan and the Polemics of Modem
Architecturc recognizes that SuIIivan was an architect, but downplays the role of organic
conceptions in his work preferring, to point out how SuIIivan's theories were weak, rather
than how they applied to his works. This in is a disservice to the architect."^ It raises the
question of what Louis SuIIivan actually meant when he said that form follows function,
It is obvious that he did not intend the meaning given later by the Functionalist
movement, more accurately stated that ftmction and environment determines form.
SuIIivan's interpretation of "form follows function" would be that the needs of the people
For SuIIivan, architecture was a high art that demonsfrated tmth or, as Menocal
related only to what he considered to be the highest tmths ofnaturc""^ Sullivan's work
is organic, but not in the sense that the entire building uses organic stmcture, form or
"^ Anderson and Ochsner, "Adler and Sullivan's Seattle Opera House Project,"
223-231.
114
Md.
"^David S. Andrew, Louis SuIIivan and the Polemics of Modem Architecture: The
Present Against the Past. (Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1985), 58-74.
"'lbid
omamentation. (1) Sullivan used a principle of design, for his omamental elements, in
which he would make organic forms, usually plant like, issue from a system of sfraight or
curved lines or any other geometric combination thereof SuIIivan considered the
correlation of geometry and the organic to be the basis of nature's way of composition
teaching device from which people could leam how to commune with nature and thus
achieve perfection. To quote Sullivan, "The vital purpose and signifícance of art is that of
attuning its rhythmic song ... to the rhythms of nature as these are interpreted by the
sympathetic soul.""^
The education of Frank Lloyd Wright as an architect was largely informal, His
experiences with nature on his uncle's farm, Wright's apprenticeship to Lyman Silsbee
and later to Louis Sullivan formed the majority of his architectural education, with a brief
Wright's architecture is Sullivan's organic theory which Wright applied to his entire
oeuvrc Lyman Silsbee, while not outstandingly brilliant, did infroduce Wright to a
"*n)id.,31.
"'ftid., 14.
'^" Wright spent less than two years at the University of Wisconsin. Peter Blake, The
Master Builders: Le Corbusier. Mies van Der Rohc Frank Lloyd Wright (New York: W.
W. Norton and Company, 1976), 290-294.
39
picturesque architecture instead of the classical style which dominated in the Untted
States at the tum of the century. Silsbee practiced in the Shingle Style, which used an
open plan, surface treatment, and the massing and features of the Queen Aime Stylc'^'
important role in Wright's work and in his way of visualizing space (Appendix B).
The following is Vincent Scully Jr.'s interpretation of what Frank Lloyd Wright
In Frank Lloyd Wright, ScuUy had discusses how Wright could not accept the separation
of man from nature that is implied in classical architecturc'^^ For Wright nature was the
great teacher whose lessons could only be approached by the architect while the classicist
accomplish this through his architecture by the emulation of the natural stmcture of the
site. This resulted in an architecture in which the boundary between the natural site and
'^' Spiro Kostof, A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals, (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1985), 652.
'^^ Vincent ScuIIy Jr., Frank Llovd Wright. (New York: George Braziller, Inc, 1960),
13.
a specific site. The attitude of harmonizing with nature is also present in neoclassical
theoiy, but that expression of architecture has a clear distinction between the natural site
and the building. The neoclassical architect sought to employ universal principles, such
as proportions based on harmonic laws, that would allow architecture to harmonize with
nature on any site. This leads one to assume that perhaps organic architecture differs
The distinction between organic archttecture and the neoclassical architecture of the
nineteenth century is rather involved. The obvious difference is that Wright believed that
architecture was site specifíc and that the building should be a physical part of the site.
This included using proportions, rhythms, locally obtained materials, forms and spatial
composition. Examples include Taliesin East, Taliesin West, and Falling Water. The
neoclassical architect, hypothetically as talented as Wright, would not ignore the site, but
the relationship of the project to the natural site would be very different. A natural
golden section, or some system regarded as universally in harmony wdth nature and a
winds, and would generally respond to the site in a physical manner, but aesthetically the
Donald Leslie Johnson states the approach of Wright in his book, Frank Llovd
In Wright's conception of organic architecture, a building and its site were to be a part of
each otiier reflecting in the man made stmcturc While ScuIIy's interpretation of Wright
is valid, it does not acknowledge that the integration of a building with nature was one of
the prime objectives of Wright's archttecturc Behrendt described the Gale house which
Wright declared was the "progenitor for Falling Water."'^^ "The horizontal slabs boldly
projected, that new motive which has been most imitated in modem buildings; in these
widely overhanging eaves, spreading themselves canopy-Iike over terraces and balconies,
there seems to be plant-like existence translated into architectural form."'^^ The allusions
to natural forms in Wright's buildings are not accidents nor are they imposed by the
observer. Wright integrated the site and building through a geometric emulation of the
'^' Donald Leslie Johnson, Frank Lloyd Wright versus America: the 1930's (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: the MIT Press, 1990), 67.
"'n)id,81.
'^^ftid
Morris Gift Shop, or the Guggenheim, became introverted or amounted to a protest of the
city. Wright shared Jean-Jacques Rousseau's belief that people were not meant to live in
metropolitan areas but in a more mral setting. Broadacre City is a good example of
Wright's view of the ideal situation for living, which is strikingly similar to the modem
suburb. The performance of Wright in the city and his vision of man's social
arrangement has other major influences than Rousseau, Thoreau and the
Transcendentalist Movement.
The United States is historically anti-urban. The reasons for this are numerous, but
the following are among the major ones.'^° The majority of European settlers on the east
coast of the United States of America consisted of people escaping intolerable conditions
or were sent to American penal colonies. Religious fanatics, such as the Puritans,
suffering persecution in Europe, associated the city with the powers that were
responsible for their persecution. The colonial representatives of the monarchy and the
merchants, those that would benefít the most from continued British mle, were located in
the colonial cities thus fiirther associating the city with the monarchy. The main
industries, aside from ship building, were agricultural. During the civil war, the Union
Army introduced the concept of the city, and its civilian population, as a military target
during Sherman's march. Southem cities were torched in a line from the Vicksburg,
Louisiana to Atlanta, Georgia. During W.W.II, the atomic bomb demonstiated how
vulnerable cities were in twentieth century warfarc Wright's antithapy toward the city
'^^Krishan Kumar, Utopia and Anti-Utopia in Modem Times, (Oxford, U.K.: Basil
BlackweU,Ltd 1987), 316.
43
was a result of Rousseau's influence on Transcendentalism, and it was defínitely
reinforced by history and current events. That does not necessarily exclude organic
function, with the natural environment of the site. If the transcendentalist interpretation
assumes a teaching role in the lives of peoplc Through a building's total harmony with
nature, Wright hoped to franscend the limitations of his art and enlighten people in the
HugoHãring (1882-1958)
Hugo Hãring began his architectural education in 1898 at the Technical University in
Stuttgart. Peter Blundell Jones suggests that Theodor Fischer was the major influence on
Hãring's education and notes that Fischer was a talented and sensitive historicist architect
who was comfortable in both neogothic and neoclassical styles.'^' According to Jones,
there was a lively discussion at this school among the staff about the battle of the styles,
Hâring had a strong sympathy towards the gothic revival position'" which would
'^' Peter Blundel Jones, "Hugo Hãring," The Architectural Review, vl71, no.l022,
June 1982, 40-47.
SuUivan's and Wright's work. Hãring admitted a debt to Wright,'^ but he used an
Hãring began his practice in Beriin in 1921. By 1923, he was sharing an offîce wath
Mies van Der Rohc Both architects were active in the avant-garde though they had an
Hâring is usually found in books on expressionists, although Jones points out that he had
nothing to do with such events in Berlin before 1921.'^* He was to be an important figure
was branded a collaborator and never regained his position as a leader of architecturc'^*
Hãring considered architecture to be in the same class as industrial art. The utilitarian
aspect of it was his primary concem, and the role of the architect was to fínd the proper
133
Ibid.
'^Donald Leslie Johnson, Frank Llovd Wright versus America; the 1930's (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: the MIT Press, 1990), 241.
'''Tbid.
''"Jbid.
stated:
In nature there is no independent problem of appearance; hence there is
nothing in opposition to the forms dictated by fítness of purposc This occurs
only among mankind. The essential problem of applied art is clearly that of
appearancc'^'
He was in complete agreement with Le Corbusier and the Functionalists of the 1920s
about the importance of the programming of a building.'"° It was in the way that an
appropriate image was given to the building that Hãring differed from Le Corbusier. For
Håring, architecture was divided into two parts. The word "organwerk" is used by Hâring
expression or imagc'"^ Hãring asserts that there are specifíc, elemental forms for
different fimctions, which are best expressed in objects that are derived from purely
'"° Jurgen Joedicke," Haering at Garkau," The Architectural Review, May 1960,
313-318.
'"'lbid
'"^lbid
to human cognition and change with the intellectual positions of peoplc Forms that are
created purely for utilitarian purposes achieve their tme nature and do not change at the
whims of human intellect.'"" This is very similar to Perrault's division of beauty into the
positive and the arbifrary.'"^ It would not be unreasonable to assume that Hãring's goals
are very similar to Perrault's, that is the establishment of the tme appearance of
system due to constmction limitations, demonsfrate the dialogue between Hãring's ideas
While this architect is relatively obscure today, Haring was important enough in the
formative days of CIAM to debate Le Corbusier over the direction that architecture
should takc '"^ Hãring was opposed to the use of geometric forms such as Le Corbusier
was applying in 1928. There was also one fundamental difference in his attitude toward
movements instead of a collection of activities. Although each function had its own
shape, which Hâring believed was ideally organic, they were never considered
separately.'"' As for integrating the building with nature, this needs to be seen in the
'"^ Joseph Rywert, The First Modems; The Architects of the Eighteenth Century,
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1987), 36.
146
Jbid.
his building, which gave him a regionalist appearance; but, Hâring would not have
hesitated to use another more suitable form if it functioned better. The reasoning behind
Hâring's acceptance of traditional forms and materials is that the evolution of building
had produced particular forms in response to the local conditions. '"^ As Haring said,
"...functional forms arise naturally and, so to speak, anonymously..."'"^ Hãring was never
as concemed as Wright about the integration of a building into its site. Perhaps this was
due to the type of anthropomorphism found in his theory, not as representative of the
Haring advocated the idea that the function should generate form. This is seen in the
farm at Garkau, which Haring designed in 1923-24. At Garkau, he achieved what most
Functionalists were falling short of, he combined expression with a building that actually
functioned well (Figure 3.2).'^' The farm at Garkau atfracted attention from dairy
farmers and architects around the world as late as the 1960's and stands as a testimony to
the talent of this architect.'^^ He resurfaces every few years as new architects discover
'"^This is a conclusion drawn from the Garkau project which used fraditional brick,
painted wood and a lamella roof, a type of form that had been used in Germany since the
nineteenth century. It is supported by the quote referenced in footnote 42. Jurgen
Joedicke, "Haering at Garkau," The Architectural Review, May 1960, 313-318. Jones,
"HugoHãring."
149
Joedicke, "Haering at Garkau."
'^'Jones, "Hãring."
48
Hâring approached architecture as an applied art m which the building became an
extension of the human body, a type of architectiiral organ, The movement of people that
was generated by the specifíc tasks m a building drove his creation of form. This
movement of people was the event that united separate functions into a single entity and
determined the tme form of a building. Any form not determined by the building, that is
any form determined by any reason not related to the building, was considered to be alien
to the project and to human lifc Traditional materials, customs, and history of the site
were considered to be an organic part of the site since they had evolved there. Hâring
viewed architecture as a craft that approached tme form through a process of evolution.
It was the role of the artist to find this form, allowing for variations due to circumstances
AIvarAalto( 1898-1976)
Alvar Aalto was educated in the Department of Architecture at the Helsinki Institute
century, under the École des Beaux Arts education paradigm, Neoclassicism was the
accepted style to every student of architecture in Europc Aalto received this training, but
was also introduced to the current developments of Art Nouveau and the Finnish
152
ftid.
that direction, His influence on Aalto was second hand, because he died before Aalto
who frained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He was an idiosyncratic person with
drawing skills that bordered on the supematural. He fraveled through France measuring
the floors of the cathedrals with his feet, the dimensions of which he knew to a small
fraction of an inch. He believed that gothic cathedrals held mathematical tmths hidden
m their dimensions. A more signifícant eccentricity was his mania for unique design
solutions. For example, he designed a flue for his hat so that the smoke from his pipe
would not collect under the brim. When Aalto began his education, Usko Nystrôm was
history from antiquity to medieval; basic design; and beginning drafting. His history
courses rarely got past the Greek and Roman architecture because of a passion for
Egyptian architecturc It would be more correct to say a passion for the archaeologist's
introduced Aalto to Art Nouveau, the style that Nystrôm used in his own practicc Gôran
Schildt suggests that the influence of this man was more in his attitude than in any
particular teaching.'^^
connections. Considering the small size of Finland, it is not too surprising that he taught
'^"Gôran Schildt. Alvar Aalto; The Eariv Years, (NewYork: Rizzoli, 1984), 79.
Eliel Saarinen and Herman Gesellius, were business partners. The most famous works of
that trio were The Finnish Pavilion for the World's Fair in Paris, the National Museum in
Helsinki, and Hvittrask.'^^ The latter was their offíce and the jointly owned home of all
threc Their partnership had broken up before Lindgren took the job at the Helsinki
Institute of Technology. The breakup was over differences that had developed in their
design interests, but they remained cordial. While Saarinen had moved into the
Intemational Style, Lindgren's interest lay in the Finnish vemacular and Fiimish
Romantic Nationalism.'" Lindgren was in charge of the older students. He covered the
and traditional Finnish architecture. It was through Aramas Lindgren that Aalto
developed a passion for the works of the Italian Renaissance which showed up in his
mature works in various forms. This background is necessary to understand the historical
sources of Aalto's work, but not his organic forms. Lindgren fiirthered Aalto's
Aalto liked to speak of these two professors in his old agc'^^ One of the stories that
He told about Nystrôm was an accounts of Usko Nystrôm measuring the gothic
cathedrals of France with his galoshes.'^" Gôran Schildt makes the comment that when
' " "Hvittrask," Per Nagel ed, Living Architecture, No. 5,1986, pg. 62.
"'n)id,79.
"°n)id
51
Aalto really got into this stoi>, îie wouid have Nysíruin rneasunng tlie facades, "like a fly
promenading on the wall.""'' 1 his type of exaggeration was a part of Aalto's personality
that needs an explanation. Aalto was exceptionally extroverted, at home in any situation
except when he was alone.'^^ According to Aaîto's son-in-Iaw, Yrjô Alanen, this
exfroversion was a result of the deaíh of Aalío's biological mother during the early part
of his lifc Aalto's relatíonship with his mother had been unusually closc The
extroversion was a way of avoiding the pam of Aalto's loss. Both stayed with him.'*^ tt
was very important for Aalto to always be at the center of attentíon and his stories were
one of the ways that Aalto achieved this. They were almost always based on his
memories, which does not mean they reflected an accurate portrait of past events. Aalto
reworked his memones to ftt the social sttuation, much like he did with the forms of the
Neoclassical archiíecture v/as not manifested in the same way as the movement was in
Germany and Francc'" It was an innovative and vitai movement that drew on the Italian
Renaissance for inspiration, but not formulas.'"^ The leading architect then in
Scandinavia was Gunnar Asplund, and he had a profound effect on Alvar Aalto.
Asplund was not totally bound by the mles of neoclassicism, and would carefully
"^•ftid
162
SchUdt, The Early Years, 71.
'"ftid
'^CIaus Caldenby and Olaf Huttin, .Asplund, (New York; Rizzoli, 1985), 19.
'^^Ujid
52
consider each decision before committing himself to a design. This absence of rigidness
lead more than once to the modifícation of Classical forms and mles to fít Swedish
culture and climate, an approach often seen in Aalto's work. Asplund considered the
essence of architecture to consist of three relationships: space and man, object and man,
and nature and man.'^* These themes are found in all of his work.'" Such innovation is
seen in his handling of the main stairs in his extension of the Law Courts in Gôtebor,
Sweden. Tread height and riser depth is usually determined by the classic formula;
comfortable proportion for walking up and down stairs. Asplund varied the proportions
in a manner which reduced comfort. In doing so, he let the user know that only a
dignifíed pace was appropriate on the main stairs, thus calming any agitated spirits
through that pacc'^'' This type of psychological manipulation would not have gone
unnoticed by Aalto, and is seen in his own works. Asplund converted to the Intemational
Style at the same time as Aalto. However, the building that marks this was completed
before Aalto's own decided conversion with the Viipuri Library. The Stockholm library
was originally designed in Asplund's neoclassical style and the building retained the
massing of that stylc It had a rectilinear shape with a cylindrical reading room (Figure
3.3). The detailing was entirely Functionalist inspired, although his use of omament
'^ftid
'^^ftid
'^^ Two other formulas can be used; riser (mn) = 72" to 75" and riser + run = 17" to
17.5". Francis D.K. Ching, Building Constmction lUustrated, (New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company, 1975), 9-4.
receive the ideas of Functionalism, and his conversion was only a confírmation of what
he already practiced. Asplund's attitude toward function was similar to that of the
their rational ordering. This came more from Scandinavian culture than from an
architectural concem for the relationship of form and function'™ As a friend and
coUeague, Asplund provided Aalto with an example of classical architecturc This did
not, however, give Aalto a design philosophy that would justify his organic architecture,
circles by effectively rejecting the neoclassical style in the intemational spotlight and
using the Functionalist style at the exhibit. Aalto visited this Exhibition and praised its
Functionalists, this exhibition was one of the highlights of the Soviet architectural
movement known as Constmctivism. The news of Stalin's purges had not left Russia at
that time and the Communist Republic was still the hope of those who were sick of
capitalist excesses. Aalto was sympathetic to socialism and communism, although later
developments in the United Soviet Socialist Republic distanced him from communism.'^^
One of the marks of the architectural movements of the Twentieth Century was their
close association with social and political theories. The connection between
170
Caldenby and Huttin, Asplund, 20.
'^' Alvar Aalto, Sketches, Gôran Schildt ed., trans. by Stuarte Wrede, (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MITPress, 1978), 15-18.
172
Schildt, The Eariv Years. 88.
54
Functionalist architecture and socialism or communism is well documented,'" Aalto
was all in favor of the theory of Socialism, but was politically ambivalent. Schildt points
out that there is evidence that Aalto leaned more towards anarchism than socialism.
Aalto showed no other interest in anarchy than a well wom copy of Prince Peter
from the general atmosphere of socialism, which was deeply infiised with anarchist
thought. This philosophy was predicated upon the organic nature of society. Anarchists
believed that if people followed natural law then there would be order without the need
for a leader. Individualism and freedom were valued above everything elsc The most
important point is the anarchistic belief that in order for society to grow, the established
systems had to be broken and rearranged to fít new needs.'^^ Aalto's combination of
functions and his breaking of the established grid of neoclassical and Functionalist
use of natural forms. Aalto regarded himself as a Functionalist for the rest of his lifc
There was something in his mindset that caused him to avoid any appearance of artistic
intent in the presentation of his work. The Functionalist denial of historical forms is a
rejection of the academic sfraightjacket rather than a rejection of history.'^^ This gave
'"n)id,87.
'^^ As is seen in the sketch books of Le Corbusier, the denial is not one of history but
rather of inappropriate solutions to modem problems. However, some of the more
radical architects such as Hanens Meyer, have tried to deny all but the empirical
55
Aalto the opportunity to abandon classical vocabulary, as he did in his second version of
the Viipuri library, without abandoning everything in the classical movement. At some
point during the design of Viipuri, Aalto began using organic form. The fínal version
contains the fírst use of such form. The lecture hall ceiling is the most famous example
(Figure 3.4).
became good friends as well as coUeagues. Moholy- Nagy was not an architect, but an
artist. He is remembered more for his contributions to photography than his role in the
Bauhaus. He produced a general philosophy of design which sounds like a manifesto for
both Alvar Aalto and Hugo Hâring. Clearly laid out at the beginning is the statement that
in any design the ultimate goal is the good of humans was to be achieved by finding the
biological basis of culture and making design sfrengthen this basis.'^* This was not only
a challenge to fínd organic expression, but for better technical solutions also this was a
Moholy-Nagy called for architects to remove the conflict between the organic and the
''«Ibid
most of the Functionalists. They all had similar education and opportunities to
experience classical architecture fírst hand. Aalto's was inexperienced in the Finish
types of spaces, such as the Greco-Roman amphitheater form that serves as a courtyard in
his office (Figure 3.5).'*^ He intended to use the courtyard as a lecture hall during warm
weather for his apprentices. Aalto often used, what Malcolm Quantrill, calls urban
fragments in his design work. These fragments are Aalto's memories of spaces that he
'*'Ibid,219.
'«'n)id, 198.
'^' bid.,227.
57
Figure3.3 FallingWater
60
/•^/<~'
Figure 3.4 Plans by Mies van der Rohe and Hugo Håring
61
I 1 1 1 1 1 n
-. '^'^^ •''"•^,11, ^TV* -^'^-i, " " ^ V ' /"^!^**^
/ ^'"'"Vv^^ \ / \ / ^ '^
Figure3.8 Aalto'sOffice
CHAPTERFV
ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE IN AN
URBAN ENVIRONMENT
In the history of the United States there have been fíve major populatíon migrations.
The fírst occurred during the colonial period when the populatíon migrated from the
northem colonies to the sduthem colonies. The second occurred in the eighteenth
century when the populatíon moved to the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. The third was
the westem migratíon of the nineteenfh century. The fourtíi was the move from the citíes
to suburbia. Today, the populatíon of the United States is in the middle of its fífth major
migration.'*" The suburbs are being abandoned for less hostíle environments,
imfortunately leaving behind those who are too poor to escape the crime and decay of the
suburbs that are driving the move to penturbia.'*^ Those who fled the cities during the
fourth migratíon brought the urban problems of crime, crowding, and poverty with them
into the suburbs. This is part of a general socio-economic view of society, which has an
the planning of developers that occurred during the fourth migration. What is
emphasized in penturbia is the commimity's opportunity to confrol its own quality of lifc
The public now has more say in the use of private land than has been traditional in the
'*^Penturbia is also the name of the fífth major American migration. It is ironic that
crime and decay is what the fourth major migration was fleeing. Ibid., 15.
65
66
United States.'*^ Physically, however, buildings are still buildings, and when densely
packed in areas form the urban environment. People migrating to penturbia are
expecting the amenities of the tiaditional urban environment, especially the cultural
looked upon the urban environment with a certain amount of disdain. This attitude has
resulted in most of the organic architecture having been designed for the mral
environment.'*^ The organic architect caimot afford to retain this attitude toward
penturbia because this is where the cultural attitudes of the twenty-first century are
forecast.'*' The organic architect must adapt to the new urban environment or be denied
There are reasons that organic architecture might not seem to be appropriate for
urban environments. The three major objections are: the urban environment is not
expression;'^' and, fínally, there are too many constiaints, such as crowding, limited
'^For the architect, the major change that Penturbia will bring is a greater degree of
planning in communities as opposed to suburban sprawl. Unstated, but definitely
insinuated, is community contiol over aesthetic considerations which wiU affect organic
architecturc Md., 239-243.
"^'n)id., 15.
189
Lessenger, Penturbia, 48-54.
space, and the developer whose sole interest is in "the bottom line": a quick retum on his
investment.'^^ These objections were identifíed by a group of architects who are carrying
Wright's antithapy toward the city was cultural and was reflected in his approach to
design. He approached the organization of the plan with a homotopic design sensibility.
umverse.
One of the major themes of Wright was the re-establishment of the continuity of Man
vsåth Nature. Wright brought eveiything into a unifíed whole by the use of a single
geometric module as a regulating devicc This was applied to everything from the spatial
experiences down to the dinnerwarc This geometric module was as small as possible
and based on the material he was using. It was analogous to the biological cell. A
Wright building is a single organism evolving to meet the complex pattems and
stimulation found in the environment. This is tme both conceptually and physically. The
author of this thesis believes tiiat Wright's approach to architechfre did not address the
northem Europe.'^^ Certainly Alvar Aalto was indirectly influenced by Wright through
the Functionalist movement. Organic architecture contínued to grow under the influence
of architects such as Hugo Håring and Alvar Aalto. Both of these architects called
themselves Functíonalists, were active in CIAM, and having denied artistic pretentions.
This is not in reference to the use of building materials, although that is important. This
quantifíed in some manner. Design could not be purely intuitívc '^^ For example, Aalto
would approach a design by defíning all the social, economic, human, and technical
demands before defíning the appropriate psychological questions. After this complex
mix of information had been absorbed into his subconscious, he would forget the
problem for a while. His fírst drawings were by instinct. They were very absfract and
'^^His two most successful urban buildings, the Guggenheim Museum in New York
and the Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco succeed by ignoring the city. In the Morris
Gift Shop, Wright effectively hides from the urban environment. In the Guggenheim,
Wright ignores any question of context, imless he was intentionally contrasting his
building. The word assumption is appropriate because this is based on one magazine
article and not a review of Wright's work, which time and space did not permit. Branch,
"Organic Architecture," 68-72.
'^^Hugo Hâring admitted a debt to Wright, however his work was markedly different
from Wright's. Donald Leslie Johnson, Frank Llovd Wright versus America: the 1930's.
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MTI Press, 1990), 241.
'"Malcolm Quantrill, Alvar Aalto: A Critical Studv. (New York: Schocken Books,
1983), 5.
69
childlike in which the main idea took shape, which the contradictory demands into
harmony.'^* Intuition had gone from a source of knowledge in the work of Wright, for
urban issues in his work.'^ He did not share Wright's antithapy toward the city. The city
is regarded very favorably in Finland, probably because there are not that many of them,
and the Industrial Revolution has not negatively tiansformed them. In addttion to his
cultural background, Aalto's education included leaming about the architecture of the
The urban projects of Aalto fall into two categories, forest towns and urban design.
An example of the fírst would be Sãynâtsãlo which was closer to the present conditions
of penturbia than his urban work in Helsinki. Sâynâtsålo (1949-1952) was a planned
town; however, it was also a company town dependent on the timber industry. This
into a forest.^"' Helsinki was a metropolis, the only one at that point in time, in which
Aalto was following the planning scheme established by Carl Ludwig Engle thus the
urban design projects, such as the Enso-Gutzett headquarters, were insertions into an
'^* This description is quoted by Quantrill from a magazine interview with Alvar
Aalto in Domus. The titie of the article is "Architettura e arte concreta" (The Trout and
the Sfream). It is found in issue Nos. 223-225,1947, on pages 103-15. ftid.
'^Malcolm Quantiill, Alvar Aalto: A Critical Studv. (New York: Schocken Books,
1983), 99.
^"^'lbid.
70
cohesion between the parts only by default and through spatial adjacency."^"^ Alvar
Aalto did not employ a strict geomefric ordering in his architecturc He had no apparent
overriding geometry (in fact he used several different geometric organizations in the
same plan or will place a free form space next to a geometrically ordered space). His
volumetric and sensual compositions exhibit the same anarchistic quality.^''" His
buildings were unifíed by a common skin, but order was not always represented by
geometric means. The program did not provide any representation of functional utility in
the Functionalist sensc^"^ He was concemed with expressing the differences between
conflicting functions and the resulting boundaries.^'* Order was achieved by the path that
connected these conflicting spaces. This organization was a framework for Aalto's
appeal to the primal Finnish memory. Malcolm Quantrill states that an Aalto building
was a mapping out "of the tertain that connects man not only witii accessible nature but
202
Quantrill quoting a phrase used by Aalto. Ibid., 241.
^°^ This is also a concem of the Italian Renaissance from which Aalto drew much of
his inspiration. Raija-Liisa Heinonen, "Some Asj^ects of 1920's Classicism and the
Emergence of Functionalism in Finland," Architectiiral Monographs 4 Alvar Aalto. ed.
David Dunster, (New York: Saint Martin's Press, 1988), 22.
also v^th the primeval mysteries of his environmental memories."^"^ This was achieved
Finlandia Hall or the Lappland Museum roof, which was evocative of snow covered hills.
Quantrill's interpretation indicates that Aalto was concemed wdth something unique to
sight, sound, smell, and touch. Environment, meaning that which surrounds, is applied
equally to natural and buih spaces. Aalto used the urban architectural approach of the
Italian Renaissance in this manner, translating specifíc spaces into his organic stylc^"*
The author believes that Aalto's version of organic architecture is one of the most
appropriate for designing in the urban environment for the following reasons. While the
urban environment is not a rich source of organic form, Aalto's approach circumvents this
in several ways. There is no seeking of a continuity between Nature and the built
environment and, in fact, Aalto explores the difference in much the same way that he
memoiy not from the sitc^"* This includes nature and "urban fragments." The latter are
the classical and Renaissance examples that Aalto leamed at the Technical University
'^^ Malcolm Quantrill, Alvar Aalto: A Critical Study, (New York: Schocken Books,
1983), 239.
^'"ftid.
^"ftid
72
in penturbia, although this will affect most areas. However, Aalto and Hãring have
demonstrates that building codes ensure a standard for a minimum level of human care
and so are necessary. While the built environment has many outside influences on form
many conflicting ideas and orders from which excellent architecture can ensuc
CHAPTERV
PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
urban setting. Figure 4.7 indicates that this interpretation is occurring within an urban
environment. The floor plans (Figures 4.1 and 4.2) indicate a resistance to the rectilinear
boundaries of an urban sitc This tension creates a boundary, which is marked by the
large concrete columns. This boundary serves as a fransition from the rectilinear order of
the surrounding buildings into the organic ordering of the library. ^'^
73
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CHAPTERVI
THE PROJECT
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the building program and to show how the
Project Statement
A hypothetical situation has been set up in which the Ellis County Commissioner's
Court has commissioned a public library building for downtown Waxahachie, Te)tas.
The building will eventually serve as the main library for a coimty wide system as well as
Waxahachie. The proximity of the project to the county courthouse indicates that this
new building will be a civic monument in keeping with the public nature of its
surroundings.
that develops a unique building from its initial character and its location using organic
forms to create a positive effect on the user of the building.^'" In order for a building to
qualify as organic the following questions must be answered affirmatively. Does the site
play an important role in the building's form?^'^ Are all of the parts of a building working
82
83
This building design analysis is presented in three parts: The Site, The Program, and The
Formal Expression.
The Site
The site is dense enough to qualify the new building as an infíU project. The city has
determined that the height of any new building in the immediate area of the County
Courthouse must be lower in order to keep the courthouse as the visual landmark
building for the city.^'* This defínes a rough rectilinear volume in which the building
may be built. Brick, concrete, copper, and wood are the four materials chosen for the
exterior composition. Red brick was chosen because of its human scale, because it is a
common material, and because the color matches the red sandstone of the County
Courthousc The entry of the building is to be placed so that it relates visually and
physically to the County Courthouse to the north. By placing the entry of directly off the
21S
For further discussion see Chapter I, pp. 5-13.
^'^ The Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth is the standard the author has in mind for the
fírst question. This is drawn from the woric of Professor Antoniadies of the University of
Texas at Arlington. He would not consider the formal appearance of organic architecture
important in defíning organic architecture; however, the research índicated that
appearance was an tmportant consideration to all four of the architects reviewed.
Anthony C. Antoniadies, Architecture and AUied Design: An Environmental Design
Perspective. 2nd ed., (Dubuque, lowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1986), 44.
city square tiie libraiy recognizes the importance of the County Courthousc The
proximity of the library's entry to the Ellis County museum is appropriate given the
cultural signifícance of the two building, both preserving history. However, nothing
more should be read into the relationship between the museum and the libraiy.
The Program
In this design, two approaches to order have been considered, homotopia and
conflict with the use of geometry, or grid, as the overall formal regulating devise, but tt is
not in conflict with the basic principles of the rational plan as laid down by
Functionalist movement of the early Twentieth Century.^^^ The ftmctions are arraigned
in a reasonable maimer; however, the relationships between them are based on the
interaction of the differences in the functions. In the work of Aalto a solid wall indicates
219
For ftirther discussion, see Chapter III pp., 47.
'^'ftid, 187.
'''ftid., 192.
^^'Jurgen Joedicke, " Haering at Garkau," The Architectural Review. May 1960,
313-318.
85
that the function contained requires a separation from light or sound, the stiucture being a
separate entity.^^^ Where such separation is not desirable the wall is dissolved by wood
screens or fenestration. The elevation of an Aalto building can be read by this freatinent
of materials. The interaction of any function with the adjacent ftmction, or exterior, will
determine the freatment of the wall and the area next to the wall. The project is ordered
architecture that is very different that of Wright.^* Wright conceived his buildings as a
single organism, even to the point of comparing the materials with biological cells.^^^
Aalto conceived his buildings as a community of ftmctions. Thus each area of an Aalto
The Entry
The placement of the entry is a gesture toward the Coimty Courthouse . From this
point one must arrive at the circulation desk and then arrive at the bibliography and
reference area. The desired effect is to cause infrospection in the user. This is an attempt
to fínd the innate tmths within all people. This is achieved by guiding the user through a
cave-like space which ends at the circulation desk, thus creating a sense of arrival. The
^^* Wright is the most familiar organic architect to the architects of the United States of
America, and the differentiation needs to be madc
226
See Chapter fl, pp. 35-40.
86
cave image is a reference to both the primal past and to the birth experience and thus to
the memory of leaming and growth epitomized in the knowledge contained in books.
The rare book room is a separate entity from the rest of the library because of the
necessity for security and maintenance concems. tt also creates (if designed well) a
visible sense of value. It is freated as a solid object in the plan with the wall dissolving at
the point of entry. This treatment reflects the emphasis on the function of preservation
The Stacks
The stacks are placed on a separate stmctural system from the building envelope in
order to minimize vibrations. The opportunity to celebrate the stacks fimction within the
building naturally occurred as a result of this decision. They will need fíre protection,
artifícial and diffused natural lightíng and humidity confrol. This separation of the stacks
from the other fimctions suggests the warehouse as the appropriate building type on
which to model the libraiy. The similarity ejrtends to the use of the shelving arrangement
as a mnemonic device for retrieving a particular object. The main difference between the
function of a library and the fimction of a warehouse is in the volimie of people who will
be served.
87
The music room and periodicals are combined in area to present an image of the
library as a place for more than books. tt also provides a cenfral location for attendants
on the lower levels. Music and periodical back issues use a CD-ROM storage system and
can use the same room. The shelving requirements the periodicals call for a lower shelf
height than the stacks. This is the area with the most potential for usc It will also house
the video collection. This area should be positioned in a prominent area of the plan.
Art Gallery
Art gallery areas are not well defíned in the library profession. Art can be stored as
slide libraries, racks of prints, actual display areas, or CD ROM use areas. Exhibits by
local artists are among the type of civic gestures that the EIIis County Commissioners
could use to sell bonds for the project. Combined with a slide library or CD ROM
display, this area would be an effícient way in which to bring art into public life, and a
Book Processing
Book processing is the technical area of the library. It functions like a factory which
should be reflected in the layout. This is a physically critical area because of the
increasing reliance on interlibrary loans and the future needs of a countywdde system.
88
The Adminisfration
There are two parts to the adminisfration, the Library staff and the County staff. The
county staff will probably move out as the county system grows, thus providing space for
The Auditorium
The auditorium wiU need to function separately from the library at need, thus
secondary enfrances away from the courtyard. Uses envisioned would be graduations,
lectures, concerts, plays, townhall meetings, and any other civic meeting. The
auditorium terminates the path through the library, becoming a symbolic voice for the
Bathrooms
A. Men:
6 lavatories,
5 urinals,
4 waterclosets;
B. Women:
9 waterclosets,
6 lavatories.
Primaiy design factors are ventilation and sound isolation. Their importance is
This building is a collection of images related to each other. The actual relationship
is unimportant except tfiat they need to be classifíed in order to make sensc^" The
images are cave forms, a bridge, water, a theater, certain anthropomorphic associations, a
warehouse, and urban images. They are meant to be linked into a story by people
experiencing tiie building. What the stoiy is should be a personal matier. The order in
1. The cave image is seen at the entry to the libraiy. Along this part of the path
images of the human body are present. Some are seen as bones in the cave
openings for light, and others are only seen in plan view.
2. The bridge is seen after emerging from the cavc The arching of the bridge
suggests water.
3. The stacks are seen almost at the same time as the bridgc
4. The cave image is repeated in the library entiy into the theater.
6. The theater is the destination of the user, although the stacks and reading
^^^ In this case it is a model of how the human mind works. The cave is embedded in the
primal memories of human ancestors and the subconscious memory of birth. The bridge
carries the traveler over water, whose sound represents the subconscious which never
sleeps. The theater represents dreams. The anthropomorphic associations represent the
role the body plays in thought. The warehouse represents the tiained memory. The
urban imagery represents the connection to the people that influence us. This is not the
only explanation for the images; however, it is the way that the author of the thesis chose
to organize these images. If this was not a master's thesis, then the need to disclose the
actual relationships of the images would not exist. Such ignorance on the part of the
pafrons would allow people to think about the images in their own way, which is much
more stimulating than actually knowing what the author had in mind.
90
While this project is based on the work of Alvar Aalto, there is one strong influence from
the works of Wright and Sullivan. The building is designed to teach its users through a
collection of images arranged in such a way to several narratives conceming the organic
pattems of lifc The joumey into the library will parallel the joumey through life.
Stmcture
The type of stmcture chosen was presfressed concrete which is capable of the long
spans preferred in libraries. The large articulated columns show an inclination towards
classical form and serve as a boundary between the library and its environment in a
manner similar to the use of columns in the Parthenon. In the ground floor plan the only
place in which the library spills beyond the large columns is at the entry and receiving
The sfrategy for placing interior colunms that support the floors depends on how each
space needs to be articulated. The building is imifíed by large articulated colunms and
the roof A regular grid would suppress the identities of each ftmction, but to no purpose
in that unity has already been achieved. FoUowing the approach of Alvar Aalto, the
228
See Chapter IV.
91
The major concems of the librarian are the confrol of resources, such as books, and
the attraction of the public into the library. A square floor plan has been designated by
librarians as the optimum shape for a library because of its influence on the legibility of
the stacks, but many authors acknowledge that pafrons usually fínd this shape boring.^^^
Attempts to organize the stacks using anything but a grid have, from the librarians point
of view, failed for two reasons; the diffículty of organizing a large volume of books, and
because the square shape generally has less non-usable spacc The large amount of
volumes involved in this project is suffícient to eliminate any radial or fan shaped
organization of the stacks. The use of split levels or anything that blocks the site lines of
the library employees wiU increase the amount of people needed to ensure security for
both books and patrons. These concems are balanced with the benefíts gained by such
design decisions. The librarians influencing the arrangement of the library are analytical,
well researched and can be perceived to intmde upon the fraditional role of the architect.
understandablc Such concems are mttigated by several factors, the most powerfiil of
which is the site. It is not square and there is not enough room for a single level building.
The presence of people and businesses around the site is a more subtle influence, but is
infínitely more important. Retail frade, the county govemment, banking, entertainment,
and tourism atfract people to the town square of Waxahachie, which makes it an ideal
location for a public institution such as this library. In order to become a part of the
^'Godfrey Thompson, Planning and Desien of Librar/ Buildings. (New York: Nichols
Publishing, 1978), 5.
92
square, this must emphasize the effect on the public's experience rather than the
administrator's ease.
The architect has a moral obligation to provide a space that is healthy and pleasant."°
This involves the careful considerations of lighting, acoustics and ventilation as well as
aesthetic explorations. The craft of building has to be mastered as well as the art of
Figure 6.1.
The site has a great deal of influence. Zoning requires that no building may be higher
than the County Courthouse to ensure the dominance of the courthouse a symbol of
govemmental authority. On the site four existing buildings wiU remain, They are
signifícant, but only because they are a part of the historical urban environment. They
covering three quarters of the north side of the site and face the County Courthousc
230
Antoniadies, Architecture and Allied Design.
93
Stacks
1. Shelving at height- 6'-6" maximum
2. Shelving grid -any range from 4 ' to 8' on center 6'-8", depending on desired
aisle width.
3. The standard shelf width is 2'-0".
4. The column size must not exceed the shelf width.
5. Computer terminals distributed at various points.
6. The fíre suppression system uses COj or equivalent gas, instead of water.
7. The children's coUection consists of approximately 20% of the total
collection, approximately 8,000 square feet. The preferred location would be
in the reading room, so that parents can watch their children from a distancc
Seating measurements
1. The seatíng is estímated at one seat per 500 populatíon served for the entire
library. That equals 200 total seats for the library
2. One person at a table will require approîdmately 25 square feet
3. One person at a carrel wiU require 40 square feet
4. One person at a lounge chair wiU require 50 square feet.
5. At least 4' of width is required between tables and stacks.^^'
^" Aaron Cohen and Elaine Cohen, Designing and Space Planning for Libraries, (New
York: R. R. Bowker Co., 1979), in reference to the entíre book.
94
Waxahachie, Texas
metropolitan area. It is the seat of EIIis County. While a number of its residents do
commute to the D/FW area to work, the majority of the population live and work in the
town. The populatíon consists of a mix of actively retíred people, college students and
families. A major economic blow was delivered by the federal govemment when the
Super Conducting Super Collider project was abandoned. This is not a fatal blow. The
area is poised to receive the migration of people and industry as the information
revolution decentializes the corporate stmcture in the US. It is also a great place for
medium sized businesses and to livc There is still present a fairly large number of farms
Historical Description
The earliest known inhabitants of what is now Ellis County were the Indians. The
area was a hunting ground for many Indian tribes because of the large number of buffalo
that grazed here. Kickapoo, Bidai, Anadarko and Waco were other tribes that hunted
here. Waxahachie is the Tonkawa word for buffalo or cow. Under Mexican mle, the
area known as Ellis County was divided into four land grants to Sterling C. Robertson,
Thomas J. Chambers, Raphael Pena, and Alejandro de la Garza. The Anglo grantees
were probably a part of the Mexican program to populate Tejas, which is now know as
Texas. The Texas Republic issued land a land grant in 1841 for Peters Colony in the
Northem half of the area and in 1843 C.F. Mercer was issued the southem part of the
95
area. EIIis County was created on December 20, 1849, from Robertson and Navarro
counties. In August of 1850, Waxahachie was established as the county seat. The fírst
Court House, a long cabin, was built in 1850. Two other Courthouses were erected in
1853 and 1874. The present Courthouse was built in 1894 and still is the political center
of the county. It was designed by J. Riely Gordon.^^^ Before the discovery of oil the area
was a center of cotton tiade and railroad freight. Until the 1930s tt was one of the more
Surrounding Areas
century Victorian gingerbread houses. There are a few neoclassical examples present,
but the town is regionally famous for its gingerbread homes. The majority of the public
Physical Characteristics
See Appendix A, Table A.2 for details. The winters are mild in this part of the statc
In the summer, the temperature, which ranges from 80" F to lOO^F, and the humidity are
the primary concems of those living in this region. Sunlight during the summer can be
extiemely bright from late moming until sunset which makes glare an important
architectural concem. The area is highly used for govemment and private business. The
soil is extremely fertile in the area, and farming is still an imp^ortant industry.
^^^ Taken from " A Brief History of Ellis County" provided in a packet from the
Waxahachie Chamber of Commercc
96
More than a dozen major productions have been fílmed here since "Bonnie & Clyde"
in 1967. Three of these movies, "Tender Mercies," "Places In The Heart," and "The Trip
to Bountiftil," have been recipients of academy awards. The movie industry often uses
this town in motion pictures set in the late nineteenth and eariy twentieth centuries. The
atmosphere in the town square and in the older neighborhoods is what has been cited
most. The actual movie sets on the site eliminate the "modem" images by covering the
Historic District
The County Courthouse is a Texas historic landmark and the urban area is a historic
district. The buildings in this area were mostly built in the late 1800s up to the 1950s.
There is a considerable amount of public support for the preservation of the historical
atmosphere of this area. This town center is a group of actively used historic buildings.
therefore, there is signifícant remodeling activity which necessitates bringing the area up
Books
Aalto, Alvar. Sketches Alvar Aalto. Edited by Goran Schildt. Translated by
Stuarte Wredc Cambridge, Massachusetts; TheMITPress. 1978
So Long and Thanks for All The Fish. New York; Pocket Books,
1985,
Altman, Irwin and Chemers, Martin. Culture and The Environment, Monterey,
Califomia: Brook/Cole PublishingCo.,1983.
Bacon, Edmund N, Design of Cities, New York; Penguin Books 1967, revised
ed, 1976.
Bames, Jonathon (ed.). The Complete Works of Arístotle Vol. I & II The
Revised Oxford Translation. Princeton, New Jersy: Princeton University
Press, 1984.
Baum, Andrew and Bell, Paul A. and Fisher, Jeffery D. Environmental Psychology
2nd ed. New York.; Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984,
97
98
Benton, Tim. "Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau," ed. Frank Russell. Art Nouveau
Architecture New York; Rizzoli, 1979.
Blake, Peter. The Master Builders; Le Corbusier. Mies van der Rohe. Frank
Lloyd Wright. New York; W.W. NortonandCompany, Inc 1976.
Butler, Marilyn. Romantics. Rebels and Reactionaries; English Literature and Its
Background 1760-1830. Oxford; Oxford University Press, 1982.
Capra, Fritjof The Tuming Point; Science, Societv, and the Rising Culture.
New York; Bantam Books, Inc, 1982.
Curtis, William J.R, Modem Architecture; Since ;1900, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey;
Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1987.
Evan Terry Associates, PC. Americans wtth Disabilities Act Faciltties Compliance;
A Practical Guidc New York; John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1993,
Gleick, James. Chaos; Making a New Sciencc New York: Viking Press, 198
Green, F.C. Rousseau and the Idea of Progress. Oxford: The Clarendon Press,1950:
reissued 1978.
Johnson, Donald Leslic Frank Llovd Wright versus Amenca; the 1930's Cambridge,
Massachusetts; the MIT Press, 1990.
Kostof, Spiro. A Historv of Architecmre; Settings and Rituals. New York; Oxford
University Press, 1985.
Kumar, Krishan. Utopia and Anti-Utopia in Modem Times. Oxford, U.K.; Basil
Blackwell, Ltd 1987.
Martin, George R.R., ed. Wild Cards Volume I. New York: Bantam Books, 1986.
McHarg, ían L. Desi.gn with Nature. Garden City, New York; Doubleday, 1971.
Price, William H. The Civil War HandBook. Fairfax, Virgima; Prince Lithographic
Co.,Inc 1961.
Read, Herbert. Anarchv and Order London; Faber & Faber. Ltd. 1954.
Rywert, Joseph. The First Modems; The Architects of the Eighteenth Centurv.
Cambridge, Massachusetts; The MIT Press, 1987.
Schildt, Gôran. Alvar Aalto; The Earív Years. New York; Rizzoli, 1984.
ScuUy ., Vincent, Jr. Frank Llovd Wríght. New York; George BraziIIer, Inc, 1960.
Sert, Josep LIuis Sert and Sweeney, James Johnson. Antoni Gaudi. New York;
Fredrick A. Praeger, 1960
SuUivan, Louis H. Kindergarten Chats. New York; George Wittenbom Inc 1947.
Temmer, Mark J. Art and the Influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Chapel HiU, North
Carolina; The University of North Carolina Press, 1973.
Thompson, G.R. "Romanticism and the Gothic Tradition," Thompson, G.R. ed., The
Gothic Imagination; Essays in Dark Romanticism. PuUman, Washington;
Washington State University Press.
101
Magazine Articles
Anderson, Denms Allen and Ochsner, Jeffrey Kari. "Adler and SuIIivan's Seattle Opera
House Project." Societv of Archttectural Histonans Joumal XLVIII (September
1989);223-231,
Broner, Kaisa. "The Finnish Embassv in New Delhi." Living Architecture. 1987 No.6,
69-83.
Jones, Peter Blundel. "Hiigo Hânng " The Architectural Review. vl71, no.l022, June
1982,40-47.
PROGRAMMING
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APPENDIX B
WRIGHT'S' FROBELIAN
EDUCATION
Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) was an eminent educator and a major influence on the
educational system in his works which has made Friedrich Froebel the object of many
article by Jeanne S. Rubin on the subject, written from an educator's point of view, titled,
conclusion of the article that the kindergarten trained Wright "to see beyond appearances
and to think beyond the known,"^" The word kindergarten has a very different meaning
from the current usage of the word. Originally, kindergartens provided training through
all age levels from seven and a half years of age to the university level.^^"* Wright began
his education in this system at nine years of age which is within the range of starting ages
for most of the versions of this system. Froebel's system relied on the student discovering
what needed to be leamed instead of leading the student through rote memory.
Froebel was not originally an educator. His previous career was that of a
crystallographer and assistant to the distinguished scientist, Christian Samuel Weis, who
^^The Froebel kindergartens of ten differed in actual ages of the students. Ibid., 25.
123
124
association becomes important because "...Froebel's didactic materials, their prescribed
usage, and his educational philosophy derive largely from the science of
everything, organic or inorganic, foUowed the same principle: the processes tend to
develop from within, maintaining a balance of the inner and outer forces.'^^ This is very
similar to one of the main themes of the European romantic movement, that a person's
ideas form the person as much as experience. The main thrust of the Froebelean system
was the stimulation of self motivation in the leaming process through lessons disguised
as play. It was assumed that as the student leamed how to see and think, the student
would discover natural laws on his own which would allow the student to apply them in
whatever fíeld that they chose to pursue.^^^ This suggests that the natural laws were
considered universal. Froebel stated that his kindergarten concept was based on the
following four natural laws, which he did not claim to have discovered:
235
U id.
^^This is from the fírst edition of the Education of Man, published in 1826 in
Germany. Rubin notes the similarity to Wright's formula for organic architecture. Ibid.
"'n>id.
125
ultimate whole. Froebel further ventured that these laws
govemed the development of all matter, from the smallest
particle to the cosmos, a theory then tentatively projected
and now generally accepted.^^^
Rubin claims that these laws contain Wright's defínition of organic architecture, but it is
more likely that these "laws" are only one of the sources of Wright's organic architecture.
'lbid,30
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