FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

A STUDY
 INTRODUCTIO
N
• Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland
Centre, Wis., on June 8, 1867, the son of William
Carey Wright, a preacher and a musician, and
Anna Lloyd Jones, a teacher whose large Welsh
family had settled the valley area near Spring
Green, Wisconsin. 
• In 1991, the American Institute of Architects
called him, quite simply, “the greatest American
architect of all time.” Over his lifetime, Frank
Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959)
completed more than 500 architectural works;
many of them are considered masterpieces.
• As a disciple of Louis Sullivan, in the late 19th
century, his work forms something of a bridge
between the traditional architecture of that era
and the modernists which began to appear in the
early 20th century.
•Some of his later work is formally modernist,
yet still retains a sensibility rooted in that earlier
period.
 THE TWO MAJOR STYLES
A. The Prairie Style
• This style emerged in Chicago around 1900. the architect melded the ideal of arts
and crafts with its emphasis on nature, craftsmanship and simplicity.
• Sullivan’s architectural theories were embraced, which called for non-derivative,
distinctly American architecture rooted in nature, with a sense of place, but also
incorporated modern elements, like flat planes and stylized ornamentation.
• The style reached its fullest expression in residences like Wright’s Robbie House
and George W. Maher’s Pleasant Home.
• Moreover, schools, warehouses and parks were also built in this style.
• Chicago is rich in examples: the suburb of Oak Park has the highest
concentration of Prairie style buildings in the nation.
• The prairie buildings spread out over their lots, featuring flat or shallow hipped
roof lines, rows of windows, overhanging caves and bands of stones, wood or
brick along the surface.
• Thin Roman bricks sometimes enhance the effect and cantilevers often
extend the horizontal line without vertical support.
• Briefly speaking, these buildings include:
I. Strong geometry and massing, including large central chimneys
II. Brick or stucco exteriors
III. Open, asymmetrical floor plans
IV. Connected indoor and out spaces
V. Interior wood banding
VI. Restrained used of applied ornamentation
VII. Exploration of motifs: one shape or plant explored through furniture, wood
carving, plaster, art glass and other elements within a building.
EXAMPLES:
1. The Darwin D. Martin House, Buffalo, Ney York (1905)
• This prairie style icon is among Wright’s best works.
• Darwin commissioned Wright a complex of buildings, including a lengthy, open plan main
residence, one of the largest ever built.
• The complex consists of 6
buildings, 5 of which
interconnected.
• It is a 2 storey red brick
construction, comprising a
living room, main dining
room, a smaller one of the
staff, a kitchen, a library, an
office, a reception, 4
bathrooms and a porch.
•The 3 other buildings were, the carriage house, the conservatory and The Pergola. A small
Gardener's Cottage was built in 1909.
•The main house and adjacent buildings feature a wealth of
Wright designed art glass.
•Overall, the Darwin D. Martin House Complex can be
considered the epitome of Wright’s Prairie Houses, with all
the distinctive elements of the style, such as strongly
marked horizontal lines, cruciform plans often featuring
pergolas and verandas, hip roofs with large overhanging
eaves, masonry and timber construction, a simple
decoration, and a strong integration of architecture and
landscape.
 2. Frederik C. Robbie’s House, Chicago, United States (1910)

• The the Robie House was influenced by the

flat, expansive prairie landscape of the
American Midwest.
• Gently sloping roofs, low proportions, quiet
sky lines, suppressed heavy-set chimneys and
sheltering overhangs, low terraces and out-
reaching walls sequestering private gardens.
• The Robie House creates a clever
arrangement of public and private spaces,
slowly distancing itself from the street in a
series of horizontal planes.
• Creating overlaps of the planes allowed for
interior space to expand towards the outdoors
while still giving the space a level of
enclosure.
•An enormous cantilever over the porch
facing west that stretched outwards 10’ feet
from its nearest structural member and 21’
from the closest masonry pier.
•Wright also expressed the importance of the hearth in a home with a fireplace that separated the
living and dining room that is open to the ceiling above the mantelpiece for the billiard room and
playroom.
• The program of the house includes a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a billiards room,
four bedrooms, and a servant’s wing which are defined while still flowing into one another.
• Rooms were determined through a modular grid system which was given order with the 4’
window mullions. Wright, however, used “light screens” which were composed of pieces of clear
and coloured glass, usually with representations of nature.
•The purpose for these windows was to allow light into the house while still giving a sense of
privacy.
• There are 174 art glass windows in the Robie House made of polished plate glass, cathedral
glass, and copper-plated zinc ‘cames’, which are metal joints that hold the glass in place.
• The protrusions of these windows on the East and West facade, along with low ceilings,
emphasized the long axis of the house and directed views towards the outside.
• These windows were also stretched on French doors along the entire south wall on the main
level, opening up to a balcony.
• The sun angles were calculated so perfectly with this cantilever that a midsummer noon’s sun
hits just the bottom of the entire facade while still allowing light to flood in to warm the house
during the spring and autumn months.
B. The USONIAN Style
• USONIA was a design philosophy that evolved over many years, coming to fruition in
the 1930s. “Wright aspired to create a democratic, distinctly American style that was
affordable for the 'common people‘”.
• Wright looked for a way to address the need for affordable middle-class housing
while employing a simple design. The result was an architecture he termed
"USONIAN" which focused on the residents of a culturally reformed United States of
North America. USONIA stands  for United States of North America.
• These houses were similar in appearance to the Prairie Style. They had wooden walls,
flat roofs, and used movable screens instead of walls on the interior. Wright also used
a lot of glass to create these homes, and living rooms often had walls made of entirely
glass.
•  The time period from 1935 to 1955 is now known as the USONIAN Period.
• The USONIAN houses were smaller than his sprawling Prairie style residences,
contained little ornamentation and lacked basements or attics.
• These houses were set up into zones,
typically with three areas: living space,
small bedrooms, and a kitchen-dining
area. Built-in components and furniture
allowed homeowners to appreciate the
simpler, integrated space Wright
intended.
• The typical floor plan of the Usonian
style reflects this principle with a
characteristic L-shaped plan.
• The idea behind Usonia was about more than just designing smaller houses. It was
about planning, nature, and simple design on a human scale. Wright's concept for
Usonia came about due to his increasing focus on community, planning, and serving
human needs
• The Usonian style has many
character-defining elements, including:

Exterior:
 Dominant horizontal lines
Flat roofs with large overhangs
Standardized natural materials
Unit system walls
Integrated windows
Organic sitting (a private side and an
open side, usually facing south)
Carports
Modules
Zoned plans (three primary living
areas: living spaces, kitchen-dining
areas at the intersection, and small Service cores
bedrooms) Concrete slab floors
Open living areas Integral gravity heating (in-floor radiant
Adjacent cooking-dining areas heat)
 
Interior
Simplicity above all
Integral decoration
Modular furniture
Built-in components
Freestanding pieces
Inexpensive materials
Inside-outside walls
Perforated wood screens
Central hearths
Warm colours
Indirect lighting
Simple textiles
Accessories (limited decorative
objects)
EXAMPLES:
1. Hanna House, Stanford, California (1936)
• Wright created an open plan absent of right angles for his house by integrating
hexagonal modules that gradually expand the floor plan.
• A sense of continuity surround the folds that describe the facade, following the laws of
hexagonal pattern and large overhangs projected towards the visitor.
• The access is by the far east, in connection with the garage and a courtyard first
•Before entering the double height main hall, opened 2 nuclei: the west oriented room,
the bedrooms and study, looking to east and south-east.
•Bathrooms with high ceilings facilitate claristorio windows (clerestory windows).
•The rooms are grouped into the contours of the house forming spaces that slowly reveal
themselves.
2. Pope - Leighey House, Alexandria, Virginia (1940)
• Wright employed the technique of compression and release to create a sense of
spaciousness: a smaller room or foyer leads directly to a much larger room
• To further suggest expanse, Wright designed the eaves to be broadly
cantilevered.

• The windows that open

to the outside create a
sense of spaciousness,
letting in plenty sunlight
and creating an immediate
interaction with the
surrounding landscape.
• This house seems to
reach far beyond its square
footage and exudes
cleverness and comfort.
• Clestory windows make the ceiling float, and abundant natural light adds a mood to the interior.
•By connecting the living to the kitchen, Wright has made a statement about affordable living.
•Perforated shutters in the children's room are a
variation on the Mayan inspired geometric motif.
• The cantilevered roof permits Wright's
characteristic corner windows. This one often
compared to a Japanese lantern.
 fin By
Parul Uday
BARCH/10006/19
Semester 3
Contemporary Architecture