Frank Lloyd Wright 2 (Architecture)

Yeong Min Kim 1 Encyclopedia of Architecture: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FREDERICK C. ROBIE HOUSE, CHICAGO, 1908-1910

Section One. Built for bicycle manufacturer and engineer Frederick C. Robie on a narrow corner lot adjoining the University of Chicago, the Robie House has come to epitomize Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie style of architecture. Robie, who commissioned Wright to build the revolutionary masterpiece in 1908, shared Wright’s revolt against conventional architectural design and agreed with many of Wright’s beliefs and principles concerning Prairie architecture.i Thus, the two men were able to form a perfect union of client and architect. As Robie once stated, “I contacted him, and from the first we had a definite community of thought. When I talked in mechanical terms, he talked and thought in architectural terms. I thought, well, he was in my world.”ii The site of the Robie House helped determine Wright’s plan. The dimensions of the corner lot, being three times as long as it is wide, caused Wright to think of the building in terms of long, narrow rectangles.iii The result, therefore, was a definitive architectural masterpiece, distinguished by its sweeping horizontality and streamlined linearity. The thin, elongated proportions of the red Roman brick that sheathes the exterior and the light grey stone copings that rest atop the brick structures successfully accentuate the long horizontal profile of the house.iv The raked horizontal joints of gray mortar, and its flush, vertical joints tinted with the color of the brick further reinforce the linearity. From a distance, this complex and expensive tuckpointing creates an impression of continuous lines of horizontal color and minimizes the appearance of individual bricks. v In addition, the bands of continuous abstract-patterned glass

Yeong Min Kim 2 windows- which seem to be the one of the few elements of decorative ornamentation present in the Robie House- further emphasize the strict horizontal. The horizontal line reminded Wright of the American prairie; the affinity of its striking horizontal lines to the flat landscape of the Midwestern prairie thus came to be associated with an architectural style popularly known as the "Prairie School."

Also playing an integral role in the prominent horizontality of the Robie House is the famous cantilevered roof that extends twenty feet beyond the last masonry support.vi This significant projection of structure beyond any base or point of direct support daringly asserts the horizontal and grandly culminate a series of planes parallel to the earth. Beyond establishing relentlessly straight lines and making the house seem longer and lower than it actually is, the low-pitched roof with wide overhangs, along with the long wall around the base, give a sense of privacy to the occupants. Wright’s attention to the radically assertive roof and his affection for the horizontal thus harmoniously coincided in the Robie House. vii As a further matter, the strong horizontal flow of the Robie House is anchored by the vertical masses of the bedrooms and the visually prominent chimney, and the seemingly asymmetrical composition of the structure was originally developed around a vertical axis that passed through the highest ridge.viii These features speak to Wright’s ability to manipulate planes and volumes to achieve dynamic sculptural effects and provide marked contrast to traditional houses of the period, signaling a turning point in modern residential architecture.ix The Robie house was one of the first examples of a new principle of domestic architecture. The house consists primarily of two long and narrow rectangles or what Wright referred to as “vessels,” one set on top and slightly off-center of the other.x The rectangle on the southwest portion of the site contains the principal living spaces of the house: the game room and

Yeong Min Kim 3 playroom, traditionally reserved for the basement, became situated in the ground floor; the dining and living space were raised to the second floor; sleeping quarters were located on the third floor; low-pitched roofs with wide overhangs eliminated the attic. The areas that require the privacy of compartmentation due to their function, such as the guest bedroom, kitchen, servant’s quarters, are relegated to the parallel northeast rectangle that has a sliding relationship to the main “vessel�.xi Also, in order to create a sense of privacy and protection for the family, the front door and main entrance is partially hidden on the northwest side of the building beneath an overhanging balcony.

Interestingly, while second floor houses the living room in the west end and the dining room in the east end, both areas are in-line, with only the fireplace-chimney black providing separation.xii The living room, dining room, and also the central stairwell, then, act as a unit that is separated, but not divided by the inglenook: Within this area, there is not a single cross-partition, nor do the walls themselves return at their ends. The two chief spaces terminate in diamond-shaped bays which are independent of the walls, and around which the spaces flow outward to open porches. The south wall is not exactly a wall; it is a parapet upon which rest the series of brick mullions between casements, and this glazed plane makes no acknowledgment whatever of the change in function from living to dining spacesits rhythm is unbroken.xiii Although the living room and dining room are separated by the central chimney mass, the spaces are connected along their south sides. Furthermore, the chimney mass has an opening above the fireplace through which the rooms are visually connected, which again unite the two spaces and create an openness of plan. Thus, the floor plan of the Robie House seems like a miracle of fluid spaces. Also, the stairs that lead to the second floor is designed to create sense of anticipation when moving upwards, especially with the low-ceilinged and dimly lit interior of the entrance hall of the Robie House. Once upstairs, however, the light-filled and luminous living and dining

Yeong Min Kim 4 rooms stands in sharp contrast to the dark and constricted entrance hall, thereby magnifying the pleasurable experience of entering the wide-open space.xiv For Wright, the discipline and ideas that permeated the design of the Robie House was inspired by Gottfried Semper, a German architect and critic who extensively discussed the origins of architecture in his book The Four Elements of Architecture.xv The book divides architecture into four distinct elements; the hearth, the roof, the enclosure, and the mound.

Semper, who believed that the hearth was the first element created, stated, "around the hearth the first groups assembled; around it the first alliances formed; around it the first rude religious concepts were put into the customs of a cult." According to Semper, the roof is supported on posts, not walls, the enclosure is created by textiles hung from the eaves and held to the posts, and the mound raises the hearth off the damp ground.xvi The Robie House was heavily influenced by Semper’s aforementioned primeval four elements. The fireplace is the most prominent element of the interior of the house, while the chimney seems most prominent of the exterior of the house. Like the mound, the building rises from a series of platforms, and from the mound rise a series of posts that receive a roof. Lastly, the decorative art-glass windows and the interior plaster panels framed in wood act as metaphors of Semper’s original textiles.xvii Thus, the Robie House seems to be like Semper’s primeval hut, while the internal space dominates over the materiality of the architectural elements.xviii Clearly, Semper’s aforementioned theories were important sources of inspiration for Wright, providing him with a definitive model of an archetype to emulate.

Section 2.

The Robie House, with its dominating horizontal axis, dramatic overhangs, stretches of banded art glass windows and spacious and open interior floor plan make it a quintessential

Yeong Min Kim 5 Prairie style house. From early on in his career, Wright had begun to articulate a style, an organization of the architectural elements that we now recognize as his own Prairie style, which wonderfully culminates with the Robie House.

The Robie house remains a terminal masterpiece of different order when compared to Wright’s earlier works. In the William H. Winslow House in River Forest, Illinois (1892), Wright’s exploration with geometry and his early experimentation with the modular system prefigure Wright’s future studies of interior and exterior spaces.xix By the year 1900, Wright had more or less mastered the modular method of design, “as well as the manipulation of ambiguous transitional spaces that may belong to one room or another to establish almost magical spatial flows.”xx The Susan Lawrence Dana House in Springfield, Illinois (1903) demonstrates Wright’s absolute mastery of materials, particularly brick and stone, and the two-story high living room provides a soaring and explosive sense of space. The Edwin Cheney House in Oak Park, Illinois (1904), reflects Wright’s emphasis on the spatial flow and movement within the interior, along with the accompanying feeling of diversion and prolongation. Also, the concept of, horizontality, low roofs, zoned living (all functions separated yet brought together by galleries and bridges), and bringing the basement out of the dark among many others were previously explored in the Avery Coonley House, in Riverside Illinois (1906-1908).xxiClearly, Wright’s development of the Prairie Style is evidenced in his earlier residential works.

Though almost no true Prairie houses were designed after about 1914, the architectural philosophy that generated them is a main thread of the continuity that runs through the seventy years of Mr. Wright’s career. The Robie House, generally considered to be Wright’s best expression of the Prairie style, revolutionized the American home and established a new form of domestic design. In addition to being a magnificent work of art, The Robie House introduced

Yeong Min Kim 6 many invaluable concepts in architecture that its full influence cannot be measured accurately for many years to come.

i

William Allin Storrer, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1984), 127. ii Joseph Connors, The Robie House of Frank Lloyd Wright (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 6-7. iii Storrer, 127. iv Narciso G. Menocal, “The Transcendentalist Iconology of Wright’s Organic Architecture,” Art History 449 Reader v Ibid. vi Donald Hoffmann, Understanding Frank Lloyd Wright’s Architecture (New York: Dover Publications, 1995), 29-31. vii Donald W. Hoppen, The Seven Ages of Frank Lloyd Wright (Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1993), 32-33. viii Menocal, “The Transcendentalist” ix H. Allen Brooks, The Prairie School: Frank Lloyd Wright and His Midwest Contemporaries (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1972) x Grant Carpenter Manson, Frank Lloyd Wright to 1910 (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1958), 197-200. xi Ibid. xii Ibid. xiii Ibid. xiv Hoffmann, 29-31. xv Menocal, “The Transcendentalist” xvi Ibid. xvii Ibid. xviii Ibid. xix Menocal, “The Transcendentalist” xx Menocal, “The Transcendentalist” xxi Storrer, 135-137.