The prairie style was the climax of Frank Lloyd Wright’s search to achieve spatial continuity and “to get out of the box”, the traditional structure. He said “I came to realize that the reality of the building was not the container but the space within”.
5
Wright created a new American domestic architecture with the prairie style and went beyond the architectural principles of his time.
The prairie style is a synthesis of Wright’s beliefs and some of the major influences on his life. A brief look at them makes it easier to appreciate his work.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s mother had decided that her son would be an architect. Using the revolutionary concepts of l9th century applied psychology, she hung pictures of the great cathedrals of Europe for her son to see before and after his birth! She taught him the Froebel Kindergarten method, a system of building blocks, folded papers, strings and beads which were played with on a grid table.
Wright saw himself as an artist creating in isolation. He denied the influence of elements which appear obvious to the observer. In particular, Japanese architecture seems to have played an important role in Wright’s designs. The interlocked cross axes, the low roof and the use of movable screens as well as the Japanese concept of “eliminating the inessential” became powerful elements of Wright’s architecture, particularly the prairie style.
The low horizontal lines and relationship of the house to the land are characteristic of the prairie style. They express Wright’s belief in democracy and man’s desire for movement and need for a sense of shelter and rootedness. The use of the massive central hearth states that belief and continues an element from traditional American Colonial buildings.
Wright disregarded Greek architecture which he, mistakenly, interpreted as a symbol of man’s isolation. The relationship of man and the land was vital to him and meant building in terms of human scale while designing the structure to fit the site.
Louis Sullivan was revered as the “master” by Wright who became his pupil while working with the Sullivan and Adler firm in Chicago. There, he learned the foundations of his life’s work. “Form following function”, relating the interior and exterior and the use of ornament are concepts directly attributed to Sullivan. Wright began to solve the problem of how “to get out of the box” as a result of working with his “master” who had begun the process with his own designs.
The genius of Frank Lloyd Wright created a new form, the prairie style which is characterized by the unity of all aspects of the plan, interior and exterior, in a single integration of space. The plan typically includes a compact central arrangement of fireplace and utility units. The interior space seems to flow out indefinitely on an infinite path beyond the house to the horizon, real or imagined, or to a landmark in the environment.(4) Wright called this concept of the infinite space or path, “continuity”.
6
The exterior of the prairie style house is dominated by low horizontal roof lines which run parallel to the earth, hugging it, expressing both movement and groundedness. This is an example of Wright’s “organic” architecture meaning that the house belonged to the land and specifically to the land upon which it was built.
(figure available in print form)
The boundaries between the interior and the exterior were fused by deep recesses of space, create by the cantilevered roof, set in windows and gardens. The bays as round and triangular shapes of the house (figure) push aggressively out to the surrounding space (ground) to create unity with the environment.
The interior consists of interlocking spaces, separated by angles of vision. There are surprises such as the usually low ceilings suddenly being pitched at unexpected angles. The low ceilings and central hearth give a feeling of intimacy and security. The sense of shelter is further stated by the overhangs of the sweeping cantilevered roof. The eye has the freedom to wander into the distance while protected by the shelter.
Innovations in domestic architecture derived from the prairie style are numerous, including; ribbon and corner windows, cathedral ceilings,built in furniture and lighting, concrete slab floors without basements, heating systems in floors, houses planned around utility cores and car ports, to name a few.