Before the 20th century, American residential architecture was very influenced by the European architecture, through its Victorian mansions, Italian villas, among others. However, a Chicago architect named Frank Lloyd Wright believed that his originality and creativity did not depend of Europe styles of architecture. He wanted to create a distinctly American architecture. However, he had not yet travelled to Europe until 1909, when left United States of America for the first time in order to work on the publication of one hundred of his buildings and projects up to 1910 in two books. Firstly released in Berlin, Ausgeführte Bauten und Entwürfe von Frank Lloyd Wright (1911), known as the Wasmuth Portfolio, is considered one of the most important
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In order to evoke the flat prairie landscape and to allow a more intimate relationship with the outdoor environment, he used to eliminate all the unnecessary heights. Robie House, for example, is a three-story house, but its height is equivalent to the two-story Victorian homes in its Hyde Park neighbourhood. Even the detailing of the exterior brickwork was made to emphasise the horizontality. While the horizontal joints use a natural mortar, in order to blend with the Roman bricks of the exterior walls, the vertical joints are made of a brick-coloured mortar (Britannica: Robie …show more content…
In Studies and Executed Buldings by Frank Lloyd Wright, he says that “the architect, then, is theirs (clients) means, their technique and interpreter”, which means that besides giving his own individuality to the design, the building is still a characteristic of the client, once it was designed to be a response to their needs and conditions (Wright, Studies, 11). Frederick C. Robie wanted a house with an abundance of light, broad rooms – instead the Victorian confining rooms -, flowing spaces and great views. Robie wanted to see his neighbours, without being seen. All these was part of the Prairie style that Wright developed in the period, making easy for him to attend the requests of the client. The site was very important to determine the house’s plan. The corner lot – equivalent to three city lots - is three times as long as it is wide, what caused Wright to think in terms of a horizontal composition, with long rectangles (Britannica: Robie House). The overlaps of a series of horizontal planes allows interior space expands towards the outdoors while still giving the space a level of enclosure (ArchDaily: AD
In order to evoke the flat prairie landscape and to allow a more intimate relationship with the outdoor environment, he used to eliminate all the unnecessary heights. Robie House, for example, is a three-story house, but its height is equivalent to the two-story Victorian homes in its Hyde Park neighbourhood. Even the detailing of the exterior brickwork was made to emphasise the horizontality. While the horizontal joints use a natural mortar, in order to blend with the Roman bricks of the exterior walls, the vertical joints are made of a brick-coloured mortar (Britannica: Robie …show more content…
In Studies and Executed Buldings by Frank Lloyd Wright, he says that “the architect, then, is theirs (clients) means, their technique and interpreter”, which means that besides giving his own individuality to the design, the building is still a characteristic of the client, once it was designed to be a response to their needs and conditions (Wright, Studies, 11). Frederick C. Robie wanted a house with an abundance of light, broad rooms – instead the Victorian confining rooms -, flowing spaces and great views. Robie wanted to see his neighbours, without being seen. All these was part of the Prairie style that Wright developed in the period, making easy for him to attend the requests of the client. The site was very important to determine the house’s plan. The corner lot – equivalent to three city lots - is three times as long as it is wide, what caused Wright to think in terms of a horizontal composition, with long rectangles (Britannica: Robie House). The overlaps of a series of horizontal planes allows interior space expands towards the outdoors while still giving the space a level of enclosure (ArchDaily: AD