Frank Lloyd wright is probably one of the most famous starchitects there is. Frank Lloyd Wrights architecture helped shape modern architecture and the way buildings are shaped today. Buildings like the Willits House, Unity Temple, and especially the Robie House greatly influenced the architectural community. Wright was greatly influenced by another famous architect, Louis Sullivan. Sullivan’s philosophy on architecture was “Form follows function”. Wrights almost worked synonymously with this philosophy, except that he believed that form and function should work together as one. This method of thinking is of the reasons why Wright and Sullivan’s prairie school style architecture works so well. One of the best examples of this style is the Robie
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Prairie school architecture usually incorporates features such as a horizontal form, flat or hipped roofs, and windows assembled with horizontal bands.1 All of these aspects can be seen in the Robie House. This style came about by america wanting to creates its own architectural style for the midwest.2 Although the prairie style and french neoclassicism of Monticello look very different they still share some of the same principles. One of which is the integration of the landscape with the architecture …show more content…
Monticello used brick to portray power and strength, where as the Robie House uses brick to enforce the horizontal motion of the prairie style. Fig. 2 clearly shows the way this is accomplished. It shows how Wright integrated the mortar to the design. He made it so that the vertical mortar sticking the brick together is red and the horizontal mortar is white and its also thicker. This seemingly small detail makes all the difference. What this does is it allows the bricks to have this seamless design while having a horizontal motion towards it, and the horizontal motion of it enhances the prairie school style of the home. The Robie Houses entry way is also very important. From looking at Fig. 3 it looks like the the entrance of the building would be towards the front of the house, but thats not the case. Wright actually put the entrance to house towards the back. Wright did this because he want ed people to be forced to circulate around the entire structure before entering. He wanted the procession towards the house to be a type of journey.4 This journey is what, in my opinion, makes the buildings so great. Because that “journey” is carried out not only in the exterior of the structure but in the interior of it as well and this can be seen in the plan of the building which is in Fig. 4. Wright believed that a house should signify comfort and the idea of shelter.5 Which he successfully does with this
Prairie school architecture usually incorporates features such as a horizontal form, flat or hipped roofs, and windows assembled with horizontal bands.1 All of these aspects can be seen in the Robie House. This style came about by america wanting to creates its own architectural style for the midwest.2 Although the prairie style and french neoclassicism of Monticello look very different they still share some of the same principles. One of which is the integration of the landscape with the architecture …show more content…
Monticello used brick to portray power and strength, where as the Robie House uses brick to enforce the horizontal motion of the prairie style. Fig. 2 clearly shows the way this is accomplished. It shows how Wright integrated the mortar to the design. He made it so that the vertical mortar sticking the brick together is red and the horizontal mortar is white and its also thicker. This seemingly small detail makes all the difference. What this does is it allows the bricks to have this seamless design while having a horizontal motion towards it, and the horizontal motion of it enhances the prairie school style of the home. The Robie Houses entry way is also very important. From looking at Fig. 3 it looks like the the entrance of the building would be towards the front of the house, but thats not the case. Wright actually put the entrance to house towards the back. Wright did this because he want ed people to be forced to circulate around the entire structure before entering. He wanted the procession towards the house to be a type of journey.4 This journey is what, in my opinion, makes the buildings so great. Because that “journey” is carried out not only in the exterior of the structure but in the interior of it as well and this can be seen in the plan of the building which is in Fig. 4. Wright believed that a house should signify comfort and the idea of shelter.5 Which he successfully does with this