Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses in relation to the Earth and the Sky

Frank Lloyd Wright(1867-1959) had the confident concept that architecture should be at home in nature. His architecture was meant to bear an intimate relation to the earth and the sky, and should look as though it began there at the ground and contrasted with the sky. In handling all the details of house design elements, his efforts for being married to the ground was to conceive the void of the sky. This study is to research his thinking process and its development to the earth and the sky, and to analyze how such thought could reflect his houses. The mass of house are divided into three parts such as the foundation or base, body, and roof. These parts are respectively related to the earth and the sky. This study goes on regarding them as an analytical framework. The subjects of study are the Prairie houses in the early 20th century and the Usonian houses after 1930's. As results of this study, the earlier foundation as a platform appeared as a base and water table, and a strong baseline pressed the structures into the soil in the Prairie houses. The direct contact of wood and brick to ground were dominant details after Wiley house(1934). The base was almost invisible to the eye in the Usonian houses. Secondly, the pierlike shapes and delicate friezes of walls were anchored to the ground, and horizontal bands as trims or copings also got close to the earth. These characters had disappeared after the Allen house(1917), all components including exterior walls had been unified with the grid patterns in the Usonian houses. Thirdly, the overhanging cantilever roof had got to the earthbound by the reflection of shadow as well as their evident horizontal. He lowered the roof, lengthened and brought it closer to the ground. In this way, Frank Lloyd Wright intended his houses to be at home in nature. And also he tried to bind the houses to the earth and contrasted them with the sky. The houses would perform their highest function in relation to the earth and sky.

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