Exhibition Catalog - Lawrence Technological University

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5 The modular wall sections could be prefabricated offsite and raised into place. Along with these panels, Wright discarded the traditional stud-wall frame. In the Usonians the weight of the roof instead rested on the sandwich walls, masonry (usually brick) end walls, and a masonry core at the center of the house containing the fireplace, kitchen, and utility room. Because the walls were relatively weak most Usonians were limited to one story in height, but Wright believed this to be a way to inject informality into these largely middle class houses, as well as helping to integrate the structure into the surrounding landscape. These sandwich walls contained no air cavities, so no wiring or piping could be run through them, as Wright felt them unnecessary because of the in-floor heating system. In keeping with the overall simplicity of the Usonian project, the houses required few materials beyond the concrete slab floor, wood, brick, and glass. These materials, Wright felt, needed very little maintenance, unlike the plaster, paint, and wallpaper of traditional houses. And the Usonians’ floor plans further revealed Wright’s desire to simplify as well as his recognition of social changes in American family life occurring by the 1930s. Economic necessities of the Great Depression and changing social mores led American families to seek greater informality and casualness in their lives. According to historian John Sergeant, “In America immediately after the war the new house was changing for three reasons: (1) there emerged a freer attitude toward children; (2) there was a new woman’s role with more activity outside the home; and (3) with a proliferation of external functions, less time was spent in the home.” 12 In response to the increasing amount of servant-less families and the emerging trend toward informality, Wright created houses more tailored to the demands of contemporary wife/mother roles. Most prominently, he abolished formal dining rooms in favor of alcoves with dining tables, which were located next to the kitchen – which he now called the “workspace” – in order to minimize the distance between the places for preparing and eating meals. He also collapsed together the dining and living areas. This essentially merged three rooms into one (counting the kitchen), continuing the process of opening interior space by breaking down boundaries that he had begun with the Prairie School houses. Photograph by Harvey Croze Usonian houses were “zoned” into public and private sections, and this can be read in their form and configuration. Many of these houses used an “L” shaped plan, or some variation, which placed the living/dining room in one wing, the bedrooms along a singleloaded corridor in the other wing, and the utility areas like the workspace and bathroom in the hinge between the two wings. This arrangement shielded the house’s private rooms from non-family visitors.
Photograph by Harvey Croze Wright also saw the plan as cost effective because it could center all of the plumbing and most of the masonry into the utility core at the house’s center. Finally, the Usonians exemplified Wright’s longstanding dedication to an architecture that existed in harmony with nature. One of his most cherished principles, fully implemented in the Usonians, was that a building should seem to be of the land rather than on it. His houses emerged from the slope of a hill rather than sitting on top of it, which was the traditional method. He utilized wood as much as possible, inside and out, to evoke continuity with the natural landscape. He oriented the houses so that the living room faced southeast to guarantee abundant sunlight throughout the year. “Proper orientation of the house, then, is the first condition of the lighting of the house,” he once wrote. “The sun is the great luminary of all life. It should serve as such in the building of the house.” 13 To capture the sun’s rays, Wright’s living rooms featured floor-to-ceiling French doors that opened to a patio or balcony and dissolved the barrier between the interior and exterior. The doors also served as a shield against the elements while preserving views to the surrounding landscape. When opened, they emphasized the union between manmade object and its setting. The house’s relation with the natural landscape was crucial, not just for the sylvan atmosphere and picturesque views such a sensitive siting might provide, but also for Wright’s endeavor to change Americans’ living habits. He drew no distinction between the inside of the house and the outside, and felt both were united in one continuous designed space. According to Wright, “In integral architecture the room-space itself must come through. . . We have no longer an outside and an inside as two separate things. Now the outside may come inside, and the inside may and does go outside. They are of each other.” 14 Eliminating physical and psychological boundaries in this manner facilitated the occupants’ close relationship with nature. Another design element Wright employed to link people to the natural world involved the rejection of mechanical climate controls. As mentioned above, Wright used radiant heating from the floor rather than forced air systems in the Usonians; he also designed them without air conditioning. Wright believed artificially controlled climates removed humans one more step from direct contact with nature. “To me air conditioning is a dangerous circumstance. . . I think it is far better to go with the natural climate than to try to fix a special artificial climate of your own,” wrote Wright. “Climate means something to man. It means something in relation to one’s life in it.” 15 The houses all featured wall openings, such as French doors, windows, and clerestories, on all sides of the house, allowing 6
Page 2 and 3: Lawrence Technological University F
Page 4 and 5: Introduction The 70th construction
Page 6 and 7: 1 History of Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Page 8 and 9: evealing, inaccurate, but compellin
Page 12 and 13: cross-ventilation. Combined with se
Page 14 and 15: they told Wright, “We don’t lik
Page 16 and 17: The ground already has form. Why no
Page 18 and 19: 13 to Wright in September 1940, sug
Page 20 and 21: 15 Approach The Affleck house, like
Page 22 and 23: 17 Living Room and Terrace The livi
Page 24 and 25: dining corner by locating the dinne
Page 26 and 27: 21 furniture for the Afflecks to ma
Page 28 and 29: to keep inside the house - a proble
Page 30 and 31: 25 have picnics in our living room,
Page 32: 27 wing, perhaps indicating the Aff
Page 35: Taliesin Model and Drawings 30
Page 41 and 42: NEW REFRIDGERATOR & FREEZER COMBO N
Page 43 and 44: ORIGINAL PHOTOS DISPLAYED IN THE MA
Page 45 and 46: ELEVATION 2 - I SCALE: NTS 40 ELEVA
Page 47 and 48: 42 ELEVATION 1 -A SCALE: NTS ELEVAT
Page 49 and 50: 44 Situated in two locations on the
Page 52: Assistant Professor Jim Stevens wit
Page 55 and 56: 50 Dustin Illes Erica Salucci
Page 57 and 58: 52 Cody Millinder Davide Daniles
Page 59 and 60: 54 Julian Sesi Nawfaa Al-Bahrani
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56 Elise Torchala Amanda Curtis
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58 Brandon Hartwick Anon.
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60 Ryan Maynard, Kirk Stefko Ryan M
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62 Ryan Maynard, Kirk Stefko Ryan M
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81 original
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86 Victoria Bigham Michelle Danius
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Professor Steven Rost Sculpture 88
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Assistant Professor Jolanta Skorupk
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92 Balance (plan view) An overall b
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94 Structure Structure is formed by
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96 Anon. Breck Crandell
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98 Joo Younh Ham Kelsie Foster
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100 Elliot Disner Evander Kizy
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102 John Thornton Joo Younh Ham
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104 John Thornton Evander Kizy
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107 Faculty Gallery Professor Gretc
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109 Faculty Gallery Professor Steve
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Exhibition Catalog - Lawrence Technological University

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