follow the horizon.
Robie House
Frank Lloyd Wright
[1908-1909]
when Frank Lloyd Wright began designing urban houses in the chicago area, he developed an expression called the "prairie house." this incorporated the horizontal lines of the prairie into the buildings he designed and made them more flat, covering more surface area, rather than tall. wright began working on the robie house in 1906, which is located on the south side of chicago. "wright pulled the house up out of the damp clay of the prairie, so that the main living level is on the upper level, with three bedrooms in the cupola on the third level." (Roth) the main floor is divided into two different sections: one that contains the living room and dining room, which are connected except for the free standing fire place that "divides" it in two, and one that contains a guest room, kitchen, and rooms for the servants.
- used steel beams to support the long structure
- regarded as the finest prairie house
- officially called the Frederick C. Robie House
- integrated lighting and heating into the ceiling and floor
- designed nearly all of the furniture in the house
in many of wright's designs, he creates a cross-like floor plan with the fire at the heart. although the robie house doesn't have this floor plan, wright created it so it is like the two sections that cross one another are divided and set next to each other, rather than crossing. in this aspect, the fire is still placed at the heart of the house. also, the house doesn't have any blinds. instead, wright created art in the class that not only added to the horizontal aspect of the house, but also created privacy because the glass would distort what was going on inside the house. the entrance to the robie house is unlike that of many others. wright hides the front door so you have to walk to the side of the house and appreciate the architecture to enter, rather then having it be visible and easy to access.
information and images from:
Roth
- gives a general idea of what the house looks like
http://jameswoodward.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/frank-lloyd-wright/
- glass art that provided privacy
http://www.chaosss.co.uk/CP/?p=5
- floor plan
http://bryndakirk.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/the-history-of-architecture/robie-floor-plans/
- the furniture he designed for the house
http://vincemichael.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/whats-going-on-at-robie-house/
