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    Prairie Houses

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    Abinaya Varma
    The document outlines Frank Lloyd Wright's grammar of prairie house designs, describing the basic rules for composition including locating the central fireplace, dividing spaces into functional zones, and eliminating separate rooms. It provides illustrations and discusses rules for initial designs, basic compositions, and generating variety through ornamentation while maintaining consistent design principles.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Prairie Houses

    Uploaded by

    Abinaya Varma
    16 views28 pages
    The document outlines Frank Lloyd Wright's grammar of prairie house designs, describing the basic rules for composition including locating the central fireplace, dividing spaces into functional zones, and eliminating separate rooms. It provides illustrations and discusses rules for initial designs, basic compositions, and generating variety through ornamentation while maintaining consistent design principles.

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    PrairieHouses

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    The document outlines Frank Lloyd Wright's grammar of prairie house designs, describing the basic rules for composition including locating the central fireplace, dividing spaces into functional zones, and eliminating separate rooms. It provides illustrations and discusses rules for initial designs, basic compositions, and generating variety through ornamentation while maintaining consistent design principles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    16 views28 pages

    Prairie Houses

    Uploaded by

    Abinaya Varma
    The document outlines Frank Lloyd Wright's grammar of prairie house designs, describing the basic rules for composition including locating the central fireplace, dividing spaces into functional zones, and eliminating separate rooms. It provides illustrations and discusses rules for initial designs, basic compositions, and generating variety through ornamentation while maintaining consistent design principles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 28

    48-747 Shape Grammars 


    GRAMMAR
OF
PRAIRIE
HOUSES

    “Consistency
in
grammar
is
therefore
the
property
−
solely
−

    of
a
well‐developed
artist‐architect.
Without
that
property
of

    the
artist‐architect
not
much
can
be
done
about
your
abode

    as
a
work
of
Art.

Grammar
is
no
property
of
the
usual
owner

    or
occupant
of
the
house.

But
the
man
who
designs
the

    house
must,
inevitably
speak
a
consistent
thought‐language
in

    his
designs.

It
properly
may
be
and
should
be
a
language
of

    his
own
if
appropriate.

If
he
has
no
language,
so
no
grammar,

    of
his
own,
he
must
adopt
one;
he
will
speak
some
language

    or
other
whether
he
so
chooses
or
not.”


    Frank
Lloyd
Wright,
The
Natural
House,
pp
182‐83

    First
–


    To
reduce
the
necessary
parts
of
the
house
and
the
separate

    rooms
to
a
minimum,
and
make
all
come
together
as
enclosed

    space
…

    Second
–


    To
associate
the
building
as
a
whole
with
its
site
by
extension

    and
emphasis
of
planes
parallel
to
the
ground
…

    Third
–


    To
eliminate
the
room
as
a
box
and
the
house
as
another
…


    organic
architecture

    11
prairie
houses
identified

    Superficial
features
defocused

    Hearth
and
fireplace

    Function
zones


    Living,
service
and
bedroom
areas

    Arranged
as
blocks

    Lines
used
to
articulate
walls,
ceilings,


    screens
between
areas


    examine
a
corpora

    the
corpora:
exterior
view,
bedroom
floor
plan,
main
floor
plan

    the
corpora:
bedroom
floor,
main
floor,
exterior

    2

    3

    4

    “Instead
of
lean,
brick
chimneys,
bristling
up
from
steep
roofs
to

    hint
at
“judgment”
everywhere
I
can
see
necessity
for
one
only,
a

    broad
generous
one,
or
at
most,
for
two,
these
kept
low
down
on

    gently
sloping
roofs
or
perhaps
flat
roofs.

The
big
fireplace
below,

    inside,
become
now
a
place
for
a
real
fire,
justified
the
great
size
of

    this
chimney
outside.

A
real
fireplace
at
that
time
was

    extraordinary.
There
were
then
‘mantels’
instead.

A
mantel
was
a

    marble
frame
for
a
few
coals
or
a
piece
of
wooden
furniture
with

    tile
stuck
in
it
and
a
‘gate’,
the
whole
set
slam
up
against
the
wall.


    The
‘mantel’
was
an
insult
to
comfort,
but
the
integral
fireplace

    became
an
important
part
of
the
building
itself
in
the
houses
I
was

    allowed
to
build
out
there
on
the
prairie.

It
refreshed
me
to
see
the

    fire
burning
deep
in
the
masonry
of
the
house
itself.”


    the
fireplace
is
central

    “So
I
declared
the
whole
lower
floor
at
one
room,
cutting
off
the

    kitchen
as
a
laboratory,
putting
servants’
sleeping
and
living

    quarters
next
to
it,
semi‐detached,
on
the
same
floor,
screen

    various
portions
in
the
big
room,
for
certain
domestic
purposes−

    like
dining
or
reading,
or
receiving
a
formal
caller.
There
were
no

    plans
like
these
in
existence
at
the
time
and
my
clients
were
pushed

    toward
these
ideas
as
helpful
to
a
solution
of
the
vexed
servant‐
    problem.

Scores
of
doors
disappeared
and
no
end
of
partition.


    They
liked
it,
both
clients
and
servants.

The
house
became
more

    free
as
“space”
,
and
more
livable,
too.
Interior
spaciousness
began

    to
dawn.”


    abolition
of
rooms
per
se

    convention
for
lines
 double thick line
    Rules
1‐18

    1‐2
Locating
the
fireplace
–

    single
or
double
hearth

    3‐6
adding
a
living
zone

    7
adding
a
service
zone

    (used
once)

    8‐11
fixes
obligatory
extension

    12‐18
assigning
function
zones

    10‐11
aligned
with
the

    fireplace
on
one
side

    8,10
aligned
with
the

    middle
third

    9,
11
positioned
to
one

    side


    basic
composition

    Initial
design

    tree
of
generation
≈
the
language
of
prairie
houses

    See
figure
11


    catalog
of
basic
composition

    Rules

    19‐22

Adding
to
concave

    corners

    23‐24
Adding
porches

    26‐34
interior
details
of
the

    main
floor

    35‐40
basement
formation

    41‐47
Adding
terraces

    Figure
12

    48‐53
Exterior
details:
main

    floor

    54‐55
creating
portes

    cocheres


    remaining
rules
–
ornamenting

    the
basic
composition

    Rules

    61‐62
establishing
the

    bedroom
floor

    63‐64
bedroom
floor

    extension

    65‐66
bedroom
floor
details

    67‐73
making
double
height

    living
rooms

    75‐82
establishing
roof
eave

    lines

    83‐84
creating
balconies

    87‐97
roof
formation


    remaining
rules
–
ornamenting

    the
basic
composition

    generation

    generation

    generation

    See
figure
18


    catalog
of
simplest
two
storey
designs

    generation
is
not
unique

    new
designs


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