48-747 Shape Grammars

GRAMMAROFPRAIRIEHOUSES

FrankLloydWright,TheNaturalHouse,pp182‐83

“Consistencyingrammaristhereforetheproperty−solely−ofawell‐developedartist‐architect.Withoutthatpropertyoftheartist‐architectnotmuchcanbedoneaboutyourabodeasaworkofArt.Grammarisnopropertyoftheusualowneroroccupantofthehouse.Butthemanwhodesignsthehousemust,inevitablyspeakaconsistentthought‐languageinhisdesigns.Itproperlymaybeandshouldbealanguageofhisownifappropriate.Ifhehasnolanguage,sonogrammar,ofhisown,hemustadoptone;hewillspeaksomelanguageorotherwhetherhesochoosesornot.”

organicarchitecture

First–Toreducethenecessarypartsofthehouseandtheseparateroomstoaminimum,andmakeallcometogetherasenclosedspace…

Second–Toassociatethebuildingasawholewithitssitebyextensionandemphasisofplanesparalleltotheground…

Third–Toeliminatetheroomasaboxandthehouseasanother…

examineacorpora

11prairiehousesidentified

Superficialfeaturesdefocused

Hearthandfireplace

Functionzones

Living,serviceandbedroomareas

Arrangedasblocks

Linesusedtoarticulatewalls,ceilings,screensbetweenareas

thecorpora:exteriorview,bedroomfloorplan,mainfloorplan

thecorpora:bedroomfloor,mainfloor,exterior

2

3

4

thefireplaceiscentral

“Insteadoflean,brickchimneys,bristlingupfromsteeproofstohintat“judgment”everywhereIcanseenecessityforoneonly,abroadgenerousone,oratmost,fortwo,thesekeptlowdownongentlyslopingroofsorperhapsflatroofs.Thebigfireplacebelow,inside,becomenowaplaceforarealfire,justifiedthegreatsizeofthischimneyoutside.Arealfireplaceatthattimewasextraordinary.Therewerethen‘mantels’instead.Amantelwasamarbleframeforafewcoalsorapieceofwoodenfurniturewithtilestuckinitanda‘gate’,thewholesetslamupagainstthewall.The‘mantel’wasaninsulttocomfort,buttheintegralfireplacebecameanimportantpartofthebuildingitselfinthehousesIwasallowedtobuildoutthereontheprairie.Itrefreshedmetoseethefireburningdeepinthemasonryofthehouseitself.”

abolitionofroomsperse

“SoIdeclaredthewholelowerflooratoneroom,cuttingoffthekitchenasalaboratory,puttingservants’sleepingandlivingquartersnexttoit,semi‐detached,onthesamefloor,screenvariousportionsinthebigroom,forcertaindomesticpurposes−likediningorreading,orreceivingaformalcaller.Therewerenoplansliketheseinexistenceatthetimeandmyclientswerepushedtowardtheseideasashelpfultoasolutionofthevexedservant‐problem.Scoresofdoorsdisappearedandnoendofpartition.Theylikedit,bothclientsandservants.Thehousebecamemorefreeas“space”,andmorelivable,too.Interiorspaciousnessbegantodawn.”

conventionforlines double thick line

basiccomposition

Rules1‐18

1‐2Locatingthefireplace–singleordoublehearth

3‐6addingalivingzone

7addingaservicezone(usedonce)

8‐11fixesobligatoryextension

12‐18assigningfunctionzones10‐11alignedwiththefireplaceononeside8,10alignedwiththemiddlethird9,11positionedtooneside

Initialdesign

treeofgeneration≈thelanguageofprairiehouses

Seefigure11

catalogofbasiccomposition

remainingrules–ornamentingthebasiccomposition

Figure12

Rules

19‐22Addingtoconcavecorners

23‐24Addingporches

26‐34interiordetailsofthemainfloor

35‐40basementformation

41‐47Addingterraces

48‐53Exteriordetails:mainfloor

54‐55creatingportescocheres

remainingrules–ornamentingthebasiccomposition

Rules

61‐62establishingthebedroomfloor

63‐64bedroomfloorextension

65‐66bedroomfloordetails

67‐73makingdoubleheightlivingrooms

75‐82establishingroofeavelines

83‐84creatingbalconies

87‐97roofformation

generation

generation

generation

Seefigure18

catalogofsimplesttwostoreydesigns

generationisnotunique

newdesigns