"Bring out the nature of the materials, let their nature intimately into your scheme." Frank Lloyd Wright, 1908

The physical limits of a building material in the architectural designs by Frank Lloyd Wright are not always apparent to the observer. With the possible exception of his very earliest homes, Mr. Wright appears to have exceeded the normal physical limitations of construction materials including wood, brick, copper, glass, concrete and steel. In doing so, he created beauty and art from some of the world's most common building materials.

Frank Lloyd Wright specified construction materials in unique combinations in such a way that properties of form are not typically expressed through the materials themselves. For example, Wright supported horizontal roofs with thin strands of vertical steel columns hidden entirely from view in combination with wood and glass.

A Frank Lloyd Wright building extends well beyond the physical appearance of its construction materials to create new qualities that evoke peoples' feelings, moods, thoughts and emotions.

In this study, the workability, strength and durability of building materials are presented using examples of Mr. Wright's innovations based on these properties in the design and construction of SAMARA. In the final two sections, the beauty of the SAMARA clerestory is presented to illustrate Mr. Wright's ability to bring out the nature of materials, and let their nature intimately into the scheme.

Overviews of Construction Innovations
[ Nature of Materials ]   [ Building on a Unit ]   [ The Owner's View ]   [ Building the Wright Way ]
[ Historic Perspectives ]   [ Manipulating the Space ]   [ Oriental Influence ]