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

Unlike his use of other materials such as copper, glass and wood, Frank Lloyd Wright focused his attention on the strength of steel. Because of its great tensile and compression properties, Mr. Wright admired steel for its combined "lightness, openness and tenuous strength" as its most important construction properties.

His unusual recognition of these three physical properties of steel did not commit him to a particular bulky form, but rather to create a variety of thin forms. So, to Mr. Wright steel pipes and thin vertical steel columns were Nature's answer to his ideas of combining materials to afford great strength to the building and at the same time reflect exceptional beauty to the occupants.

At SAMARA, this beauty is most evident across the extensive use of glass bands in the living room with no evidence of the structural steel supports from inside or outside of the house. The steel pipes on the terrace likewise provide support, but are more like pieces of art, which contribute to, rather than distract from, the beauty of the house and property.

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 ]