"To think is to deal in simples." Louis Sullivan, 1893

In his mind's eye, Frank Lloyd Wright would conceive the basic geometric component for a design. This could be a square, rectangle or triangle. More complex forms appeared with the use of the hexagon, octagon and circle. The circle eventually led to the construction of the Guggenheim Museum, which expanded its grid into the vertical plane to form a spiral.

During the design phase, the architect would provide for the building's spaces by using any multiple of the basic geometric forms. A room built on a 4-foot by 4-foot square that is 32 feet long would have exactly 8 squares in its length. Builders and clients could understand the concepts immediately.

Walls, doors, windows, rooflines, utilities and furniture could be shown on paper exactly as they would appear in the building. Wright carried his grid concept to the ultimate by literally scoring the geometric form into the concrete slab of the floor. We find ourselves standing on the graph paper! Construction of the walls, for example, along any given axis could be accomplished by almost anyone.

This technique reduced the number of skilled craftsmen required and controlled costs during basic construction. Cost advantages were also realized in the design by the prefabrication of things like doors, windows, decorative cut-outs and built-in seating, all of which could be mass produced. Only Wright's most complicated design elements would need the services of the highly skilled craftsman.

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