"A building appears as the landscape. The hard and fast lines between inside and outside disappear." Frank Lloyd Wright

As we know, it is not uncommon for the American home to include a basement. Since Victorian times, American families have been building homes that include basements. Historically, basements have been used as storage areas. Conventional basements have always been plaqued by humidity and water seepage. As late as 1954, Frank Lloyd Wright was saying that a house should - ordinarily - not have a basement.

He believed that basements were inherently dark and dank places, because people rarely go there and certainly not to live there; and, as a result, they would be areas of clutter and ugly spaces. Besides, a basement was expensive to install, since so much excavation work was required.

While it is true that Mr. Wright recognized a certain convenience to the basement, in general, they were a liability to both home and living. Any arguable benefits derived from a basement could be realized by different, and much more efficient, construction methods.

Most people do not know that the blueprints for SAMARA, one of the last Usonian homes designed by Mr. Wright, call for a basement! This is true. When Mr. Wright discovered what the fellowship architects had done, he advised his clients, Dr. and Mrs. Christian, against this element, even though they had previously expressed a desire for a basement.

Nevertheless, Mr. Wright's building principles could not be averted. In the original version discovered by Mr. Wright, the floor plan called for 6" of reinforced concrete over the basement area rather than the usual 3 ½". The radiant heating system and coils were to remain within the pad over the basement.

Overview 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 ]