Department of Architecture and Interior Design

Organic
Architecture
Chicago School & The Early
Works of F L Wright

GROUP 3
 Members
1.)Wamkaya Atieno B11S/13988/2018
2.)Melvin Chepkurui B11/0607/2017
3.)Gregory Ng’etich B16S/14750/2017
4.)Lawrence Muchiri B11/0511/2018
5.)John Kavuswa B11S/14840/2017
6.)Eliphas Nyaranga B11/0526/2018
7.)Michael Maina B11S/12517/2018
8.)Lawrence Mwinzi B11/0593/2017
GUARANTY BUILDING/PRUDENTIAL
BUILDING-LOUIS SULLIVAN

HISTORY OF THE CHICAGO

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

● The Chicago school is a school of

American architects active in Chicago
at the turn of the 20th century
(1879-1910)
● It also referred to as the
groundbreaking skyscraper architecture
or the commercial style.
Home Insurance Building
in Chicago – the first
skyscraper

● This was because of employment of

new technologies of steel frame
construction in commercial
buildings.
● World’s First Skyscraper was 10
Floors High.-William le Baron
Jenney.
 Who were the ‘Starchitects’ of
the First Chicago School?

● William Le Baron Jenney-Architect & Engineer.

● Henry Hobson Richardson-Architect.
● William Holabird-Architect.
● Martin Roche-Designer.
● Daniel H Burnham-Architect & urban designer.
● Dankmar Adler-Architect & civil engineer.
● louis sullivan-Architect & Mentor to Frank lloyd wright.
construction of Fisher’s
building FACTORS THAT LED TO FLOURISHING
OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL

The Industrial Revolution

● It started in the second half of the 18th
century.
● Among the revolutionary products was
mass production of steel.A steel skeletal
frame for buildings meant that buildings
would go highrise.
● Mass production meant more goods to
be sold, hence need for sufficient
commercial space.
beaux arts
FACTORS THAT LED TO FLOURISHING
OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL

Innovative Ideas
● It was a reaction to the Victorian era's
emphasis on tradition, Gothic style and
Beaux-Arts which they referred to as out of
date.
● Instead, they wanted to create an American
style that was more modern and
forward-thinking than anything else
available at the time.

Chicago style
 Social Interactionism

● This school focused on how buildings affect

KEY people's lives through their social
PHILOSOPHIES interactions.
● Buildings should be designed to
accommodate multiple uses such as
classrooms or offices, rather than being built
solely for one purpose.
 Functionalism

● Form follows function is a principle of design

KEY which states that the shape of a building or
object should primarily relate to its intended
PHILOSOPHIES function or purpose.
● This means that the purpose of a building
should be the starting point for its design.
 THE
SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL
● It describes the type of skyscraper
architecture which was taught at the
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) by
Mies van de Rohe, and used by him in
his architectural practice(1940’s-1970’s).
● American architects seemed quite
unenthusiastic about the typical
rectangular shape of supertall buildings
from the first chicago school.
Willis Tower Hall.
S. R. Crown

THE
SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL
● Characterized by its focus on structure,
its aesthetic minimalism and its use of
glass and steel.
● it played a hugely influential role in
20th century architecture and
influenced a host of American architects
across numerous firms.
 ‘LESS IS MORE’

KEY ● This approach involves stripping a design

down to its bare essentials, and casting
PHILOSOPHY aside any elements that do not contribute
to the pure beauty or function of an object
or space.
S. R. Crown Hall.

THE
SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL

● During the mid-1970s, following the

death of Mies in 1969, the Second
Chicago School suffered a rapid
decline, although a number of later
buildings display the structural
simplicity associated with it.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES
OF THE
CHICAGO SCHOOL
● Steel frame structures
● Masonry cladding (usually terra
cotta)
● Big plate-glass window sections
● Neoclassical architecture
1. NEW TECHNOLOGY
(STEEL FRAME)
● assembly of I-beams
● Welding/bolting
2. MASONRY CLADDING
(TERRA COTTA)
● The Chicago school initiated a
conversation on building façade
● commercial building designs
3. LARGE-PLATE WINDOWS
● lighting requirement
● low sill height
● two openings on adjacent ends
 4. CHICAGO WINDOW
● Three-part window
- a huge fixed centre panel
-by two smaller double-hung sash windows

● Form a grid pattern

● Form bay windows
5. LIMITED EXTERIOR
ORNAMENTATIONS
● structural composition of the building
● advanced industrialization (20th
Century)
6. ELEMENTS OF NEOCLASSICAL
ARCHITECTURE
● grand scale volumes
● simple geometric forms
● dramatic columns
● flat roofs or domes
● Doric Greek or Roman detailing
 The capital

7. THREE PARTS OF A
CLASSICAL COLUMN
Building’s concept and
Shaft of the column
aesthetics
● Base
● Shaft
● Capital
The base
 ● ADVANCED STRUCTURAL
FRAMING
CRITIQUE ● EXTERIOR FINISHES
● CHICAGO WINDOW
● IDENTITY
OTHER MAJOR ARCHITECTS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE CHICAGO SCHOOL AND THEIR
MAJOR WORKS
 1.Louis Sullivan
● Was an American architect born in
1856,died in 1924.
● He was father of modernism with
his great attention to use of
ornamentation.
 Worked in Dankmar Adler's Chicago firm as an
employee in 1879, and in 1883, he was made a
full partner where they created about 200
buildings among them;
BUILDINGS ● The Auditorium Building in Chicago,
DESIGNED ● The Wainwright Building in Saint Louis ,
● The Schiller Building,
● The Stock Exchange, and
● The Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York.
 The Wainwright Building
● Located in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
and was designed by Dankmar
Adler and Louis Sullivan in 1891.
● Important example of
contemporary office architecture.
● It is a terra cotta office structure
with 10 stories and a height of 41
meters (135 feet).
 Design features
● The first floor of the building was
designated for street-level businesses,
while the second story was made
available for public offices.
● The ornamentation for the building
includes a wide frieze below the deep
cornice, which expresses the
formalized yet naturalistic celery-leaf
foliage typical of Sullivan
● Large glass windows for retail
openings.
● Building's upper floors were used as
offices, while the top floor is where water
tanks and construction equipment are
located.
● The first two floors are faced with brown
sandstone, while the latter seven storeys
are built with continuous brick piers.
● Designated a National Historic
Landmark in 1958 and added to the list
of city landmarks in 1972.
 2. William Le Baron Jenney
● An American Architect and Engineer
born in 1832 and died in 1907.
● He designed the first skyscraper in
1884.Had his own architectural firm in
Chicago specializing in business
structures and urban planning.
 ● He designed the Ludington Building
and Manhattan Building in Chicago,
BUILDINGS both of which are National Historic
Landmarks and were constructed in
DESIGNED 1891.
● He also created the Horticultural
Building for the Chicago-based World's
Columbian Exposition in 1893.
 HOME INSURANCE BUILDING

● Located in Chicago and designed by

William Le Baron Jenney in
1884.Finishe in 1885 as the tallest
structure 138 feet tall with ten storeys.
● Authority officials were concerned
about the safety of the building and
stopped its construction to guarantee
its safety after which two stories were
added in 1890 making it 180 feet tall.
● Demolished in 1931.
 Design features
● It was internally and externally
supported by a fireproof structural
steel and metal frame with reinforced
concrete.
● An internal cage made of iron and
steel to liberated the outside of its
load-bearing function to admit the
most amount of natural light
possible.
● The iron building's outermost
columns were covered in masonry
was to make them fireproof.
Organic
Architecture
 Introduction
● Emerges in the early 20th cent., asserting that in
structure and appearance a building should be based
on elements of nature and should harmonize with its
natural environment."
Early Greece Temples
—From "Dictionary of Architecture and Construction"

● The early Greece and the Gothic Middle Ages formed

Organic Architecture in the 20th century, within
Western civilization.

Villa Savoye, France, by Le Corbusier

 Changes brought by organic architecture
The design:
● be inspired by nature and be sustainable, healthy,
conserving, and diverse.
● unfold, like an organism, from the seed within.
● exist in the “continuous present” and “begin again
and again”.
● follow the flows and be flexible and adaptable.
● satisfy social, physical, and spiritual needs.
● “grow out of the site” and be unique.

Falling Water building-organic architecture

PROMINENT ORGANIC ARCHITECTS
1.JOHN RUSKIN 2.EUGENE
● English writer and philosopher. VIOLLET-LE-DUC
● His essay, ‘The Seven Lamps of ● French
Architecture’ influenced early architectural
thinking on organic architecture. conservationist
and writer.
● Advocated for in
depth use of
nature’s rules in
architecture.
3.LOUIS SULLIVAN 4. ANTONI GAUDI
● Saw buildings as a full system ● Used heavy ornamentation and loud
composed of equally important colour.
parts. ● Fused gothic architecture principles
● Advocated for form following with nature.
function.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
1.FORM
GEOMETRIC FORMS
Spirals, triangles, rectangles, circles as
drawn from nature.

FALLINGWATER BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

CLASSICAL COLUMNS
FREE FORMS
More direct interpretation of shape
based on nature.

WALDSPIRALE, DARMSTADT BY HUNDERTWASSER

CASA MILA, BARCELONA BY ANTONI GAUDI
2.CONTEXT
Placement of architectural works in
relation to its physical environment.

AUDETTE HOUSE, SYDNEY BY PETER MUELLER

TALIESIN WEST, ARIZONA BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
3. PERFORMANCE
Operation of the building as
paralleled with organisms in nature.

GANDO PRIMARY SCHOOL, GANDO BY FRANCIS KERE

TREE HOUSE, COSTA RICA BY TOM KUNDIG

4. BUILDING MATERIALS
Emulation and enhancement of A CRITIQUE OF
building materials based on origin,
context or performance. ORGANIC
ARCHITECTURE
Organic architecture should be
understood as a holistic, in-depth
concept as opposed to a superficial
interpretation.
HANNA HOUSE, PALO ALTO

LUCA PASQUALETTI BIVOUAC, ITALY

Frank Lloyd Wright

● Introduction
● Principles of Organic
Architecture
GROUP 3
Introduction
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the first architects to use organic architecture, as early

as 1908, which is a form of architecture that tries to create buildings that are inspired

by and blend into nature.

It was a development of his mentor Louis Sullivan’s slogan, “form follows function”

where Wright rephrased it to “form and function are one.

Principles of Organic Architecture

The principle of organic architecture

is that all elements, from materials to
design and structure, come together
to create one harmonious whole.
Building and Site

● A building should appear to grow

easily from its site, and the
structure should appear as if
created by nature itself.
● Structures fit naturally into their
surroundings.
Materials
Organic architecture uses natural
materials in a way that relates it to
nature.It blends with its surroundings
and creates a unified form. In organic
architecture, natural materials are used,
both inside and outside.
The nature of the materials from which
a building is constructed should be
expressed freely.
Space
Open concept space within that flows
freely. Interior space should flow
naturally freely from one area to the
next.
An area must be slowly experienced as
one moves through the space.
The interior space determines exterior
form
Proportion and Scale
The human body should be the
measure of a building and its
furnishings. Wright spoke of the
integral harmony of proportion to the
human figure—to have all details so
designed as to make the human
relationship to architecture not only
convenient but charming. His buildings
are low in height, close to human scale.
Nature
Organic architecture is a design
philosophy that integrates the use of
nature as a source of inspiration. The
natural environment inspires this form
of architecture.
Organic architecture creates structures
that are in harmony with and blends
into the surrounding environment.
Grammar
Each building has its own grammar, its
distinct vocabulary of pattern and form.
All parts of the building from the
smallest detail to the overall form thus
speak the same language.
Simplicity
Organic architecture is simple because its
scheme and design are clear.Wright saw the
need to simplify the design structure, reducing
the number of distinct rooms and rethinking
them as open spaces.
Ornamentation
If ornamentation is to be used on a building,it
must be an integral part of the structure or the
material, seamlessly joining with the overall
form.
Early works of
Frank
Lloyd
Wright
In organic architecture
GROUP 3
Outline

Falling Water

Taliesin West

Hollyhock house

Taliesin East
Falling Water

Location: Mill Run, W. Pennsylvania

Client: Kauffman family
Year built: 1935-1939

The house is situated over a waterfall

with the design being inspired by
Japanese architecture that encourages
harmony between people and the
natural environment.
Spatial design
The house consists of two parts, the
main house and guest house.

Ground Floor - Living Room, kitchen,

simple rooms

1st floor - 2 bedrooms

2nd floor - Bedroom and Study room

SECOND FLOOR PLAN
Room sizes

The rooms are small and not luxurious to

encourage users to explore the larger areas
such as terraces on every floor
Design

Incorporated the waterfall into the

design instead of having views of the
waterfall.

Wright claimed that seeing the water

fall numerous times would make one
lose interest in it.
Low ceilings (6’ 4’’) headroom to direct
the eye horizontally to the outdoors

Use of floor to ceiling windows ensure

smooth connection between indoors
and outdoors.
The living room is centered around a
fireplace, cut into by a rock that brings
the waterfall inside the house
 Materials

Wright used local materials including:

Quarry stone for walls
Boulders for the fire place
Waxed stone for floors
 Criticism
Structural failure such as cracks and sagging slabs and deflections. A renovation
had to be done

“Fallingwater is famous because its setting embodies a powerful ideal-that people

today can learn to live in harmony with nature.”Edgar Kaufmann, jr.

“Always all things at once, it remains as magical, as hallucinatory and as ethereal as

a cascade of white water or an early morning mist.” Neil Levine, 1996.
Taliesin West House

Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

Client: Frank Lloyd Wright
Year built: 1937

Wright designed the home to be his

Winter home and a studio for his
students. He saw that the climate there
was ideal for residence, business and
learning.
Architecture in harmony with desert
landscape

Inspired by rugged landscape and

desert hills.
Local materials were used such as:
● Desert stone (walls)
● Redwood (rafters and sunshading)

Low embodied energy

Low transportation cost
The slanted roof took after the
mountain slopes in the desert.
The redwood forms jut out like spiky
desert flowers

The redwood hue together with the

sandy hues of the concrete and the
stone blends the house with the
natural landscape
Floor to ceiling shaded windows
allowed interiors to flow into the
outdoors.

Xerophytes were used in the home’s

landscaping to perpetuate the desert
landscape into the new development.
Hollyhock house

Location: East Hollywood, LA, USA

Client: Louise Aline Barnsdall
Year built: 1919-1921
Frank Lloyd Wright was originally
commissioned by oil heiress Louise
Aline Barnsdall to design her
residence. The structure is currently
the focal point of the city's Barnsdall
Art Park.
The house was inspired by the client’s
preferred flower, the hollyhock.
The flower served as the main theme of the
house.
The symmetrical features and
decorations mimic the flower’s
appearance.

The motif is used in the planters’

design that hold the actual flower.

The stained glass have the hollyhock

patterns.
Wright also looked at ideas from
pre-Colombian Mexico.

Built around a central courtyard in

response to Barnsdall’s request for a
half house.

There is a pool with a fountain

surrounded by semi-circular seats at
one end.
Wright intended elements of the
house to represent nature.
Concrete- Earth
Skylight - Air
Pool - Water
Fireplace - Fire

The structure is made of hollow clay

obtained locally and Stucco finish
 Critique

● The house was more of an aesthetic piece than a functional home.

● The flat roof design did not consider Los Angeles’ rainy season
resulting to water flowing over the roof into the living room

● Cantilevered concrete could not withstand the earthquakes

experienced in California

● The house has undergone several refurbishment projects.

Taliesin East House

Location: Spring Green, Wisconsin,

USA
Client: Frank Lloyd Wright
Year built: 1911
The house is built on an alluvial terrace above a river
valley. The site slopes down to the river, which flows
through it from east to west. The house's main facade
faces south, where it faces an expanse of lawn with
views of hills beyond that are part of the Baraboo Hills
State Forest
Local yellow limestone walling

Externally plastered with greyish

cement plaster

Internal plaster mixed with sienna

giving a golden hue mimicking the
sand in nearby the Wisconsin River
No air conditioning

Passive solar design

Water recycling for landscaping

Used locally available materials
eg Yellow limestone form a
nearby quarry hill.

Externally plastered with greyish

cement plaster
S R Guggenheim museum, NY,
USA
Resembles a white ribbon curled
into a cylindrical stack that grows
wider as it spirals upwards.
Dismissed as a “washing machine,”
an “imitation beehive,” and a “giant
toilet bowl,” and that it would
compete with the art work.
Usonia Historic District
Use of Natural and local materials
Use of earthy colours
Curvilinear shapes.
Should be of the landscape, not on
the landscape
Norman Lykes House, Arizona, USA
Curvilinear concrete structure that
blends with the desert landscape.
Unobstructed views
Circular and curvilinear elements
Other works
 Contemporary
organic architecture

More curvilinear shapes, natural

lighting and ventilation and
integration with natural
surrounding being achieved due
to advancement in technology.
Kunsthaus Graz, Austria, 2003
East beach Cafe, Littlehampton, UK, 2007
Nanyang Tech University, 2015, Singapore High desert house, Joshua Tree, USA, 1988
Psychedelic Snake House, Mexico, 2006 The Organic House, Mexico, 1984
A CRITIQUE OF ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
● Organic architecture should be understood as a holistic, in-depth concept as opposed to a
superficial interpretation.
A CRITIQUE OF ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
● Organic architecture may not necessarily be green.