It's that time a year again.
As I wake each morning and make my way down the hall (gallery) to the kitchen (workspace) to take my morning meds this is what is waiting for me as I enter.
This light display is always welcome. Of course it has its most impact when the sun is rising in a cloudless sky.
It never lasts very long, like most good things it is fleeting. I remind myself to stop, take time to experience it for if I don't it will vanish.
I believe late autumn into winter & late spring into summer are the times these light displays are at their best.
These deeply raked bed joints not only exaggerate the horizontal aspect of the masonry but are responsible along with sun light in creating these wonderful light shows.
(SDR will post pics shortly)
"They are back"
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Jeff Myers
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Roderick Grant
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We wouldn't want uninformed readers to believe that Mr Wright went so far as to design all of these effects. Yet another "legend" in the making ?
Rather, the unintended and unknowable (?) results of the sound and imaginative thinking of a good architect, can be appreciated for what they are . . . happy accidents ?
SDR
Rather, the unintended and unknowable (?) results of the sound and imaginative thinking of a good architect, can be appreciated for what they are . . . happy accidents ?
SDR
Not consciously designed necessarily, but Wright houses seem to be given to solar and lunar theatrics. Wright's formal geometries, the division and subdivision of a modular unit, the repetitive nature of the building elements (those casting the shadows and those receiving them), the call for a lack of window treatments in most instances, and Wright's specific compass orientation of his buildings, all contribute to these light shows.
I doubt Wright specifically thought of the effect dtc notices seasonally at Dobkins, but he must have had the play of light and shadow in mind throughout his career as he made design decisions with respect to fenestration division, edge treatments, eave depths, plan offsets, etc. Each light/shadow effect designed? No. Happy accidents? Not exactly. Thought given to how his overall building grammar behaves in the light and shadow? Most likely.
I doubt Wright specifically thought of the effect dtc notices seasonally at Dobkins, but he must have had the play of light and shadow in mind throughout his career as he made design decisions with respect to fenestration division, edge treatments, eave depths, plan offsets, etc. Each light/shadow effect designed? No. Happy accidents? Not exactly. Thought given to how his overall building grammar behaves in the light and shadow? Most likely.
Sounds right to me.
Wright's deeply-raked brick bed mortar was no doubt intended to create a certain impression -- revealed by light, and echoing the rusticated stonework of an earlier age. The resulting notched vertical wall edges are what's producing dtc's light show. The repetitive rhythms of man's building efforts -- as old as the stacked logs of the primitive hut and the colonnades of the Aegean temple -- are the glory of many an architecture.
SDR
Wright's deeply-raked brick bed mortar was no doubt intended to create a certain impression -- revealed by light, and echoing the rusticated stonework of an earlier age. The resulting notched vertical wall edges are what's producing dtc's light show. The repetitive rhythms of man's building efforts -- as old as the stacked logs of the primitive hut and the colonnades of the Aegean temple -- are the glory of many an architecture.
SDR
Moran's Down to Earth, as I recall (it's in storage), reproduces some sketches in Wright's hand of seasonal light effects inside Robie.
On the other hand, any building with windows will produce interesting light effects at some time of the day/year. This is usually winter, when the sun comes through the windows in an approximately horizontal line.
On the other hand, any building with windows will produce interesting light effects at some time of the day/year. This is usually winter, when the sun comes through the windows in an approximately horizontal line.
Maya Moran devotes a number of pages to the play of light (natural and artificial) in her house. I don't not find the sketches mentioned by Reidy; perhaps they weren't included in my paper-bound edition ?
Moran's photos show sunlight casting shadows, rectangles of light, and glazing patterns onto floors, walls, and window mullions of the Tomek residence. That the sun's rays are perfectly parallel as they enter Earth's atmosphere is an ongoing gift to the architect, for (unlike the rays provided by lights in Hollywood studios) the shadows cast by solid elements will accord in perfect repetition with the geometries of the repeated horizontal and vertical architectural elements they encounter.
SDR
Moran's photos show sunlight casting shadows, rectangles of light, and glazing patterns onto floors, walls, and window mullions of the Tomek residence. That the sun's rays are perfectly parallel as they enter Earth's atmosphere is an ongoing gift to the architect, for (unlike the rays provided by lights in Hollywood studios) the shadows cast by solid elements will accord in perfect repetition with the geometries of the repeated horizontal and vertical architectural elements they encounter.
SDR
It is possible that "Happy accident" may be the reason these light patterns occur but on closer examination each slit window is not surrounded by typical woodwork trim, which would have eliminated the juxtaposition of edge of brick next to the raked bed joint.
This relationship is clearly evident in the workspace and the hallway/gallery.
Windows elsewhere in the house prescribe to a wood trim which negates the possibility of creating similar patterns.
Every house we have owned in the past were never covered with drapes, curtains, shades, blinds and the like and we never experienced this patterned light display.
This relationship is clearly evident in the workspace and the hallway/gallery.
Windows elsewhere in the house prescribe to a wood trim which negates the possibility of creating similar patterns.
Every house we have owned in the past were never covered with drapes, curtains, shades, blinds and the like and we never experienced this patterned light display.
The (exterior) SE corner of one pier casts it shadow on the (interior) NW corner of the next pier; the light which passes these two "combs" is cast on an interior surface as a double row of dots. Isn't that what's happening ? Doesn't Wright leave all of his brick corners unencumbered ? Where is the wood trim you speak of ?
The human mind looks for pattern in nature. Do the animals look at the heavens and see recognizable objects and figures ? It is in our nature to see, recognize, and categorize perceived patterns in our surroundings -- an instinctive survival tool expanded beyond all practical need, into religion and the arts ?
Architecture is (among other things) a means of gratifying the desire for order and pattern -- both for the designer and for the user. It isn't hard to find pattern in abundance there. Perhaps it is against the background of a regular and repeated pattern that we encounter and enjoy the irregular, the unique, the singular events of our lives ?
Music wouldn't be music if every bar contained the same information. Yet, when we encounter regular pattern in architecture, revealed in light, we call it "music."
Why is that ?
12/17/09
12/19/09
The human mind looks for pattern in nature. Do the animals look at the heavens and see recognizable objects and figures ? It is in our nature to see, recognize, and categorize perceived patterns in our surroundings -- an instinctive survival tool expanded beyond all practical need, into religion and the arts ?
Architecture is (among other things) a means of gratifying the desire for order and pattern -- both for the designer and for the user. It isn't hard to find pattern in abundance there. Perhaps it is against the background of a regular and repeated pattern that we encounter and enjoy the irregular, the unique, the singular events of our lives ?
Music wouldn't be music if every bar contained the same information. Yet, when we encounter regular pattern in architecture, revealed in light, we call it "music."
Why is that ?
12/17/09 12/19/09
These additional pics reveal light patterns that were posted in 2009.
The last one is of the hallway/gallery. All the patterns were created/illuminated from light entering the slit windows. They are the only windows in the house which exist without wood trim.
As mentioned, the windows with wood trim (all the casements and french doors) do not display the light patterns.
SDR's description of the light entering the interior spaces is correct.
And no, Wright does not leave all his interior brick corners unencumbered.
The last one is of the hallway/gallery. All the patterns were created/illuminated from light entering the slit windows. They are the only windows in the house which exist without wood trim.
As mentioned, the windows with wood trim (all the casements and french doors) do not display the light patterns.
SDR's description of the light entering the interior spaces is correct.
And no, Wright does not leave all his interior brick corners unencumbered.
I see no place on the plan besides the slit windows where the sun could pass both the right and left sides of an opening in a single shot -- the prerequisite (wood trim or no) for the effect you illustrate ?
I'm glad you're getting such pleasure from the Dobkins residence. There's no question that you've earned it . . . !
I'm glad you're getting such pleasure from the Dobkins residence. There's no question that you've earned it . . . !