Wright Chat

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16018 Location: San Francisco

These five wall sections are provided as illustrations in an essay by Kenneth Martin Kao titled "Frank Lloyd Wright: Experiments in the art of building," published in 1993 (that year, again) in Modulus 22, The Architectural Review at the University of Virginia.

He writes, "Wright's systematic experimentation with cladding facilitated his simultaneous production of numerous houses, each with characteristic details. The extent of this experimentation is evident in the balloon frame houses he designed while working on the Willits house. By changing the trim and siding profiles and reconfiguring the elemental sections of the cladding, Wright was able to design numerous wood sidings, many expressive of horizontality, between 1900 and 1902." Why the Heurtley house is included in this set is not explained.

It would be grand to have sections like these for every house Wright designed -- in the Prairie period, at least . . .

Paul Ringstrom · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 3930 Location: Mason City, IA

Both Stockman and Petitt have wood water tables. Drummond also used wood for my house.
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Owner of the G. Curtis Yelland House (1910), by Wm. Drummond

JChoate · Joined: 04 Feb 2016 Posts: 884 Location: Atlanta

How have those projects fared with (non-pressure-treated) wood so close to the ground with the rain, snow, & bugs?

Paul Ringstrom · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 3930 Location: Mason City, IA

It is hard to tell that if over the last 100 years they were rebuilt or if they are original.

They were originally probably built out of first growth cypress so they would have been rot resistant.
_________________
Owner of the G. Curtis Yelland House (1910), by Wm. Drummond

Paul Ringstrom · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 3930 Location: Mason City, IA

Boynton House also has a wood water table.
_________________
Owner of the G. Curtis Yelland House (1910), by Wm. Drummond

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16018 Location: San Francisco

http://landmarksociety.org/2012/06/the-boynton-house-a-frank-lloyd-wright-designed-masterpiece/

Click on the first image.

Tom · Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 10:18 pm Post subject:

Wow
Boynton is gorgeous.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16018 Location: San Francisco

Nicely restored, isn't it; another apparent success. We may be coming upon an era when the average condition of all Wright structures will rise to a point not seen for most of a century ?

I would love to see the foundation sections on some of the Prairie period construction drawings. How did the architect conceive of these, in particular the detailing of these "water tables." Boynton (now) sports what appears to be a concrete apron beneath the exterior walls -- a means to assure a continuous gap between the ground and the woodwork, and to discourage the growth of grasses or weeds which might connect that wood to a source of water ?

SDR

JChoate · Joined: 04 Feb 2016 Posts: 884 Location: Atlanta

the Boyton House is a masterpiece of design, and then, restoration. What a beautiful thing.

Until this recent conversation, I've never looked closely enough to see these interesting (and sometimes counterintuitive) relationships where prairie style building meets ground (or doesn't). The way this base hovers an inch or so from the ground is so finely tailor-made. The concrete apron is an important component to keep that intersection practical & pure. With everything so neat as a pin (landscape, hardscape & building) there is an exquisite precision, and hence, visual tension between the things that don't quite touch.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16018 Location: San Francisco

A slightly less formal material combination would be a gravel or crushed-rock bed beneath the water-table skirt, as at Glenbrow:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125471081@N02/29025120596/in/album-72157650444413635/

Masonry building material does not need to be separated from the soil or plant life -- but it looks good rising from gravel nonetheless:

photo of Max Hoffman residence by R J Herber

Mod mom's coverage of the Glenbrow condition, as quoted from her thread:

"To clarify Joe's use of river stone around the 1964 bedroom addition, the original concrete block was allowing water to penetrate (creating rot and a environment for termite infiltration) so after termite treatment, the entire perimeter was excavated, treated with a polymeric coating and then a 5" stainless steel fine mesh barrier, something that Joe discovered is used in Australia to prevent termites, was added. Another sleeved drainage tube to the ravine was then placed with the rounded river stones to help with drainage. I hope this can be helpful to others who face similar problems. Here are earlier photographs:"

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125471081@N02/18840571190/in/album-72157650444413635/

SDR

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 16018 Location: San Francisco

Paul Ringstrom provides this close-up of the Boynton "water table," prior to restoration:

tgill2236 · Joined: 23 Sep 2016 Posts: 2

tgill2236 · Joined: 23 Sep 2016 Posts: 2

JChoate · Joined: 04 Feb 2016 Posts: 884 Location: Atlanta

Wow !
That is brilliant. Well done Tgill.
Bramante's got nothing on Frank.

I wonder if he set out deliberately to order his forms geometrically, or if his innate sense of composition & proportion unconsciously generated forms that could be broken down into perfect multiples.

Tom · Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 7:09 am Post subject:

Little bit of both I think.