Customer Reviews

Wright Space: Pattern and Meaning in Frank Lloyd's Wright's Houses

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Hildebrand really puts you into a selection of Wright's built spaces; you can imagine what it is like to move through and experience the changing spaces (height, length, turns) in several of Wright's famous houses, even if you've not visited in person. Hildebrand's extended discussion --and demonstration through stunning "3D" exploded diagrams-- of the primordial concepts of Refuge/shelter (those dark fireplace cores and inglenooks) and Prospect/outlook (distant elevated windows) applied to buildings dating to different stages of Wright's practice is most original and convincing. Author's scholarly prose is serviceable rather than equally soaring. Highly useful small plans (newly corrected and with compass indications!) and evocative B/W photographs supplement those amazing diagrams by Wm. Hook.

Wright's buildings are some of the most appealing in history. Why?

Hildebrand applies a landscape theory developed by Jay Appleton (books also available on Amazon.com) - our early ancestors sought homesites high in the qualities of PROSPECT (ability to survey the surroundings) and REFUGE (protection from environmental and other threats), and thus we are programmed to find these qualities appealing.

Wright's large windows, sheltering eaves, solid stone, welcoming hearth, etc., are rich in Prospect and Refuge which give the subconscious signal "This is a great homesite!"

(Also see A PATTERN LANGUAGE, by Alexander, for more patterns underlying architectural appeal).

In this superb book, Hildebrand attempts no less than a definitive explanation of the method used by Wright to weave his architectural magic. Using the theories of "prospect and refuge" & "order and complexity" he sets out to establish what he calls the "pattern" that reveals itself in Wright's residential designs. Backed by detailed exposition, plans, diagrams and photos of specific examples he convincingly does just that: present the "pattern" that, to a greater or lesser degree, permeates Wright's work. Also covered are various detail items which are often, though with a lesser frequency, present.

To the serious student of Wright's organic architecture, this book is an indispensible resource.

Four antithetic concepts: prospect/refuge and complexity/order from Appleton's book taken to describe Wright's houses. All in a boringly polite, restrained and repetitive academic language. Appleton's concepts are so powerful that get half a book just pointing them over and over by example, without adding much depth to the conversation, as I discovered. The only possible argument against that is that there isn't any depth there to be added besides the revelation of the pattern itself. It's a Zen slap. Maybe. But Zen slaps are shorter than 200p. Another thing that I found amusing was the pattern analysis of Mario Botta's house in Stabio, which resulted more or less in the conclusion that it follows the Wright pattern. Now this really had me question the effectiveness of the author's method for detecting pleasurable settings :)

Now for the good things: the author researched quite a lot of material to get this book done, and as a result, there's a lot historical details that I found very interesting. Also some of the more lyrical, emotional descriptions are revealing (e.g. that of Fallingwater). The introductory chapters are quite revealing too. Also, there's an attempt to link Wright's emotional periods with evolution and preferences over prospect or refuge in its work.

Too bad academics these days have to research a 4 pages full of interdisciplinary bibliography to get the required assets for their credibility in the academic world. The market certainly doesn't require that much of an effort. Normal people will just agree with you or not. My 2 cents.

Superb book with great insights into recurring design strategies that extended throughout his career. As a Frank Lloyd Wright homeowner and architect with extensive Wright research and visits to his other residential projects, I can attest to the power of the design strategies articulated in this book. The book is well written with beautiful illustrations. The only shortcoming of the book is the contemporary examples in the back of the book which pale in comparison to the great architectural works by Mr. Wright. All things considered this book is highly recommended for Wright enthusiasts and architects.

Nice book. The author has broken thru all the FLW complexity and clearly and methodically documented the Pattern and Meaning of FLW houses. The isomentric drawings are fantastic! I have been to several of his houses and I love them but could not pull together what the main concepts were. This book is also great for non-architects. I can now continue my passion of FLW research and see the "patterns". My goal is to transend the FLW concepts of "prospect/refuge" in architecture. My only complaint is that some of the black and white prictures are difficult to read. Color pictures would have been nice. Aside from this deficiency the book in my opinion is the best FLW available. I reccomend one read and study this book before visiting his works or reading anything else on FLW.

This is a great book, giving insight into Wright'd designs. Good pictures of details of some of his houses that are not found in other sources and really nice 3D exploded views of some of the more important ones.