Zibaldone 8

Frank Lloyd Wright’s style of “prairie houses”, such as Robie House, meets the sky in a way that is indicative of its existing environment and site. The low horizontal planes that make up the roof of the Robie House have a clear influence from the flatness of the landscape in the Great Plains and the resulting vastness of the horizon. The design of the “prairie” style roof isn’t so much about how the building meets the sky at a direct level; but is instead more of a representation of how the landscape meets the sky.

Wright’s second house for Herbert Jacobs, called the “Solar Hemicycle,” takes some of same horizontal elements from his “prairie” style. However, the hemi-cyclical form of the building allows it to meet the sky in a more direct way. Taking advantage of the solar path that is specific to the building’s site, the “Solar Hemicycle” meets the sky in a way that allows for lower sunlight to warm the interior during the winter, but blocks sunlight during the summer through the use of an overhang.

Solar Hemicycle 

                                                                                            during the summer