Inspiration?
A reader of this blog brought this masterpiece to my attention and I agree, there are some features that really do seem to be similar to what’s being attempted by architect Bryan Fitzsimmons in the Cottage District (or SoSA).
From the Frank Lloyd Wright website:
Wright’s Robie House
The Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his client Frederick C. Robie, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture. Designed in Wright’s Oak Park studio in 1908 and completed in 1910, the building inspired an architectural revolution. Its sweeping horizontal lines, dramatic overhangs, stretches of art glass windows and open floor plan make it a quintessential Prairie style house. Although it was designed more than ninety years ago, the building remains a masterpiece of modern architecture.
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The contractor of Wright’s Falling Water refused to remove the formwork beneath that dramatic cantilever because he though the whole thing would collapse. Wright had to do it himself.
The Lovallo Residence might not be in the same league as the Robie house or Falling Water… but it will sure be an asset to the neighborhood!
While in Chicago several years back, one of the very best parts of that trip was a bus tour of architectural Chicago. I remain blown away by the University of Chicago to this date. The Robie House was built for the then (1910, I think) president/chancellor/whatever of the University, and the building was featured in that bus tour. We had plenty of time to get out, roam around, explore, hear what the Robie House tour guides had to say.
We also had the opportunity of sitting in the furniture that FLW designed for the building. Turn on your favorite Marvel comic book and say, “OUCH! ZAP! BACK BREAKER!” All of the furniture (chairs, etc.) which FLW designed for that home were clearly built for people who had the capacity, and presumably enjoyed, sitting at right angles so that one’s spine formed the vertical line and ones’ legs formed the horizontal … in other words, absolutely stiff and rigid 90 degree angles. Horizontal seat space (where one’s butt goes) was like it was built for stick-people.
Wright’s building architecture remains amazing. But don’t buy his furniture, ever, never, unless it is for investment purposes. You will die from the pain.
I was on a tour of Wright houses in Oak Park many years ago, and one homeowner said something that blew me away. (This gem of a house was in a neighborhood of very old-looking Victorian style houses. The house was very contemporary feeling… VERY cool.) She said: “This house was designed the same year that Custer was killed at Little Big Horn…” Wow. That puts Wright’s talent in perspective.
In addition to designing furniture that was better viewed than used, many of his projects had water intrusion problems.
The interesting parallel I see between Robie House and Brian’s plan is that Wright’s design (intentionally) flew in the face of the setback covenant for Hyde Park. If I remember right from my own tour of Robie House, the approved setback was 35′.
The left edge of that photo shows the front of the house, which appears to violate the spirit if not the letter of the law on the setback for that street. The wall of the living room (tucked deeply under the shown cantilevered roof) comes precisely to the prescribed 35′. The roof and underlying porch, however, both more or less flip the bird to city planners.
Both Robie House AND the Lovallo Residence use cantilevering to bring the lines of the house closer to the street than the prescribed setback. It’s always possible that the coincidence might not actually be a coincidence.
The main difference is that Wright balanced that dramatic overhang with the brick walled entrance. Brian’s version does not have balance and his dramtic overhang protrudes over an elevation decline. It looks dangerous.