Before
100 years, Frank Lloyd Wright sparked an architectural
revolution with the opening of his Oak Park
studio. The Robie House, built on the University
of Chicago campus in 1910, is one of two museum
sites maintained by The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation
Trust.
Through
its preservation and restoration efforts and many
programs, the not-for-profit Preservation Trust
presents Wright's structures, as well as his architectural
and artistic principles, to a worldwide audience.
The Robie House features bold horizontal lines,
daring cantilevers, stretches of art glass windows
and an open floor
plan -- the Robie House inspired an architectural
revolution.
The
House stands in stark contrast to the University's
Collegiate Gothic structures
and is unrivaled today in its architectural drama
and adventure--unexpectedly changing with each angle
of vision. Upon its completion, shocked neighbors
likened the home's long, low design to a steamship,
with its two rectangles, or vessels, abutting each
other and visually separating the living areas from
the utility spaces. The broad central chimney serves
a unifying function, locking the pieces into place.
The Preservation Trust assumed management, restoration
and interpretation of the structure, which was added
to the National Trust's collection of 19 historic
sites in January 1997,. The Preservation Trust has
planned a ten-year timetable for the restoration
of the Robie House, which will remain open to the
public during all phases.
Among more than 75 buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright
designed in the Chicago
area, none is more famous or influential than this
residence, which was designed for Frederick C. Robie,
a young manufacturer of bicycles. The affinity of
its striking horizontal lines to the flat landscape
of the Midwestern prairie came to be associated
with an architectural style popularly known as the
"Prairie School." The building's low,
overhanging roof and the long wall around its base
give a sense of privacy to the occupants, while
the roof's
sweeping horizontality makes the house seem longer
and lower than it actually is. This design, which
was a marked contrast to
traditional houses of the period, signaled a
turning point in modern residential architecture.
