Environmental Efforts

Sustainable Architecture and Design

When it came to cutting down a tree to make space for his buildings, or cutting his buildings to make space for a tree, Frank Lloyd Wright always chose the latter. During the construction of his home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois, a willow tree stood in the way of an interior passageway. Wright simply cut holes in the wall and ceiling, allowing the tree to enhance the space rather than clearing it.

This was just one of many ways in which Frank Lloyd Wright gave back to the source of his inspiration. He was known for his trailblazing usage of sustainable architecture techniques in his work, far before the advent of LEEDS certification or carbon neutrality--- these methods often highlighting his goal of the organic fusion of earth and structure. By utilizing the surrounding natural environment in his architectural design principles, Wright followed a very low effort path to sustainability. Wright took advantage of local climates and materials in order to create interior climates that are self-maintaining.

Learn about Wright's Techniques

Skylights in Taliesin West allow for the building to absorb the sun's heat during the day, releasing it to warm the building during the cool desert nights. Image courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Passive Solar

In his winter home and school, Taliesin West, located in Scottsdale, AZ, Wright made extensive use of passive solar. This technique considered the location of buildings in orientation to the sun, as well as materials used to construct the building---often, in Wright’s case, locally sourced. Wright used concrete, insulated walls ranging from 12 to 18 inches thick, preventing heat from transferring indoors during the hot summer months. These walls also allow for the absorption of radiant energy from the sun during the day in cooler months, releasing the warmth absorbed in the evening, and thus heating the interior space. Using this technique avoids reliance on gas or electric heating and cooling systems---making a building that both is cost-conscious, as well as respecting nature.

The Venturi Effect

A common theme in Wright's buildings are long, narrow breezeways. They aren't just there for decorative reasons---such bottleneck interiors utilize a property of fluid dynamics where the air increases in speed as it goes from a wide open space to a narrow one. The usage of the Venturi Effect creates natural, cool airflow without air conditioning or mechanical ventilation. This is especially important in desert climates, where the hot temperatures force many homeowners to rely on air conditioning--- contributing greatly to carbon emissions.

This extended hallway would allow for free airflow, siphoned through the passage by physics. Image courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

This living area in Wright's home and studio used perforated wood screens as skylights, enhancing the space in a way that is both beautiful and efficient. Image courtesy of Architectural Digest.

Lighting

A Wright building wouldn't be a Wright building without his classic ornamental windows. Wright used canvas screens, leaded glass, and wooden cutouts to control natural light in his spaces, almost always with ornate, original designs. During the day, these features brighten rooms, lessening the need for electric fixtures. During the night, they allow lighting to flow from one room to another--- further enhancing the building without the need for excess electricity.

Radiant Heating

Wright’s plans contain a section entirely devoted to the Munroe house’s heating system, giving yet another insight into a technique that placed Wright’s houses ahead of their time. Instead of the inefficient central heating used by many of his contemporaries, Wright was notable for his use of radiant heating--- a system composed of hot water pumped through pipes underneath the floor. Cycling water though pipes is far less energy intensive then cycling air though wide-open spaces, and the boiler could easily run off of gas instead of electricity--- making it more accessible for remote locations.

The Munroe House plans detail the route of pipes carrying hot water to each of the rooms. Efficient and relatively inexpensive, this system was perfect for Wright's Usonian houses. Detail of plans courtesy of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York).

During the construction of Taliesin West, apprentices collected stones and rocks from the surrounding desert as well as sand and soil from local washes in order to construct the masonry seen above. Image courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Local Materials

"Reveal the nature of the wood, plaster, brick or stone in your designs," wrote Wright in an article for The Architectural Record in 1908. "They are all by nature friendly and beautiful." No matter where his buildings were, Wright sought to honor their location with his materials--- from the Midwest's indigenous pine, oak, and limestone, to locally sourced desert masonry in the Southwest. This practice not only allowed the building to visually "grow easily from its site," as Wright wrote in the same article, but also minimized the cost and energy required to transport the materials.

Natural Elements

When it came to harmonizing with nature, the exteriors of Wright's buildings contributed just as much as the interiors. Wright encouraged the growth of vegetation around his structures, making it seem as if the building itself has grown from the landscape. This also provided yet another form of natural, low-effort climate regulation. Trees have a natural cooling effect, shading the house and its surroundings---further reducing the need for reliance on energy-intensive regulation systems.

Possibly one of Wright's most famous works, Falling Water uses both its engineered water features and its natural surroundings to generate a controlled local climate. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Frank Lloyd Wright - Rosenbaum House

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