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Wikipedia / Usonia

Usonia () is a mid-20th-century architectural style and ideal for the United States promoted by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The architectural style predominantly refers to a class of small, single-story dwellings designed by Wright without a garage or much storage. They are often L- or T-shaped, characterized by native materials; flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive solar heating and natural cooling; natural lighting with clerestory windows; and radiant-floor heating.

Wright used the term 'Usonia' to refer to the United States in general (in preference over America), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of cities and the architecture of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective Usonian, coined by a Scottish writer in the early 20th century.

Wright regarded the term "United States" as primarily referring to a political union, and he sought to define an 'American way of life' beyond the Constitutional structure that extended beyond constitutional and governmental forms.

Wright associated 'Usonia' with Middle-class democratic societies opposed to European Aristocracy, he states in his 1957 work 'A Testament'.

Etymology

The word Usonian appears to have been coined by James Duff Law, a Scottish writer born in 1865. In a miscellaneous collection, Here and There in Two Hemispheres (1903), Law quoted a letter of his own (dated June 18, 1903) that begins "We of the United States, in justice to Canadians and Mexicans, have no right to use the title 'Americans' when referring to matters pertaining exclusively to ourselves." He went on to acknowledge that some author had proposed "Usona" (United States of North America), but that he preferred the form "Usonia" (United States of North Independent America). The earliest published use by Wright was in 1927:

Usonian house design

"Usonian" usually refers to a style shared by middle-income family homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright mostly designed houses for wealthy clients until the 1930s, when he also began to design lower-cost Usonian houses for middle-class families. The Willey House, built in 1934, may have been the first Usonian house; the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, built 1937, is often considered to be the first true "Usonian". Over his lifetime, he designed more than 300 Usonian houses, including 140 that were ultimately constructed.

In general, his Usonian houses tended to have open plans, geometric floor grids, in-floor heating, and a carport, and they lacked a garage or basement. They also tended to be arranged in the shape of an "L" or a "T". They are characterized by native materials; flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive solar heating and natural cooling; natural lighting with clerestory windows; and radiant-floor heating. Another distinctive feature is that they typically have little exposure to the front/'public' side, while the rear/'private' sides open expansively to their view. This strong visual connection between the interior and exterior spaces is an important characteristic of all Usonian homes.

After designing the Jacobs First House, Wright ultimately designed dozens of similar Usonian homes across the U.S. The Usonian design is considered among the aesthetic origins of the ranch-style house popular in the American west of the 1950s. The Usonia Historic District is a planned community in Pleasantville, New York, built in the 1950s following this concept. Wright designed three of the 47 homes himself.

Noted Usonian houses

Precursor to Usonians

Usonian Houses

The FSC Usonian House

The Florida Southern College campus features a collection of thirteen Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, known as Child of the Sun. The most recent, referred to as the "Usonian House", was constructed in 2013 according to a 1939 Wright design for one of twenty faculty housing units. The building includes textile-block construction and colored glass in perforated concrete blocks, and features furniture also designed by Wright. It is home to the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center, a visitor center for guests visiting campus to see the Wright buildings, and includes Wright photographs and a documentary film about the architect's work at the school.

Usonian Automatic Houses

The Usonian Automatic houses were made with concrete blocks. An attempt on the part of Wright to further lower the cost of housing, the clients could actually be involved in the creation of the blocks and thus the construction of the building (such as in the Tracy House).

See also

Notes

References

Specific houses