Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pages: 136-159
2013
http://www.journalofspacesyntax.org/
volume: 4
issue: 1
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It has been argued that the domestic works of Frank Lloyd Wright possess an innate phenomenological
appeal that is a direct result of a particular spatial and visual pattern in Wrights architecture. This argument, which is central to several architectural variants of prospect-refuge theory, suggests that a distinct
spatio-visual system exists which directly shapes the way people move through and experience Wrights
architecture. This paper uses a computational technique, isovist field analysis, to search for prospect-refuge
Keywords:
Isovist analysis,
visibility graph analysis,
spatial perception,
prospect-refuge theory,
Frank Lloyd Wright.
related spatio-visual patterns in paths through five of Frank Lloyd Wrights canonical Prairie houses. The
paper concludes that there is no clear evidence in these particular cases of the suggested pattern.
1. Introduction
The domestic designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, one
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
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For an analysis of the visual and spatial properties of a complete building, or a path through space,
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Figure 1:
(a) Radial lines
traced from
observation point.
Occluding radials
shown as solid
lines, Radial lines
shown dotted.
(b) Isovist polygon
defined by surfaces
and occluding
radials.
present paper.
of factors, with innate preferences forming a foundation which is then overlain by both socio-cultural
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incor-
of discovery.
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
(smaller, enclosed spaces) to being more balanced in terms of prospect and refuge (larger
spaces, more outlook). In the present paper,
isovist area (see discussion in the results section) is used to assess this part of the pattern.
A gradual increase in mystery and complexity
experienced while moving along the circuitous
path (Hildebrand 1991, p.25). At the end of the
path, mystery and complexity should reach a
peak value because the major space is framed
by peripheral interior views to contiguous
spaces seen beyond architectural screening
devices (ibid.). In the present paper, occluded
length (see discussion in the results section) is
used to assess this part of the pattern.
A visitor will be drawn along the path by the
Robie house fireplace. The 1.65m height approximates the eye level of Wright, who had a habit of
calibrating the vertical dimension of his designs to
his own body (Hildebrand, 1991).
The scale of the 100mm isovist grid coupled with
the size of the buildings resulted in over 200,000
observation locations being generated, with each
one providing 11 useful measures; a set of results
which is too great to report in a paper. The data
presented in this research is therefore limited to that
associated with points located along the centreline
of the paths at 500mm increments, approximating
the length of Wrights step. The choice of 500 mm
increments also reduces the amount of manual
data processing required to identify measures from
observation points along the paths, while retaining
an accurate depiction of the spatial experience.
5. Method
90-degree turns.
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Figure 2:
Example of hybrid
floor plan construction for multi-floor
isovist analysis.
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Prospect-refuge patterns
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Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
6. Results
door and the right hand side to the end of the path
architecture.
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able and will draw the eye, and anything over five
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Figure 3:
Henderson house,
axonometric showing
movement path.
Figure 4:
Henderson house,
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Figure 5:
Henderson house,
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Figure 6:
Heurtley house,
axonometric showing
movement path.
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Figure 7:
Heurtley house,
Figure 8:
Heurtley house,
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Figure 9:
Cheney house,
axonometric showing
movement path.
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of Wrights stature.
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Figure 10:
Cheney house,
Figure 11:
Cheney house,
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Figure 12:
Evans house,
axonometric showing
movement path.
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Figure 13:
Evans house,
Figure 14:
Evans house,
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Figure 15:
Robie house,
axonometric showing
movement path.
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onto the first floor (C). At the top of the stairs, the
Figure 16:
Robie house,
Figure 17:
Robie house,
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Prospect-refuge patterns
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Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Figure 18:
Linear trend lines
(least squares
method) of the isovist
area values of each
house. Solid lines
show the relative
length of each path,
dotted lines represent
a continuation of the
trend beyond the end
of a path.
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7. Discussion
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Figure 19:
Linear trend lines
(least squares
method) of the isovist
occlusivity values of
each house. Solid
lines show the relative
length of each path,
dotted lines represent
a continuation of the
trend beyond the end
of a path.
8. Conclusion
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Prospect-refuge patterns
in Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie houses
Ostwald, M. J. & Dawes, M.
Michael Dawes
(michael.dawes@newcastle.edu.au) is a graduate
architect who completed
undergraduate research
on Space Syntax methods,
and is currently a research
assistant on a major ARC
grant undertaking mathematical and computational
modeling and analysis of
twentieth century houses.
Acknowledgements
An ARC Fellowship (FT0991309) and an ARC Discovery
Grant (DP1094154) supported this research.
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