American Design: The Prairie School



Posted: Monday, July 06, 2009

by
Desk Lamp Daddy

In the late 19 th and early 20 th century there existed an important architectural movement known as the Prairie School. A large group of talented architects had been drawn to Chicago after the great fire of 1871 in order to rebuild the city. Their collective spirit was roused by the Greek and Roman Revival style buildings put up for the 1893 Chicago world's Fair. In reaction, they sought to create a more American view of design inspired by the prairie lands of the American Midwest, grounding Chicago in its native landscape.

Members of the Prairie School (also called the Chicago Group) did not use the term to refer to themselves. The architectural historian H. Allen Brooks coined the term which has been widely used since. The two most dominant Chicago architects of the time were Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. Wright is often cited, most often by himself, for being the inspiration for the entire movement. Sullivan never saw himself as part of the Prairie School, but many of the young architects working for him did consider themselves to be a part of the movement.

The horizon of the wide open prairie was to become the basis of the Prairie School's design. Their buildings were predominantly long and low, with wide overhanging eaves atop hip roofs. Windows were often placed side by side, creating a horizontal band. The Prairie School architects desired to create buildings in harmony with the landscape, appearing as if they had naturally grown in the environment.

The Prairie School had several contemporary influences. They were inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which espoused hand crafted products with the thinking that the quality was higher and the dignity for the craftsman preserved more than with factory produced goods. The Prairie School was largely in agreement with this notion, but was not as strict in this regard as the Arts and Crafts movement. Both the Prairie and Arts and Crafts proponents disagreed with the predominant Classical Revival movement of the time, seeking designs more relevant to the contemporary settings in which they were created. The Idealist Romantic philosophy that "better homes would create better people" also influenced the Prairie School.

In turn, future designers were influenced by the Prairie School. Ideas that were carried forward were "less is more" for the Minimalists and "form follows function" to Bauhaus. The movement spread well beyond Chicago and its surrounding prairies before losing its cohesion. Some credit Frank Lloyd Wright's insistence on being the father of the Prairie School for its demise.

Furniture and lighting options were created to harmonize with Prairie architecture. Wright famously insisted on creating furniture for his houses. He designed stain glass windows consisting of simple geometric patterns rhythmically repeating, often with a large amount of clear glass in the center of the panel. Lighting options included lamps with predominantly horizontal lines and strong bases. You can find such lamps at DeskLampDaddy.com.

Connie Roselander has worked in the arts for many years.

www.desklampdaddy.com

www.desklampdaddy.blogspot.com

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by JL
from US 2 years 217 days ago.
Interesting bit of architectural and furnishings history, Constance. I am always ready to learn something new.
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