thumb|The Prairie style [[Robie House, a Frank Lloyd Wright design in Chicago, 1910]]

thumb|[[Harold C. Bradley House, Madison, Wisconsin, by Louis Sullivan and George Grant Elmslie]]

thumb|upright|[[Woodbury County Courthouse, Iowa, by William L. Steele and Purcell and Elmslie (associate architects)]]

Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most commonly seen in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, Spaciousness and continuous horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape, and decoration often depicted prairie wildlife, sometimes with indigenous materials contributing to a sense of the building belonging to the landscape.

The Prairie School sought to develop a distinct North American architectural style, and also shared ideals with modernist movements. Many architects were also part of the Chicago School, but Prairie School buildings were seen less in the commercial skyscrapers of Chicago and more in the suburban residences, though the style can be seen in throughout a variety of building types, including banks, schools, and churches.

History

The Prairie School was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, a decorative and fine arts movement led by John Ruskin, William Morris, and others in late 19th century England. Along with the kindred American Craftsman movement, it embraced handcrafting and craftsman guilds as a reaction against the new assembly line mass production manufacturing techniques, which were felt to create inferior products and dehumanize workers. A major arbiter of this link was Joseph Twyman, who moved from England to Chicago and promoted Morris's work and philosophy by writing papers and delivering lectures to the Chicago Architectural Club. The most famous proponent of the style, Frank Lloyd Wright, promoted an idea of "organic architecture", asserting that a structure should look as if it naturally grew from the site; in Wright's words, buildings that appeared as if they were "married to the ground". Professor Nathan C. Ricker believed that students learned by doing and, being exposed to different architectural practices such as theater design, developed a cultural and technical understanding of architecture, which could help overcome the limitations of formal academic study and foster a sense of design. Early graduates like Clarence Blackall, Joseph Llewellyn, and Henry Bacon followed the more popular academic approach and historicist design aesthetic, but later graduates like William Drummond, William L. Steele, and Walter Burley Griffin contributed to the emerging Prairie School style. Ideas were shared by and with Prairie School architects in the Architectural League of America and the Chicago Architectural Club. These professional networks were important to architects' learning and development; their value was reflected by Sullivan's ideas in the essay collection Kindergarten Chats, devaluing formal education and lauding mentorship in architectural education. At a Chicago convention in 1900, Sullivan spoke about the power of mental logic and the study of nature to inspire stylish and logical buildings. One League convention introduced the idea of pure design – composing a building by analyzing parts that could be expressed as simple geometric shapes – to Wright, who incorporated the idea into his designs.

By the early 1920s, "Tudor and Mediterranean Revivals became popular for suburban homes and shopping districts, and Georgian was favored for large city houses; even the middle-class Arts and Crafts bungalow had been dipped in Renaissance or Spanish Colonial frosting. Church and university architects employed the academic Gothic of Ralph Adams Cram” (p. 544).

Architects and designers

The Prairie School is mostly associated with a generation of architects employed or influenced by Wright or Sullivan. While the style originated in Chicago, some Prairie School architects spread its influence well beyond the Midwest, like Barry Byrne's church designs in Europe and Mahony's and Griffin's work in Australia and India.]]

Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home and estate, Taliesin, was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. The aptly named "The Prairie School," a private day school in Racine, Wisconsin, designed by Taliesin Associates (an architectural firm originated by Wright), and located almost adjacent to Wright's Wingspread Conference Center, exemplifies Prairie School architecture. Mahony's and Griffin's work in Australia and India, notably the collection of homes at Castlecrag, New South Wales, and Barry Byrne's churches in Europe demonstrate the Prairie School’s reach far from its Chicago roots, The House at 8 Berkley Drive at Lockport, New York was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

The Oak Circle Historic District in Wilmette, Illinois primarily consists of fifteen single-family homes representative of the Prairie School and Craftsman styles constructed between 1917 and 1929. The Oak Circle Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 2001; it was the first historic district to be designated in Wilmette. The Rock Crest–Rock Glen Historic District in Mason City, Iowa, designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahoney Griffith circa 1912, National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home and estate, Taliesin, remains a popular tourist destination near Spring Green, Wisconsin, as well as a Frank Lloyd Wright Trail guiding visitors to notable cites. Several not-for-profit organizations and online communities have been formed to educate people about the Prairie School movement and help preserve the designs associated with it. Some of these organizations and sites are listed in the External links section below.

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File:Darwin D. Martin House.jpg|The Darwin Martin House, Buffalo, New York, 1903–1905, Frank Lloyd Wright

File:UnityTempleOakHill.jpg|Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois, 1905–1908, Frank Lloyd Wright

File:LarkinAdministrationBuilding1906.jpg|Larkin Administration Building, Buffalo, New York, 1906, Frank Lloyd Wright

File:Merchants National Bank Winona.jpg|Merchants National Bank, Winona, Minnesota, 1912, Purcell and Elmslie

File:Purcell-Cutts House.jpg|Purcell House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1913, Purcell and Elmslie

File:Henry Schultz House.jpg|Henry Schultz House, Winnetka, Illinois, 1907, George W. Maher

File:Magerstadt House HABS.jpg|The Ernest J. Magerstadt House, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, George W. Maher

File:Kenilworth club entrance.jpg|The Kenilworth Club entrance, Kenilworth, Illinois, 1907, George W. Maher

File:Ralph Griffin House.jpg|Ralph Griffin House, Edwardsville, Illinois, 1913, Walter Burley Griffin

File:Frederick Carter House.jpg|Frederick Carter House, Evanston, Illinois, 1910, Walter Burley Griffin

File:William E. Drummond House.jpg|Architect William E. Drummond's own house, River Forest, Illinois, 1910

File:Elevation view - Morocco Temple, 219 Newnan Street, Jacksonville, Duval County, FL HABS FLA,16-JACK,11-1.tif|Morocco Temple, Jacksonville, Florida, 1910, Henry John Klutho

File:First Reformed Church, Toledo, Ohio - DPLA - 7c9599a7334ce48b103d645ecef86228 (page 1).jpg|First Reformed Church, Toledo, Ohio, 1900s, Langdon and Hohly, architects

File:WingspreadFrankLloydWrightKenoshaWisconsin.jpg|Herbert F. Johnson House, (Wingspread), Wind Point, Wisconsin, 1939, Frank Lloyd Wright.

File:Joseph J Walser Jr House 2.jpg|J. J. Walser Jr. House, Chicago, Illinois, 1903, Frank Lloyd Wright

File:Ward Winfield Willits House (8702672773).jpg|Ward Willits House, Highland Park, Illinois, 1901, one of the first Prairie Houses by Frank Lloyd Wright

File:Cafe Brauer in Chicago.jpg|Cafe Brauer, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, Dwight Heald Perkins

File:William H. Emery, Jr. House.JPG|William H. Emery Jr. House, 1903, Walter Burley Griffin

File:First Congregational Church of Austin, 5701 West Midway Park, Chicago (Cook County, Illinois).jpg|First Congregational Church, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, William E. Drummond

</gallery>

See also

  • Hartington City Hall and Auditorium
  • List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
  • The Menninger Clinic, Houston, Texas
  • St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church
  • The Villa District, Chicago

References

General and cited references

  • Brooks, H. Allen, Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School, Braziller (in association with the Cooper-Hewitt Museum), New York 1984;
  • Brooks, H. Allen, The Prairie School, W.W. Norton, New York 2006;
  • Brooks, H. Allen (editor), Prairie School Architecture: Studies from "The Western Architect", University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo 1975;
  • Brooks, H. Allen, The Prairie School: Frank Lloyd Wright and his Midwest Contemporaries, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1972;
  • Brooks, H. Allen (editor), Writings on Wright: Selected Comment on Frank Lloyd Wright, MIT Press, Cambridge MA and London 1981;
  • Visser, Kristin, Frank Lloyd Wright & the Prairie School in Wisconsin: An Architectural Touring Guide, Trails Media Group; 2nd Rev edition (June, 1998). .
  • Unity Temple Restoration Foundation
  • Minneapolis Institute of Arts "Unified Vision – the Architecture and Design of the Prairie School"
  • Pleasant Home Foundation for George W. Maher's Farson House
  • This Historic Midwestern Masterpiece Got the Renovation It Deserved
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Historic Park Inn Hotel
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Stockman House
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin
  • Frank Lloyd Wright Trail