Frank Lloyd Wright is arguably one of America's finest and widely renowned architects. Wright was a true artist, believing that when designing a structure, it must be in harmony with humanity and its environment. His philosophy of organic architecture led him to his concept of the Usonia, an acronym he used for the "United States of North America," and referred to his vision for the landscape of the United States in relation to the architecture of buildings.
The Usonian house was meant to be sized modestly and environmentally sensitive for middle-class families. The exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara: A Mid-Century Dream Home at the Arlington Museum of Art presents the process of building and living in this Usonian home.
The story of the home began with Dr. John E. and Catherine Christian, who had admired Wright's work and wanted him to design their dream home. Worried that their budget was too limited and the size of their project was too small for such a famous architect, John Christian called Wright in his office and was surprised when he answered.
Wright met with the Christians, and he decided to take the commission. The Christians told Wright that they were in no hurry for the plans, which Wright must have taken to heart. It was five years before the Christians got the plans.
Original objects, furniture, architectural fragments, archival materials, historic photographs and video footage all tell the story of the creation of the Samara House at the Arlington exhibit. In addition, floorplans, client correspondence and home movies show how the construction process moved forward.
Wright got the name for the house, Samara, because of the trees on the Christian's property. Samara is the term for winged seed, and John Christian was fond of growing evergreen trees from seedlings.
Wright created a stylized design of the chevron-shaped leaves throughout the entire house, inside and out, to replicate the winged seed in motion. It's evident in the clerestory windows, dining room chairs and the living room rug. The exhibit looks at how the home and its furnishings exemplified Wright's philosophies about the relationship between architecture and nature, including the exterior with its extensive use of windows and terraces.
As in many of homes that Wright designed, he specified or designed the entire environment down to the very last detail, such as the furniture, landscaping and even the linens.
When the Christians moved into the home, they were not able to buy the custom details at first, but they agreed to continue adding to the home as their budget would allow.
"I believe a house is more a home by being a work of Art." -Frank Lloyd Wright
The home features extensive built-ins and bright colors. Wright's wife, Olgivanna, helped with the color design resulting in the palette of vibrant lime green, purple, and magenta combined with more subdued shades of orange, yellow and beige.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara: A Mid-Century Dream Home is curated by Scott W. Perkins, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at Price Tower Arts Center, Bartlesville, Okla.The exhibition is toured by ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Samara House also offers tours to visitors from all over the world year after year. So if you are in West Lafayette, Ind., stop on by. The home is open for touring from April through November. To make a reservation, visit the Samara House Web site at samara-house.org.
