Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

ern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or

hipped roofs A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

with broad overhanging

eave The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

s, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

landscape. The Prairie School was an attempt at developing an indigenous North American style of architecture in sympathys with the ideals and design aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement, with which it shared an embrace of handcrafting and craftsman guilds as an antidote to the dehumanizing effects of mass production.

History

The Prairie School developed in sympathy with the ideals and design aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement begun in the late 19th century in England by

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, and others. Along with the kindred

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

movement it shared an embrace of handcrafting and craftsman guilds as a reaction against the new

assembly line An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in seq ...

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

manufacturing techniques, which was felt to create inferior products and dehumanize workers. The Prairie School was also an attempt at developing an indigenous North American style of architecture that did not share design elements and aesthetic vocabulary with earlier styles of European classical architecture. Many talented and ambitious young architects had been attracted by building opportunities stemming from the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

of 1871. The

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

(Chicago World's Fair) of 1893 was supposed to be a heralding of the city of Chicago's rebirth. But many of the young Midwestern architects of what would become the Prairie School were offended by the Greek and Roman classicism of nearly every building erected for the fair. In reaction, they sought to create new work in and around Chicago that would display a uniquely modern and authentically American style, which came to be called Prairie. The designation Prairie is due to the dominant horizontality of the majority of Prairie style buildings, which echoes the wide, flat, treeless expanses of the mid-Western United States. The most famous proponent of the style,

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, promoted an idea of "

organic architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furni ...

" (p. 53), the primary tenet of which was that a structure should look as if it naturally grew from the site. In the words of Wright, buildings that appeared as if they were "married to the ground." (p. 53) Wright also felt that a horizontal orientation was a distinctly American design motif, in that the younger country had much more open, undeveloped land than found in most older and highly urbanized European nations.

Prairie School architects

The Prairie School is mostly associated with a generation of architects employed or influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright or

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

, though usually not including Sullivan himself. While the style originated in Chicago, some Prairie School architects spread its influence well beyond the Midwest. A partial list of Prairie School architects includes: *

John S. Van Bergen John Shellette Van Bergen (October 2, 1885 – December 20, 1969) was an American architect born in Oak Park, Illinois. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wrigh ...

Lawrence Buck Lawrence Buck (1865—1929) was a successful and influential Chicago area residential and commercial architect, artist and landscape painter, associated with the Prairie School and the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Early years and educatio ...

Ransom Buffalow Ransom Buffalow (1861–1922) was an architect in Jacksonville, Florida.Ransom Buffalow
Jacksonville Architure ...

Barry Byrne Francis Barry Byrne (December 19, 1883 – December 18, 1967) was a member of the group of architects known as the Prairie School. After the demise of the Prairie School, about 1914 to 1916, Byrne continued as a successful architect by dev ...

Alfred Caldwell Alfred Caldwell (May 26, 1903 – July 3, 1998) was an American architect best known for his landscape architecture in and around Chicago, Illinois. Family and education Caldwell and his wife Virginia had a daughter, Carol Caldwell Dooley, born ...

Alden B. Dow Alden B. Dow (April 10, 1904 – August 20, 1983) was an American architect based in Midland, Michigan, and known for his contributions to the style of Michigan Modern. During a career that spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, he designed more than ...

* William Drummond *

George Grant Elmslie George Grant Elmslie (February 20, 1869 – April 23, 1952) was a Scottish-born American Prairie School architect whose work is mostly found in the Midwestern United States. He worked with Louis Sullivan and later with William Gray Purcell as ...

Marion Mahony Griffin Marion Mahony Griffin (; February 14, 1871 – August 10, 1961) was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licensed female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School. Her work in ...

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and ...

E. Fay Jones Euine Fay Jones (January 31, 1921 – August 30, 2004) was an American architect and designer. An apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright during his professional career, Jones is the only one of Wright's disciples to have received the AIA Gold Medal (19 ...

Henry John Klutho Henry John Klutho (1873–1964) was an American architect known for his work in the "Prairie School" style. He helped in the reconstruction of Jacksonville, Florida after the Great Fire of 1901—the largest-ever urban fire in the Southeast—by ...

George Washington Maher George Washington Maher (December 25, 1864 – September 12, 1926) was an American architect during the first quarter of the 20th century. He is considered part of the Prairie School-style and was known for blending traditional architecture wit ...

Mason Maury Johnson Mason Maury (May 1, 1847 – January 2, 1919) was an American architect and inventor who designed and built over 700 residential and commercial structures, mostly in Louisville, Kentucky where he pioneered Richardsonian Romanesque and Pr ...

* John Randal McDonald *

George Mann Niedecken George Mann Niedecken (August 16, 1878 – November 3, 1945) was an American prairie style furniture designer and interior architect from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his collaboration with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He als ...

(Interior) * Dwight Heald Perkins *

William Gray Purcell William Gray Purcell (July 2, 1880April 11, 1965) was a Prairie School architect in the Midwestern United States. He partnered with George Grant Elmslie, and briefly with George Feick. The firm of Purcell & Elmslie produced designs for buildings i ...

Isabel Roberts Isabel Roberts (March 1871 – December 27, 1955) was a Prairie School figure, member of the architectural design team in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and partner with Ida Annah Ryan in the Orlando, Florida architecture firm, "R ...

Francis Conroy Sullivan Francis Conroy Sullivan (July 2, 1882 – April 4, 1929) was a Canadian architect. The only Canadian pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright aside from Roger d'Astous, Sullivan worked in the Oak Park studio in 1907 but returned to Ottawa in 1908. Sulliv ...

Claude and Starck Claude and Starck was an architectural firm in Madison, Wisconsin, at the turn of the twentieth century. The firm was a partnership of Louis W. Claude (1868-1951) and Edward F. Starck (1868-1947). Established in 1896, the firm dissolved in 1928. Th ...

* William LaBarthe Steele *

Trost & Trost Trost & Trost Architects & Engineers, often known as Trost & Trost, was an architecture firm based in El Paso, Texas. The firm's chief designer was Henry Charles Trost, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1860. Trost moved from Chicago to Tucson, ...

Andrew Willatzen Andrew Willatsen (8 October 1876 – 25 July 1974) was an architect chiefly remembered for bringing the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School to the Pacific Northwest. Early life and emigration Andrew Christian Peter Willatzen wa ...

Taylor Woolley Taylor A. Woolley (October 10, 1884 - February 2, 1965) was an American architect of the Prairie School modern architectural style. Early life Woolley was born on October 10, 1884, to Taylor Harrar Woolley and Caroline L. Ahlstrom in Salt Lake Ci ...

Prairie School influence

Prairie School houses are characterized by open floor plans, horizontal lines, and indigenous materials. These were related to the

American Arts and Crafts movement American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

and its emphasis on hand craftsmanship, simplicity, and function. Both were alternatives to the then-dominant Classical Revival Style of Greek forms with occasional Roman influences. Some firms, such as

Purcell & Elmslie Purcell & Elmslie (P&E) was the most widely know iteration of a progressive American architectural firm, architectural practice. P&E was the second most commissioned firm of the Prairie School, after Frank Lloyd Wright. The firm in all iterations ...

, which accepted the honest presence of machine worked surfaces, consciously rejected the term "Arts and Crafts" for their work. The Prairie School was also heavily influenced by the Idealistic Romantics who believed better homes would create better people, and the Transcendentalist philosophy of

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

. In turn, Prairie School architects influenced subsequent architectural idioms, particularly the less is more ethos of Minimalists and form following function in

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

, itself a mixture of

De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...

grid-based design and Constructist emphasis on the structure itself and its building materials. Architectural historians have debated the reasons why the Prairie School went out of favor by the mid-1920s. In her autobiography, Prairie School architect

Marion Mahony Marion Mahony Griffin (; February 14, 1871 – August 10, 1961) was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licensed female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School. Her work in ...

suggests:

The enthusiastic and able young men as proved in their later work were doubtless as influential in the office later as were these early ones but Wright's early concentration on publicity and his claims that everybody was his disciple had a deadening influence on the Chicago group and only after a quarter of a century do we find creative architecture conspicuously evident in the United States.

Prairie School buildings

An example of Prairie School architecture is the aptly named " The Prairie School", a private day school in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

, designed by

Taliesin Associates Taliesin Associated Architects was an architectural firm founded by apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright to carry on his architectural vision after his death in 1959. The firm disbanded in 2003. It was headquartered at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, A ...

(an architectural firm originated by Wright), and located almost adjacent to Wright's

Wingspread Wingspread, also known as the Herbert F. Johnson House, is a historic house in Wind Point, Wisconsin. It was built in 1938–39 to a design by Frank Lloyd Wright for Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr., then the president of S.C. Johnson, and was consi ...

Conference Center. Mahony's and Griffin's work in Australia and India, notably the collection of homes at ''Castlecrag'', New South Wales, are fine examples of how the Prairie School spread far from its Chicago roots.

' Veterans' Memorial Library in

St. Cloud, Florida St. Cloud is a city in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is on the southern shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Central Florida, about southeast of Orlando. The population was 35,183 in the 2010 census, and 54,579 in the 2019 cen ...

, is another.. The

House at 8 Berkley Drive 8 Berkley Drive is a historic house located at the address of the same name in Lockport, Niagara County, New York Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lock ...

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the Lockport (town), New York, town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, Niagara County, New York (state), New York. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census ...

was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2009. The Oak Circle Historic District is a historic district in Wilmette, Illinois, United States. It primarily consists of fifteen single-family homes representative of the Prairie School and Craftsman styles of architecture 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 is a nationally recognized historic district located in

Mason City, Iowa Mason City is a city and the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,338 in the 2020 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Go ...

. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. All of the buildings are houses designed in the Prairie School style, and are a part of a planned development. Mason City is also home to The Historic Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank—two adjacent commercial buildings designed in the Prairie School style. Completed in 1910, the Historic Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel in the world, of the six for which he was the architect of record. The

Dr. G.C. Stockman House The Dr. G.C. Stockman House (also known as Mrs. Evangeline Skarlis House) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1908 for Dr. George C. and Eleanor Stockman in Mason City, Iowa. The home was originally located at 311 1st St. SE, but was ...

is another example of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School style found in Mason City, Iowa. Built in 1908, the Stockman House was the first Wright-designed Prairie School-style house in Iowa. Today, the house functions as a museum welcoming visitors and architectural enthusiasts from all around the world.

Modern interest

Interest in the ideas and designs of the Prairie School artists and architects has grown since the late 1980s, thanks in large part to celebrity collecting habits and high-profile auction results on many of the decorative designs from buildings of the era. In addition to numerous books, magazine articles, videos and merchandise promoting the movement, a number of original Prairie School building sites have become public museums, open for tours and special interactive events. Several not-for-profit organizations and on-line 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.

Gallery

File:Willits House.jpg,

Ward Willits House Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

, Highland Park, Illinois, 1901, one of the first Prairie Houses by

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

Robie House The Frederick C. Robie House is a U.S. National Historic Landmark now on the campus of the University of Chicago in the South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois. Built between 1909 and 1910, the building was designed as a sing ...

, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, Frank Lloyd Wright File:UnityTempleOakHill.jpg,

Unity Temple Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Te ...

, Oak Park, Illinois, 1905–1908, Frank Lloyd Wright File:LarkinAdministrationBuilding1906.jpg,

Larkin Administration Building The Larkin Building was an early 20th century building. It was designed in 1903 by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1904-1906 for the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York. The five story dark red brick building used pink tinted mortar and ...

, Buffalo, New York, 1906, Frank Lloyd Wright File:Merchants National Bank Winona.jpg, Merchants National Bank, Winona, Minnesota, 1912,

Purcell and Elmslie Purcell & Elmslie (P&E) was the most widely know iteration of a progressive American architectural practice. P&E was the second most commissioned firm of the Prairie School, after Frank Lloyd Wright. The firm in all iterations was active from 19 ...

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 George Washington Maher (December 25, 1864 – September 12, 1926) was an American architect during the first quarter of the 20th century. He is considered part of the Prairie School-style and was known for blending traditional architecture wit ...

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

Kenilworth Club The Kenilworth Assembly Hall is a historic clubhouse located at 410 Kenilworth Avenue in Kenilworth, Illinois. The clubhouse was built in 1907 as a social club for the wealthy Chicago suburb. Resident and noted Prairie School architect George W. Ma ...

entrance, Kenilworth, Illinois, 1907, George W. Maher File:William H. Emery, Jr. House 01.JPG,

William H. Emery Jr. House William H. Emery Jr. House is a Prairie School residence in Elmhurst, Illinois. It was one of the first independent commissions for Walter Burley Griffin. History William Emery Sr. moved to Chicago, Illinois, and purchased the Seth Wadhams farm ...

, 1903,

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 William Eugene Drummond (March 28, 1876 – September 13, 1948) was a Chicago Prairie School architect. Early years and education He was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of carpenter and cabinet maker Eugene Drummond and his wife Ida Marietta ...

's own house, River Forest, Illinois, 1910 File:First Congregational Church - William Drummond architect.jpg, First Congregational Church, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, William E. Drummond File:Elevation view - Morocco Temple, 219 Newnan Street, Jacksonville, Duval County, FL HABS FLA,16-JACK,11-1.tif, Morocco Temple, Jacksonville, Florida, 1910,

File:Lincoln Park Cafe Brauer circa 1908 aka South Pond Refactory.tif, Cafe Brauer, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, Dwight Heald Perkins File:First Reformed Church, Toledo, Ohio - DPLA - 059df0dc5ee72a9fa596b45a3df1d1e8 (page 1).jpg, First Reformed Church, Toledo, Ohio, 1900s, Langdon and Hohly, architects File:WingspreadFrankLloydWrightKenoshaWisconsin.jpg, Herbert F. Johnson House, (

), Wind Point, Wisconsin, 1939, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Citations

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 The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...

, 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). .

External links

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
{{Authority control American architectural styles House styles