For the right price, you can stay in one of several homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, situated in Mt. Pleasant Township’s Polymath Park.
But if you are so inclined, you could also have a similar design of your very own.
Seattle-based Lindal Cedar Homes offers a line of Wright-inspired house designs, many of which were created by Wisconsin custom home designer Aris Georges, a former student and teacher at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Arizona.
Lindal approached the school in 2009, Georges said, looking to develop a portfolio of designs as part of its Architects Collaborative program. Georges was one of five faculty who contributed designs and he later provided digital 3D models and renderings of new designs. In 2015, he was asked to develop a “Designer Series” portfolio of homes, which led to work on custom homes that incorporate the sharp angles and highly geometric design familiar in much of Wright’s architecture.
The home kits are delivered by truck, and their price does not include construction and labor costs, nor the cost of the house’s foundation and utility infrastructure. Lindal does not list set prices on its website because most of the designs are open to heavy customization.
There are nine home kits in Lindal’s Imagine Series. All draw heavily on Wright’s Usonian home designs, which offer a wide range of flexibility and customization. Lindal also offers a handful of other options inspired by his work.
“I’ve grown to appreciate the notion of ‘remix’ or ‘cover’ design and architecture,” Georges said. “These projects for the Lindal Imagine Series are timid steps in that direction.”
Georges, 59, spoke with TribLive about being inspired by the renowned architect. This interview has been edited for length.
Q: As a former student and teacher at the Wright school of architecture, what are some of the ways you evoke his design philosophy without simply copying it?
A: The disciplined use of geometry and grids is at the core of the Usonian system. Wright called the compositions of the designs using these tools as being similar to the warp and weft of weaving. However, it is important to focus on generating intriguing spatial relationships that are eventually expressed on the physical elements of the building, He called that approach, “designing from within, outwards.” Of course, nature was the ultimate source for inspiration in Wright’s organic architecture philosophy and the emulation of nature through geometry is an endless resource for designs that belong in their surroundings and offer beautiful, well-proportioned, well-lit, functional spaces for human life.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in creating a home that utilizes Wright’s design style?
A: The challenge is keeping the scale and proportion related to both the human scale and the qualities of the landscape and surroundings. For Wright, all elements of a building, tangible and intangible alike, are interconnected through what he called “tenuity.” Spaces are continuous transitions, sometimes contained in cozy solid masses, others released in long views through repeated fenestration, but never are the spaces “boxes” that trap spatial flow and limit the human experience by “containing it.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about working on these Wright-inspired home kits?
A: (Clients and architects both) bring something to the table, and together we refine it. I thrive on accessible visualization of the design, 3D digital walkthroughs and realistic depictions of light and textures that help clients begin to live in their homes way before they are built. Having a chest of anecdotes about Frank Lloyd Wright, from my years of living/studying and working at the two Taliesins (in Arizona and Wisconsin), also brings a layer of vigor and storytelling that balances the rigorous design process.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
‘The quintessential American'
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation President and CEO Stuart Graff said he understands the appeal of both Wright's architecture and the home kits inspired by it.
"He designed his Usonian homes to be middle-class housing," Graff said. "And modular housing makes even higher-end homes more cost-effective for the customer. One of Wright's principles of design was connecting outdoor spaces with the indoor spaces, and you see that happening today. The housing industry is catching up to what Frank Lloyd Wright did 70 years ago."
Graff said Wright was the quintessential American success story.
"He was the farm boy from Wisconsin who learns what his talent is, goes to the big city to grow it and goes on to become one of the most influential architects in the world," he said."