Prairie School

プレーリー・スクール / 1893–1920s / Style / Modern Architecture

An architecture of the horizontal line answering the midwestern prairie. Deep eaves, ribbon windows, low roofs and continuity between inside and out established the first American modern house free of imported European styles.

Prairie School — Wright, Robie House 1910 (CC BY 4.0) · © Bmzuckerman — Wright, Robie House 1910 (CC BY 4.0) · CC BY 4.0 · © Bmzuckerman

Prairie School — Horizontal lines of the Robie House (CC BY 4.0) · © Bmzuckerman — Horizontal lines of the Robie House (CC BY 4.0) · CC BY 4.0 · © Bmzuckerman

Prairie School — Purcell & Elmslie, Purcell-Cutts House, Minneapolis 1913 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0 · © Bmzuckerman — Purcell & Elmslie, Purcell-Cutts House, Minneapolis 1913 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0 · © Bmzuckerman

At a glance

Visual cues

Emphasized horizontals
Deep overhanging eaves
Ribbon windows
Low-slung roofs

Best used for

Planning a low suburban house to lie along the land and the ground line
Running inside into outside so garden and living room read as one space

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Dictionary entry

Type: Wide capitals set in one horizontal line, aligned with the eaves
Composition: A hearth at the core, rooms divided by ceiling height instead of walls
Material: Roman brick and quartersawn wood, only the horizontal joints raked
Caution: Applying the horizontal motif to the elevation while shortening the eaves, so no shadow falls and the lines flatten into surface pattern.
Further study: Frank Lloyd Wright / Louis Sullivan / the Wasmuth Portfolio's influence on Europe

Related entries

Organic Architecture (有機的建築)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare Prairie School and Organic Architecture
Arts and Crafts (アーツ・アンド・クラフツ)Shared effects: Intimacy.Compare Prairie School and Arts and Crafts

Often confused with

Craftsman Style (クラフツマン様式)compare

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/prairie-school
Markdown: [Prairie School — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/prairie-school)
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