(continued)

The Ullmann analysis also conveys the "transparent" spatial sense of the Martin House where this overlapping effect can be seen in its similar configuration. Hoesli describes the transparent quality of space in the Martin House, indicating that while the numerous spatial zones defined by the columns penetrate each other in plan, in section "this ambiguity has been dissolved volumetrically, rendered definitive."

A transparency is clearly present in the plan of the Martin House and vertically there is almost complete definition and dissolution of this spatial "transparency." Both Wright's attachment to the architectural plan and his Prairie Style philosophy emphasized a horizontal treatment of space. Conversely, these attachments can also act in limiting a vertical spatial treatment, as Hoesli alleges occurs in the Martin House. There does, however, appear to be one exception.

Viewing the spatial model in elevation illustrates the vertical spaces where they exist between levels of the house. "Turning off" and removing from view any CAD layers that represent purely functional vertical volumes in this elevation—specifically the chimneys' ventilation spaces and all staircases—only one vertical spatial element remains that acts in unifying the levels of the house.

This is the space encircled by the staircase of the main entry hall. The upward movement of the staircase surrounds and reinforces the verticality of this form, and where the stairway arrives at the second floor, an ornamental partition and landing trace the space. Vertical spatial volumes such as this one within Wright's residential work are rarely noted.

This double-height volume stands in contrast to Hoesli's statement that the ambiguity or interpenetration of spaces seen horizontally in the Martin House dissolves vertically. The volume overlaps the first and second floors, and continues in part to the basement, in a sense belonging to each level and vertically relating the otherwise isolated horizontal levels of the Martin House.

Wright's placement of the fireplace is also significant to the spatial configuration of the house. In Space, Time and Architecture, Sigfried Giedion refers to the large chimney as center and starting point for Wright's designs. "In organizing his plans," Giedion wrote, "Wright goes back to the seventeenth century in the use of the large chimney in the center of the house as starting point for the whole layout. He spreads out the different rooms from this massive kernel."

The Martin House chimney is not, however, of the condition Giedion describes. Giedion selected the Isabel Roberts House of 1907 to illustrate Wright's use of the chimney. That allows for a very different reading from that of the earlier plan of the Martin House. Wright's placement of the chimney mass in relation to the Martin House tartan plan is not central but incidental.

The chimney is not located on a major axis or at the intersection of two major axes as seen in the Isabel Roberts House, but between the "C" axis of the pergola and the "E" axis of the living room. Therefore, the Martin House chimney is not capable of having the centrifugal quality of Giedion's Roberts House example.

A difficult aspect of the Martin House design to understand is the control Wright displays with regard to space and proportion in creating the living room chimney. This chimney is unique at each level of the house.

Fireplaces establish a strong presence on the basement and first floor levels of the house, but by the second floor level, the ventilation from these two fireplaces has been directed to one side and enclosed within a portion of a wall. Above the second floor, the chimney assumes the additional function of attic ventilation and increases in width well beyond that of the fireplace below. The additional steel I-beams at this level support the load of the extended brick walls.

At roof level, the chimney ultimately becomes a massive and prominent element, well suited to the scale of the house. Here the chimney returns as the vertical "pin" that restrains the horizontal Prairie Style roof forms, indicating that Wright used different scales in his handling of the interior and exterior of the residence.

In combining the conceptual spatial model with the more realistic chimney model, there appears to be a conflict within the Martin House design where the space of the second floor hall encounters the form of the chimney mass. By Wright's design, the east-west hall form of the second floor exists to one side of Axis "D," the centerline of the chimney form. This, as opposed to a symmetrical placement along the axis as seen in the pergola, assists in maintaining the simplicity and scale of the corridor where it encounters the chimney.

It can be seen that where the second floor corridor intersects the chimney, Wright effectively dissolves its massive form. In his careful manipulation of this element, Wright's design responds to the functional and aesthetic conditions on each floor. In this sense, the chimney is responsive to the house and is not the primary element around which all else forms. This, too, does not support Giedion's claim.

Conveying its critical findings through visualization, this study indicates just how the computer can provide a new way of "seeing" and evaluating architectural design. The ability of the computer to visualize an architectural concept such as space and its ability to selectively edit for content what we see provides us with a profound new manner in which to evaluate architecture. The computer is a valuable tool where its techniques can assist in creating a greater understanding of architecture and design.

Efforts to explore the possibilities that the computer holds should be encouraged, "In the machine lies the only future of art and craft," Wright, himself, had said at the turn of the last century. "Instead of blaming technology for the destruction of traditional craftsmanship, they must seize the machine as the characteristic tool of the modern age and with it create an art vital to the life of the times."

Copyright 1999, Mark Maddalina

Mark Maddalina is an architectural designer with The Sear-Brown Group.
Photos and computer graphics courtesy of the author.

The Martin House complex includes the main house, pergola, conservatory, greenhouse, stable, carriage house, and the George Barton House (1903). This study focuses on the main house. Image: Mark Maddalina Viewing the spatial model in elevation illustrates the vertical spaces where they exist between levels of the house. Image: Mark Maddalina Removing from view any CAD layers that represent purely functional vertical volumes in this elevation, only one vertical spatial element remains to unify the levels of the house. Image: Mark Maddalina The unifying vertical element is the space encircled by the staircase of the main entry hall. Vertical spatial volumes such as this within Wright's residential work are rarely noted. Image: Mark Maddalina The fireplace is not located on a major axis or at the intersection of two major axes, so it lacks the centrifugal quality of Giedion's Roberts House example. Image: Mark Maddalina The chimney is unique at each level of the Martin House. Image: Mark Maddalina In combining the conceptual spatial model with the more realistic chimney model, there appears to be a conflict within the Martin House design where the space of the second floor hall encounters the form of the chimney mass. Image: Mark Maddalina