Mr. and Mrs. Herbert A. Jacobs House, Middleton, Wisconsin, Perspective

The leading figure of the Prairie school of architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright continued to innovate into his seventies. With the Herbert A. Jacobs House, he began a series of curved designs that were specifically constructed for the particular topographical character of a site in order to take advantage of solar energy. Wright had designed the Jacobs family’s former residence near Madison, Wisconsin; however, they wished to escape congestion and thus enlisted him to design a second home further out in the country. In this perspective view, Wright emphasized the home’s innovative features by depicting it at midday. Direct sunlight casts a bold swath of inky black shadow that dramatizes the interior curve of the building’s semicircular design. The south facade bends around a circular sunken garden. Large windows and glass doors welcome the weak winter sun while the wide, overhanging roof shields against summer’s direct rays. To protect from strong winds and to insulate the home, the house was set into a berm. The thick masonry walls that flank the facade link the building to its natural setting while offering a textural contrast to the glass front and airy interior.