Former Taliesin Apprentice, Earl Nisbet recently shared a wonderful story about his recollection of Frank Lloyd Wright's ideas on what a new home—a "Usonian" home—for Americans should be. It prompted Earl to contemplate and ultimately design a new flag that would wave proudly in "Usonia." Read more after the jump...
1951 was my first year as apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright and some of us were gathered about him while he expounded on one of his favorite topics, namely designing dwellings for the typical citizen. He had read Samuel Butler’s Erewhon and felt “Usonia Homes,” As he now called America and his residential designs, should be constructed with natural materials, used honestly and as simply as possible in order to minimize waste. Buildings should be oriented to take advantage of solar energy and landscaped with native plants, where possible, to conserve water. The use of straight lines, rather than say curved balustrades, which were made up of “tortured wood,” as he called it. Use glass to let the outside in and the inside out as “the interior space is the reality of the building,” he went on to say.
He felt as future architects we should be aware of the importance to design dwellings affordably for the common man. He often used flat roofs in order to conserve lumber costs, and brick or stone were always left natural. Where boards were used for siding, they were usually stained and not painted.
It was during this talk that I realized "Usonia" should have a special flag of sky blue stripes and stars set upon a blazing red field. A couple of years ago I finally painted what I had in mind since 1951.
Thanks so much, Earl, for providing us with some first-person insight into what it was like to learn from Frank Lloyd Wright. If you'd like to find out more about Earl's life, career and experiences at Taliesin then please check out his book, Taliesin Reflections. All proceeds benefit the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin.
Images copyright Earl Nisbet
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