The Geometry of the Ramps in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Organic Architecture

Abstract

The organic principles conceptualized and written by Frank Lloyd Wright in his books reveals strategies and geometry underlying in his designs along his career. There is no specific study about the geometry of the ramps adopted by the architect in a few designs in different themes, and mostly how this circulation element is linked with his organic principles. The scope of this paper is to disclose the values of the ramped surfaces, as well how its geometry is intimately connected with the principles of continuity, simplicity, plasticity, integrity, and grammar. The focus of this paper is to reveal the geometry of fifteen designs by diagrams, in order to indicate a unique and integrated design, where the ramps present themselves inseparable from the building as a whole, mainly by means of curvilinear forms.