State of the states: Samara: the winged leaf

A special treat we crammed in this week was a visit to Samara, the home of John Christian, retired Purdue staffer, who, 59 years ago, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design his home, Samara. My guess is that FLW may well have been a right royal pain in the ass to have as an architect with a self-confidence bordering on arrogance that comes to some folk who have supreme confidence in their own vision and competence. Many people, tho', might easily forgive that edge of arrogance if only he would create for them spaces that play out as in Samara.

Not so much the bedrooms, which are compact to the point of being small, claustrophobic even, many could argue. Yet they are functional, complete, and not a square inch more than most people need in truth: a peaceful, very peaceful, place to rest one's head when the day is done. Not so much the kitchen, either, which is a dual-use small space fitting both utility and preparation. Which is not the larger sharing-caring-kitchen on order nowadays but is what the client specified then: close to the dining room, suitable for entertainment preparation, unobtrusive and lit from above, naturally, through clerestory windows fretted in the winged leaf symbol that FLW designed as definitive of 'Samara'.

It is the living room space that shows FLW's genius at Samara. Thirty or more people can be seated comfortably, privately, yet amiably and socially close, in a living space where most designers would think to seat only five or six. Using horizontal seating along one entire long wall, he designed tiered multi-purpose seat-steps, furniture suitable for seating, storage or table functions he was able to create space by redefining dead space. So well done.

Still, I bet he was a control freak. Old as he was, and he was well over 90 when he designed this, he had a say about the design used in the house colour, on rugs, shelving space, on the minimalist winged-leaf cutouts on the backs of dining chairs with a soft touch of Japanese style to them; on soft furnishings, even on the design of letterhead, stationery, and monogrammed linen throughout the house -- right down to the bed throws.

Such was FLW's input at Samara. Nor did he stop at indoors. Outdoors he designed the garden, the cantilevered patio spaces, the downpipes refashioned as metal sculptures hanging on chains so that when it rained water poured down this architectural sculptural water pipe. As visible as a fountain. In cold weather the 'water pipe' freezes and becomes an ice sculpture, a planned feature.

So is Samara even today, much as it was conceived, according to Frank Lloyd Wright, the self-proclaimed 'world's greatest architect'. Beautiful, and timeless, it remains.