Compare And Contrast Robie House And Irving Place

Dining Room Interiors: Robie House vs. Irving Place Two huge movements that defined architectural and interior design in America are Eclecticism and the Craftsman Movement. Irving Place in New York City and the Robie House in Chicago are prime examples of each, respectively. As one style evolves into the next, noticeable changes begin to happen. The dining rooms in particular best express the differences in the stylistic expressions, intentions/strategies of the designers, and finishes/furnishings/details of each era of design. Elsie de Wolfe transformed Irving Place in 1896, giving herself the title of “first female decorator”. She swapped her Victorian cluttered decor for a more contemporary, minimalist style. Ironically, the newer style of

As a result of her views on dining, Irving Place’s dining room is the most plainly-decorated room in the entire house. The minimal furniture and decoration put less importance on the room in comparison to the rest of the house while keeping it contemporarily beautiful and on theme. When initially planning the Robie House, Wright was asked to let the client see his neighbors, and not vice versa (Perez). The very heart of the home is divided into the living and dining areas; horizontal planes, which are influenced by the prairie Wright grew up on, give the entire house distance from the street/neighbors while also blocking the view into the home from curious onlookers. The main seating area of the dining room is placed a considerable distance away from the windows, obstructing the shape of internal objects from the outside. The windows are composed of colored leaded glass arranged into shapes and patterns, which added a bonus level of security; this further obstructed the view from the outside while letting in enough natural light to illuminate the rooms (“Frederick C. Robie