Pedagogy and "Reflex":Frank Lloyd .V/right's

Flanna House Revisited

RICHARD JONCAS Stanford lJniversity

Frank Lloyd Wrigltt's Hanna House in Stanford, California (1936),

was buihfor educators who tauglt and practked John Dewey's notions oJ

aaiuity and science. The Hannas' belief in these edumtional principles,

guidingJamily interadion and euolution, injuenced Wright's adoption and

assodation of the hexagonal module with his notion of "reflex," the

inJ'luence ofform on human behauior. Moreouer, the sociologiml ramiJica-

tions of the hexagonal geometry seem to hdue deriued Jrom discussions and

debates on education with the Hannas. In any euent, beginning with the

Hanna House, Wright explicitly characterized his domestit arthitecture as

r ejerting s o c iologic al p a tte rns.

TnE pRuL AND JEAN HANNA House in Stanford, California

(1936-37), is Frank Lloyd Wright's earliest executed residential

design using nonrectangular geometry (Fig. 1).l Although he had

envisaged numerous projects based on such geometry throughout

the twenties and early thirties, none employed the hexagonal

module, and none were realized. The Hanna House, therefore,

constitutes a significant development within V/right's career. As

clients, the Hannas were exceptional in their desire to buildWright's proposal for a house based on an hexagonal modrrle. Brrt

more importantly, their philosophy of lifc and education seems to

I would like to express my gratitude, especially to the late Paul R. andJeanS. Hanna, who patiently shared with me their recollections and insightsinto Frank Lloyd Wright and the Hanna House. I would also like to thankboth Paul V. Turner, who supervised the dissertation from which thisarticle is taken, and Suzanne Lewis, lor their instructive comments and

suggestions. I am also grateful to Cornelia tsrierly and the late WilliamV/esley Peters for sharing their recollections of the Hanna Housecommission with me. The assistance of Oscar Munoz, archivist at theFrank Lloyd Wright Memorial Foundation, Robert L. Sweeney, LindaLong, and the staff of Special Collections, Stanlord University, was also

much appreciated. I would also like to thank the anonyrnous reader ofthearticle lor additional comments and suggestions.

1. fi/right's only executed design in nonrectangular geornetry prior tothe Hanna Flouse was his desert camp and studio, Ocatilla, built near

Chandler, Arizona, of board and canvas in 1929. The camp was largelydestroyed by fire and a wind storm in May of that year. Ocatilla, however,was never meant to be a permanent, residential structure but rather a

temporary encampment during the design phase of San Marcos-in-theDesert. Moreover, only the canvas tops werc nonrectangular in shape,covering a boxy spacc underneath. By contrast, the Hanna house was a

fully-functioning, residential structure, its geometry determining everylacet ofthe design.

JSAH 52:307-322, SEPTEMBER 1993

have inspired fi/right's use of the hexagon in the Hanna House as

a sociological "reflex" form, a "direct pattern for simple living,"Wright said in a letter to the Hannas in 1937.2 Both during and

after the design of the Hanna House, V/right was explicit in his

belief that form could determine human behavior.3

A similar ideal pervaded the pioneering theories of child

education espoused in the 1920s by the Hannas themselves. Theirbelief, for example, in the continuum of life experience and

pedagogic activity as a fundamental tenet of education, directly

underpins their request for a house that would grow and change

in harmony with the family. Such a programmatic stipulation

may have inspired V/right's equation of the flexible spatial form ofthe hexagonal module with a "direct pattern for simple living." Infact, Wright first seems to have formulated his notion of an

architecture ofsocial reflex, engendered especially in the hexago-

nal module, during the design of the Hanna House, while he was

learning about the Hannas' philosophy of education. They

frequently debated points of social philosophy with V/right at a

time when exigent social imperatives made new building systems

and unconventional forms and floor plans highly attractive. The

design of the Hanna House in the mid-1930s coincides withWright's desire to impute a sociological significance to nonrectan-

gular forms in general, and the hexagon in particular.

The Hannas' belief that any human design could affbct social

behavior, was fundamental to Wright's meaning of "reflex" in the

Hanna House, as the integral relationship between the builtenvironment and its human requirements. Indeed, in their

comprehensive documentation of the building of their home,

Frank Lloyd Wriglt's Hanna House: A Clients' Repon (1981), the

Hannas invariably criticized or rejected aspects of'Wright's design

2. FrankLloydWright to Paul Hanna, 4April 1936, vol. 1, FrankLloydWright/Hanna-Honeycomb House Collection, Stanford University Ar-chives, Stanlord University, Stanford, California. The letter accompaniedthe drawings for the second scheme lor the house.

3. For example, in the special issue of the,4rrhitexural Forum of 7938dedicated to his work, Wright identified the significance of the geometryof his (Jsonian house as "a pattern for more simple and, at the same time,more gracious living." Frank Lloyd Wright, "Frank Lloyd V/right,"Anhitertural Forun 68 (January 1938):78, hereafter cited as "Wright." Theletter from 1 937 to the Hannas seems to be the earliest recorded version ofthis statement.

307

!!rr

308 JSAH 52:3, sEPTEMUEU r993

Fig. 1. Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul andJean Hanna House, Stanfbrd, California, 1936-37. View of the south elevation, spring 1938. 'John and Emily-Jean

[Hannat on what became Frenchrran's Road. Wooden fencc extends house to the riglit. No landscaping." The quotations within thc captions wcreoriginally typed and mounted oll the bottom of thc photographs by the Hannas probably in the 1970s when they wcre preparing tl.reir book,Thc Clients'

Rrporr, for publication. It is characteristic of the Hannas that they kept such meticulous records of their lile in the house. (E. Born, Department of Special

Collections, Stanford University)

because they conflictcd with thcir ideals of a social philosophy ofeducation as it influenced family interaction and evolution. They

regardcd education as a means of directing change into desired

goals through active learning processes, scientifically studied,

which were indistinguishable from experiences of actual liFe.

The Hannas ds clients and educators

Paul andJean Hanna represented a diffbrent type of client forWright. Both held advanced degrees from Columbia Universiry:

Paul, a doctorate in education, and Jean, a master's degree in

literature. They were a young, professional couple (both only 33

years old in 1935, when thcy came to Stanford), on the threshold

oftheir careers as cducators and authors ofcducational te;rlbooks.

They both firmly believed that the home was a significant

educational factor in shaping social dcvclopment. When the

Hannas married in 1926, thcy began an cxhaustivc search for the

architect of their future home . Before the Hannas first learned of'V/right and his architectural philosophy through his published

Princeton lectures, Modern Ardtitedure (1931), in 1931, they had

carefully studied thc rnajor architectural styles and figures ofthe

day, including Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus, but discovered

little ofvalue in them.a From the beginning, the Hannas searched

for appropriate ideas in architecture rather than forms: 'T/e kept

folders containing architectural ideas," as they said later in their

book.5 And in Wright's design of their house, the Hannas

relinquished authority to him on formal or aesthetic questions,

but only insofar as they did not violate certain sociological

principlcs of family life ultimately influenced by their mentor,

John Dewcy.

S/hile at Columbia, the Hannas imbibed the empirical spirit of

science which, under the influence of Dewey, had permeated

4. Frarrk Lloyd Wright, Modern Arditcrture, Being the Kahn Lectures.for

1930 (Princeton: Princeton Univcrsity Press, 193'l), hereafter cited as

Modern Arrhitcrture.

5. Paul R. andJean S. Hanna, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hanna I'Iouse: The

Clients'Rcport (Cambridge, Mass., 19f31), 15, 17, hereafter cited as T/re

Clients' Rcport. The Haunas told the author that they had accumulated, and

subsequently lost, an extensive folder ofinformation and anicles on such

modern architects as Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus.

educational thought.6 Like him, they applicd its lessons to art in

general. The Hannas shared Dewey's belief, espoused in his book

Art and Experience (1934), that art, in experiencc, was qualified by

the "intcraction oF human beings with their environment," and

that human values entercd "organically into the structure ofbuildings. . . ."7 The notion of the influcnce of ideas embodied in

built forms was a characteristic feature of child education

concepts which the Hannas helped pionecr beginning in the late

tlventies. Such notions ofarchitecture are not unlike those quoted

by them from Wright's Modern Arthitertura: "Form is madc by

function but qualified by usc. Therefore, form changes withchanging conditions; Principle is the saG prcccdent; An organic

lorm grows its structure out of conditic'rns as a plant grows out ofsoil. Both unfbld similarly from within."8 The Hannas had

discovcred in such statements an intimate collaboration betwccn

design, human values, and modern conditions. Such adagcs,

according to the Hannas, carried with them "a philosophy ofhome and living that moved us decply."'r

The Hannas' educational principlcs may account for the appcal

of Wright's architcctural theories. As a child educator, Paul

Hanna was especially concerned that the student should bc

prepared to enter into thc "age of power," an era when sciencc

and technology constantly overturned old solutions in the wakc

of new conditions. Thc Hannas' teaching philosophy was firmlyrooted in the conviction that inexorable tecl-rnological change was

the single most important condition confronting modern educa-

tion and life.

Hanna devised curricula for social studies, activrty cr)urscs

designed to educate clcmentary school childrcn through thc

dircct experience of selectcd themes or units of work that werc

aimed at a rcalistic appreciation of human relations. The introduc-

tion ofsubjects as diversc as food, water transportation, and even

architecturc, were designcd to exlend a pupil's scope and undcr-

standing of the world and its activities through trips to farms or

6. Dewey's pragmatic, infirrmal methods of instruction by experinren-tation (that is, learning by doing), was lounded on activity and expcrience,with cach school an embryonic community whosc activities cchoed thoscof socicty in general. The rnost lamous instance oFthis is the UniversityElementary School founded by Dewey in 1u9(r and renamed theLaboratory School in 1902. Fronr the beginning, thc school was affiliatedwith tlrc University of Chicago while Dewey was a member ofthe laculty.Dewey's purpose was to intelyate school and socicty by means of theyoung science ofapplied psychology. He sought to achieve this in what he

called "laboratories" which simulated activities ftrund in the outsideworld, and by extending the borrndaries of thc classroom itself throughfield trips. For a discussion ofthe school, its philosophy, and principlcs ofeducation, see Philip W. Jackon's "Introduction" t<>John Dutq (Chica-go, 1990). It seems highly rrnlikely that Wright woulcl not have knownrbout this school from its inccption, given tris liberal, Unitarian farnily'spcnchrnt tbr cxperiment.rl cdrrcltior:.

7. Jolrn Dewey, Art and Expariurce (New York, 1934, rcpr. l9ft0),230-31.

[i. Hanna, The Clients'Report, 15.

9. Hanna, The Clients'Reytrt, 15 16.It should also bc renrembered thatthe Hannas had not scen any ofV/righCs work prior to their discovery olhis publishcd Princeton lcctnres, which was only nrarginally illustrated.

Jt)NOAS: FLW'S HANNA IIOUSE REVISITED 309

local harbors, by reenacting thc lives of great architects, or

studying the structural systems cmployed in buildings.r0 Hanna

emphasizcd the historical continuum ofeach subject, underscor-

ing the emcrgence of thc machine in contemporary sociery as the

most significant new force alfccting changc and the tool most able

to amelioratc the quality of life. t I

The fundamental rolc of machine tcchnology in cveryday life

cmerged in othcr areas of intcrcst tcl Hanna. From 1935 to 44, as

editor of Buikling America, a monthly magazine designed to

supplement his social studies curricula, Hanna employed his

educational thcories in articlcs that addrcssed such exigent

problems as housing, man and thc machine, and modern youth.12

Continually, hc traced man's cvolution through his historical

abiliry to fashion and exploit new tools, culminating in the

modcrn machine, the greatest of'all the beneficial and liberating

instrumcnts he had yet devised. Hanna's fascination with ma-

chine technology is evident during the design of the Hanna

Housc: his interest in the technical capacities and clliciency of the

mechanical systems, his desire flor a hobby shop, as well as his

willingness to participate wholcheartedly in thc actual construc-

tion processes, underscored thc avowed purposc ofthe magazine

"to strcss our great possibilities for firrther progrcss ... and to

develop the finest possible American culture."r3

Thc child's exposure to mode rn technology through the direct

role ol activity and experience in Hanna's principles of child

education echoes V/right's own attitudes towards architecture

1 0. Paul R. Hanna, "The Activity l)rogram in the Internrcdiate (]rades:

Part III, Eduration (April 1932); and idcm, "Social Studies in the NewVirginia Crrrrictrlunr," Progressiue Educntlor (Jan.-Feb. 1934): 129-34.Fora study of Hanna's edr-rcational theories and contributior.Is, see Martin(lill, "l'aul R. Hanna: The Evolution of an Elementary Social StudiesTertbook Serics" (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1974).

'I 1. Hanna had bccn deeply influerrced by the writings and teachings ofJohn Dewcy and Cllrarlcs Beard by thc late 1920s. Both had advocatedsirnilar attitudes towards the machinc by 192t3. Beard cspccially believedthat in the Unitcd States a consensus of opir.rion had lormed in all sectors

ofsociety accepting the machine as a rcaliry ofrnodcrn industrial life and

tlre only road to progress. See for cxanrple, Charles A. tseard, cd.,WhitherMankind (New York, l92tl), hereaftcr cited s Wither Matkind. Deweycontributed an cssay on "Philosophy," and Lewis Munrlord on "TheArts." Wright was also familiar with the writings of Beard and Dewcy,both ofwhon.r hc knew in the 1920s. In his book,,4 Testancnt (NewYork,1957),205-7, Wright stated that "l rcad and respectcd many ofour own. . . philosophers, among them . . . William James, Charles l3eard, JohnDewey. . . ."

12. Hanna's contact with Wright by this time may have rcinfbrced hisown convictions about the machine as a determinant of social progress,

though certainly this notior.r is present in his proposals for child educationcurricula befirre hrs flrst contact with Wright. Nevcrtheless, their mutualinterest in the nrachine was anotller firctor which drcw the Hannas toWright's theories of architecture anci rnay also explain their earlier interestin such figurcs as Le Corbusier rnd thc Bauhaus-

13. Paul Ha:ruta, Iluilding Aneriru: A Phorographk Magazinc ol'ModenrProblents (Octobcr 1935), Vol. 1, unpaginated; The Paul Hanna Papers,

Hoover Institution Archives, Stanlord University, Stanford, California.Hanna was a menrber of the editorial board lrom 1935 to 44. Some of thcissues of the magazine which he edited included articles on "Housing,""Merr and Macl.rincs," and "Steel," ptrblished beftveen the years 1935-37.

I!!r

310 JSArr 52:3, sEPTEMuER 1993

(partially learncd from the activity-oriented experiencc of the

Froebel kindergartcn exercises), and thc cducation ofthc archi-

tect.r4 Like Hanna, Wright believed that: "Every age and period

has had its technique. . . . This age has its own. . . . The Machine

is our normal tool."1s However, only through appropriatc cduca-

tion familiarizing the student with its processes could it be "an

engine of emancipation or enslavement, according to thc human

direction and control given it. . . ."16 In addition, thc student was

required to havc a pragmatic knowledge of materials, machinery,

and their proccsses.lT Such cxpcrience, it was belicvcd, would

allow the architcct to control and dircct change towards the

desired goals ofan organic architecture. In short, the experiential

naturc of the educational processes Wright advocated were

fundamentally similar to those espoused by Dewey and the

Hannas.

Moreover, there existed bewveen Wright and the Hannas a

shared belief in the potency of the machine within educational

processes as a tool for future change and progress. This beliefwas

at no other time more strongly held than during thc opcning years

of the Depression, when the economic expediency of machine

14. The close relationship benveen Dewcy's notions of activity-centered experiencc in education and the Frocbel kindergartcn cxerciseswas well known to Paul Hanna. When he first entered ColumbiaUniversity as a phrlosophy studcnt, he discovered thatJohn Dewey, hisadvisor, had accepted a position in China for that year. In his place,

William Kilpatrick (1871-1965), a former studcnt of Dewey's thenteaching at Tcacher's College, scrvcd as Hanna's advisor and mentor.Kilpatrick had written a book on the Froebel kindergartcn exercises

entitled Froebel's Kindergarten Printiples Critically Examined (New York,1916). Dewey l-rimsell, spcaking about erperimcntal and progressivelorrns ofchild education, had spoken on "Froebcl's Educational Principlcs"in his seminal, educational work 7lc Srhool and Soacry (Chicago, 1900;

repr. 1 990), 1 1 (>3 1, hcreafter cited as School and Soricty.

15. Frederick (]utheim, ed., In the Cause of Archircorrc (New York,1975),131, hereafter cited as lr tlrc Cduse oJArthitcutre.

16. Frank Lloyd Wright, "Thc Architect and thc Machine,",4 rrhiteaural

Rcrord (May 1927).Wright had stated this idca in his lanrous "Art and

Cralt of the Machine" lecturc of 1901. This article is reproduced in(]utlreinr, ed.,In the Cause o;t'Arrhiteaure, 1.31-33.

17. Wright had proposed such a rnethod oftraining as carly as his "Artand Craft oFthc Machine" lecture dclivered at Hull House, Chicago in1901. In his address, he proposed the establishnrent of"experimentalstations" where artists could train with modern machinery and materials.Wright's stated purpose was to marry art and science, to bridge the gulfbetween the creative, imaginativc, and spontaneorrs act and its realizationthrough rational, pragmatic principles. Wright statcd that "This does notmean that Art may be shown to bc an exact Science. 'lt is not pure reason,

but it is always reasonable."' Reprinted in Edgar Kaufnrann and BcnRaeburn, eds., I:rank Lloyd Wright: Writings antl Buiklings (New York,1974),70-71. This pragmatic method of cducation was certainly sympa-thetic to both tl.re Hannas' and Dewey's educational principles, as wereFroebel's kindcrgarten exercises. Significantly, Wright reprintcd the HullHouse lecture as "Machinery, Materials and Men" in his book, ModcrrArrhitecture. A sinrilar current of thought is evident in Wright's discussionofthc architect, rnachines, and materials in his series ofarticles entitled"In the Causc of Architecture," published in the Arrhitcrtrtral Rercrd

between 1927 and 192i3. Reprintcd in Gutheinr, In tha Causc of Arrhiterturt.Dewey had also advocated training the child to work in wood and metal,in addition to weaving, sewing, and cooking "as methods of living and

learning, not as distinct studies." l)ewey, Sthool and Soriety, 14.

production was generally thought to hold the key to financial

recovery, an attitude particularly prevalcnt in the housing indus-

try, where mass production and prefabrication were emphasized.

But, also, the machine was regarded, both by Wright and the

Hannas, as an implement of scicncc epitomizing control and

order and, ideally, freedom from servile, mundane work. It was a

largely compliant, beneficial servant.

In interviews with thc author, the Hannas rccalled many

conversations with Wright before the design of thcir house in

which they discussed and debated educational concepts and

philosophics.r8 However, as Paul Hanna admitted, Wright did not

share his belief in schools and universitics as appropriate educa-

tional settings.'V/right's own autodidactic education was essen-

tially opposed to the formal, academic mcthods of such institu-

tions becausc, in his view, they stiflcd imagination and personal

creativiry. Wright made this point, for cxample, in a graphic imagc

designed by him for the cover pagc of Book One, entitled

"Family, Fcllowship," of his autobiography. Illustrating thc

prelude to the chapter, thc linear pattern is a figurative representa-

tion of an episode from V/right's childhood when, accompanied

by an unclc, he traverses a fie ld of unblemished snow (Fig. 2).

The child, overwhelmcd by curiosity, scurries to and fro gather-

ing plants. The uncle, however, never wavers in his path. When

they rejoin, the child is made to retrace his stcps visually, distilling

from them lessons about selFdiscipline, perscverance, and direc-

tion in lifc.l')

Wright's illustration shows a singlc, diagonal, dark line of hcavy

weight (reprcscnting his uncle's straightl'orward motion), run-

ning through an intricate pattern of lighter-weight, perforated

lines (reprcscnting the child's footstcps across the field). His

uncle's mcssage, as Wright stated, was clear: "NEITHER TORIGHT NOR TO LEFT, BUT STIIAIGHT, IS THE WAY,''

Wright, however, argucd against this lesson, a mctaphor for the

rigid, formal processes of an academic education which left little

to imagination and personal discovery: "The boy was troubled.

Something was left out." In a letter to Wright in 1932, Paul

Hanna praised An Autobiograpfty for its lessons of life, for "setting

18. Education held a prontincnt place within WrighCs notions ofarchitectural design. In fact, beginning in latc 1928, education was at theforelront of his thoughts. An carly prospectus entitled, "Thc HillsideHorne School oF Allied Arts," outlining the goals and principles of a

broad-ranging artistic conrnrunity to be located near thc old HillsideHome School run by his aunts,Jane and Ncll LloydJones, was preparedby December 192f1, though lcttcrs indicate tliatWright had bccn workingon it lor sevcral months. Wright's creation of the Taliesin Fellowship inthe early 1 930s grcw directly out ofthis prospcctus, witltout, however, the

allied arts. "The Hillside Horne School of AIlied Arts," 13, The DarwinD. Martin Papers, Box 5, Folders 1 2, Special Collcctions, StanfordUniversity, Stanford, Calilbrnia. Although Wright had disparaged formalcducational environments. hc had envisioned for the Hillside HorreSchool an affilration with the Univcrsity of Wisconsin. Perhaps Wrightwas attempting to modcl his school after Dewey's Laboratory School,which maintained a distinct association witl.r the lJniversity of Chicago.

19. Frank Lloyd Wright, An Autobiograph), (London, New York, and

Toronto, 1932), 1-2, hereaftcr cited as Autobiography.

Fig. 2. Frank Lloyd Wright, An Autobiography, 1933 edition, title page ofBook One.

in motion mighty forccs among the youth of I-Jsonia. . Thc

story oftruth and beaury as you have lived it is one ofthe grcat

legacies ofthc age to orlr generation. (lreat as is your contribution

to architccture, it is no greater than your gift ofta manner ofjoyfulliving."utt

The developn-rent of the individual's own talents and abilities

had been the goal of the unconventional, experimcntal learning

methods practiccd by the Hannas.21 And Wright had bccn keenly

interested in thcir experience with unique educational theories

both before, during, and after the construction of the Hanna

House. In a talk dclivcred beFore thc Sociery of Architcctural

Historians in 19U3, the Hannas rccalled their early discussions

with Wright about education:

Many hours were spent in listening to this rctraissance rnan. . . . Hc

enjoycd serious conversation which erplored social problems or

cducational principlcs and nrethods. On scvcral occasions whcn we

20. Paul R. Hanna to Frank Lloyd Wright, (r Junc 1932, The FrankLloyd Wright Foundation Archives, Taliesin Wcst, Scottsdale, Arizona.

21. Benvecn 1928 and 1935, for example, Paul Hanna had been

involved in designing a highly experimental curricular program lorLincoln School while alfiliated with Columbia University. Hanna fbl-Iowed Dcwey's laboratory nrcthods in implenrcnting child activityprogranrs. Roben C. Cook, ed., Who's Mo in Anrriran Edurat{otr, 21stedition (1963-64),56ti. For thcir part, the Hannas maintained a lilelongintcrcst in the Taliesin Fcllowship, liequently lorwarding books and

donatiorrs.

JON(lAS: FLW'S HANNA HOUSE REVISITED 31,1

wcrc [Juests at Taliesin, wc would ibllow the Sunday brcakfast withan exchangc of ideas about education. He and Mrs. Wright wcrc

erperimenting with a living-learning situation lor the apprentices at

Taliesin. Hc was eager to probc his guests for comments.2z

"ReJlex":the design of thc Hanna House

In 1935, after thcy moved to Stanford University, the Hannas

asked V/right to design a house for them. InJune of that year, they

visited Taliesin and drew up a list of rcquirements with Wright.

Many o[thc stipulations that appear in the Hannas' book may in

fact initially have been proposcd by Wright, such as a house on the

brow of a hill or an honcst use of materials.23 Thc Hannas' own

distinctive wants are clcar, however: thc latest "labor-saving

deviccs," relieving them of mundane chores and "leaving time

and strcngth for the morc creative aspects of lifc;" and more

significantly, "a house that could be remodeled casily as changing

family composition and function rcquired."2a Botlr requests ccho

Paul Hanna's perceived challengc to the design ofsocial sciences

curricula in cducation, namely that the child should bc prcpared

to adapt to the flux and changc of a world constantly rcmade by

technological innovation.

Wright's first proposal arrived in latc 1935. Unfortunately, thc

Hannas later rcmcmbered nothing of this design except that itwas a Nvo-story rectangular house plan.25 It was, perhaps, the

so-called Nvo-zoncd house which Wright had developed in the

early 1930s. Thc Hannas rejected the initial desigrr for practical

reasons, wanting a one-story housc instead. TIre rejection,

however, had an important conscquence; it spurrcd Wright to

visit the Stanford campus and the Hannas at thc cnd of March

1936.

At this time, the site for thc house had not yct been fixed.

V/right visited three locations under consideration, Nvo of which

(including the present onc), had slopes.26 The rcmaining site was

22. P:rrl Hanna, "A Clients' Report on Frank Lloyd Wright," ThcSociety of Architectural Historians Annual Conferencc, Phoenix, Ari-zona, (Friday, tt April 1983), fl, Frank Lloyd Wright/Hanna-HoneycombHouse Collection, Stanford University Archives, Stanford University,Stanlord, Calilornia.

23. Hanna,'l'he Clients' Report, 18.

24. Hanna, 'fhc Clients' Report, 18. In a slightly later recollcction, theHannas stated that "Whcn we were explaining to Mr. Vy'right therequirernents for rnaking a home, wc laicl on him a reqrrircnrcnt wcweren't surc he would approvc or cottld execute. Wc wanted a house

suitable for raising a family of five, but whcn the children f.lew off to buildtheir own ncsts, we wanted the housc revarnped to provide:r spacious and

elegant home For thc parents. To our cvcrlasting wonder and gratification,Mr. Wright came through handsonrcly as evidenced irr Phasc 3 of our1957 alterations." Hanna, "A Clients' llcport," 4-5. In an articlc fron theArthitcthral Rtcord of 1938 describing the Hanna Housc, the Hannasoriginally stated that they asked lor "A horne so constructed and cquippedmechanically that electricity and modcrn labor-saving machinery do thedrudgcry, leaving time and fresh stren6lh for thc more creative aspects ofhome life. . . ." Frank Lloyd Wright, "Frank Lloyd Wright Designs a

Honcyconrb Hottse," Archikrtural Retord (July, 1938): 74, I.rereafter citedas "Honeycomb House."

25. Hanrra, The Clicnts' Report, 19.

26. Harrna, '|fu Clients' Report,20.

31,2 JSAII 52:3, sEPTEMBER 1993

essentially flat. Although the Hannas' preference was for the

present site with views to the foothills, they then believed that the

university would not grant them permission to build on the lot.

Nevertheless, even thou€ih a specific site had yet to be

determined, Wright proposed a house designed with an hexago-

nal module. The Hannas recalled that they were "fascinated . . .

but not prepared to comprehend the complex and unconven-

tional geometric grid."27 Wright's visit was intended to prepare

the Hannas for the shock of the drawings. Their receipt in early

Aprll 1936, only days after Wright's visit, suggests that he had not

only chosen this radical geometry before his departure forStanford (and before viewing the sites), but also had already

begun the drawings. However, uncertain of the Hannas'reaction,

he seems to have decided to study the family at closer quarters to

note their "habits of housekceping, family cooperation, recre-

ation; and to lcarn about our research, writing, and teaching."2s

Satisfied that the Hannas would not be frightened off by such a

radically unconventional design, Wright fbrwarded the plans

shortly after leaving Stanford.2')

The idea of using the hexagonal module originated in a design

for a house by Cornelia Bricrly, a young architecturc student

lrom the Carnegie Institute o[ Technology in Pittsburgh, who

had joined Wright's Taliesin Fellowship in 1934.30 According to

Bricrly, in the spring of 1936, Wright askcd the apprentices to

prcpare drawings for designs chosen from a number of projects

which had come into the office.ll Brierly adapted the hexagonal

module in her project from its similar use in hexagonal furniturepieccs by Wright. Wright was extremely enthusiastic about

Bricrly's proposcd solution and took up the idea, although

complctely reworking it in the Hanna House.

Wright had never before used the hexagonal module. In fact,

the nonrectangr-rlar module was recent in his work, dating back to

27. The Hannas also vaguely recalled that at tl.reir initial meeting withWright at Talie sin in the summcr of 1931, he discussed using the hexagonin his architecture. However, he apparently did not design a building withthis geometry until the Hanna House several years later. Hanna, Tfte

Clicnts' Report, 1,6, 20.2tJ. This is a rather curious renrark since V/right had visited with the

Hrrrnas in New York on numerous occasions between 1932 and 1935 and

would have had ample opponuniry to study the farnily before thcir moveto Stanlord and his visit with thenr in March 1936. Hanna, Tht: Clients'

Report,20.

29. The Hannas received thc plans sometimc beNveen 2-7 April 1,936.

Hanna, The Clients' Report, 20-21.30. L. Cornelia Brierly to the author, TJanuary 1992. Cornelia tsrierly

joined the Taliesin Fcllowship after reading Wright's An Autobiography.

William Weslcy Peters also confirmed that Cornelia Brierly originated the

use ofthe hexagonal rnodule, though he believed that it had been ttsed in a

box project in the early '1930s. William Wesley l)eters to the author, 22

April 1991. However, since neither Peters nor Brierly werc at Taliesinbeforc the summer of 1932, it seems unlikcly that Wright could have

discussed the hexagon with the Hannas belore this time. The Hannas'recollection of Wright discussing hexagonal geometry with them in 1931

is probably ofa later conversation.'l'he Clients' Raport, 16.

3 1 . Except for the Hanna Housc, Brierly was unable to identify these

projects.

his use oftriangulation in the late 1920s, in such projects as San

Marcos-in-the-Desert, near Chandler, Arizona, of 1928-29. As

early as the 1890s, however, Wright had used single, nonrectangu-

lar shapes, usually circular or polygonal, as formal design solu-

tions, as in the octagonal library for his Oak Park home and

studio, Illinois (1896).32 From the beginning, such forms held a

symbolic and psychological meaning for'Wright. "Thc cube I find

comforting, the spherc inspiring," Wright said in an article from

1909.33 In his book, TheJapanese Print (1912), he further declared

that primary geometric shapes held a mysterious "spcll-power"

charged with "human ideas, moods, sentiments."34 New forms

(and presumably new meanings), could be generated through the

opposition ofthe square and the circle.35 In his autobiography of1932, V/right stated that "the square modified by the triangle gave

the hexagon-the circlc modified by the straight line would give

the octagon."36 Wright, however, does not reveal what symbolic

values these new forms contained, though they certainly must

have had some meaning.3T

Wright's decision to adopt the hexagonal module in his second

scheme for the Hanna House may have been prompted by his

association of the geomctric form with the notion of reflex at this

32. V/right designed numerous octagonal libraries at this time, includ-ing one for the Bagley House, Hinsdale, Illinois (1894), and the projectfbr the A.C. McAfee House , Kenilworth, Illinois (1894).

33. This articlc, entitled "Reply to Mr. Sturgis's Criticism," was

published in a lirnited edition by the Larkin Company in 1909. It has been

reprinted in Jack Quinan, "Frank Lbyd Wright's Reply to Russell

Sturgis,"JS,4H 41 (1982): 238*44; and ident, Frank Lloyd Wright's LarkinBuilding: Myth and Fax (Cambridge, Mass., 1987), 165-68. My quotatiolris taken lronr the latter publication, Quinan, Larkln Building, 167.

34. Frank Lloyd Wright, 'I'heJapanese Print: An Interpretation (Chicago:

Ralph Fletcher Seymour Co., 19121 rcpr. New York: Horizon Press,

1967), 15 16. As an example, he idcntilled the circle with infinity, thetriangle with structural unity, the spire with aspiration, the spiral withorganic progrcss, and the square with integrity. Howcver, lbr V/right,their potent psychic power rerrrained largely intuitive and mysterious.

35. William Wesley Peters, president of the Taliesin Foundation and a

Taliesin fellow since 1932, told the author that his own sign, the circle inthe square, was an adaptation ofWright's own earlier usc of this emblem.According to Peters, who recalled having discrrssions with Wright on thesymbolic meaning of geometry, the circle represented architecture'sinfinite space and thc square, its finite reality. William Wesley Pete rs to theauthor, 22 April 1991. However, such intcrpretations oFgeometric lormare not sociological in content. For an extended discussion ofthe symbolicnatr"rre of Wright's geometry, see my "'Pure Form:' The Origins and

Development ol Frank Lloyd Wright's Non-Rectangular Geometry"(Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1991).

36. Wright, Autobiography, 1ti2-83. V/right attributed this method ofcrcating new lorms to his Froebel kindergarten education. In the Froebelsystem, the child began with three prirnary shapes, the squarc, the circle,and the cone or cylinder. The latter lorm was regarded as a synthesis ofthesquare and the circle. As the cxercises progressed, the child learned thatthe essential elements ofthe square werc the triangle and the straight line.

37. If Wright's statements in The Japanest Print arc recalled, forinstance, the hexagon would embody the values both ofthe triangle (that

is, structural uniry), and the square (that is, integriry). Howcver, its overallsynthctic meaning is not given. Probably, Wright was deliberately vague

so as not to destroy lor him the magic and the mystery, or "spell-power,"of the fornr as a creative source of inspiration by too rigrd or rational a

definition.

time. In fact, the Hannas' requirement for a house that wouldaccommodate the l'amily's changing makeup scems to havc

triggered the marriage of the hexagon with the notion of reflex.r8

Morcover, Wright now rcdefined the word, which had prcviously

simply refcrred to a building's de ference tc'r its site or landscapc.se

In an articlc on the recently completed Hanna House inJuly 1938,

he identificd a sociological impulse behind his usc of the

hexagon, stating that "thc hexagon [had] a more human rhythm.

All corners are obtuse as in a honeycomb. Therefbre a pattcrn

more natural to human rnovement is the rcsult. Interiors have

more reflex. Thcrefore tnore rcpose."4(l

Thc balance of repose-reflex in the hexagonal geometry

suggests that it affected not only physical human movemcnt, but

also unconsciously, social determination and development. Thcimplication behind the notion of a reflex geometry was that the

hexagonal forrn, as well as its pattern ofdiagonality crcated by the

obtuse angle, can influence human bchavior by determining its

rhythm. Indeed, Wright f-clt it was important to draw a connec-

tion benveen thc geometry and its social function and influence in

his April 1936 lettcr accompanying the drawings: 'You will sec I

think, a very direct pattcrn for simplc living in the dining and

working arrangemcnts as rclated to living room and play spacc

and terraces and garden."+r

In the Jarruary 1938 issue of Arthiwnral Forum dedicated to his

work, Wright went so flr as to assert that the "cross-section ofhoneycomb has more fertility and flexibility where human

movement is concerncd than the square. The obtuse angle is

more suited to human 'to and fro' than the right angle. That flowand movemcnt is, in this dcsign, a characteristic lending itself

38. Willianr Weslcy Peters told the author that the Hatrnas' request fbra design that wor"rld grow and change with the finrily pronrpted Wright'sdccision to use the hcxagon since it offered grcater flexibility in design and

movcment (that is, along six sides rathcr than Four), than the square orrectangle. Petcrs believcd diat WrighCs use of unconventional lpometryin thc 1920s-30s, primarily the triangle (the hexagon being cornposed ofsix equilateral triangles), was a direct outgrowth of his interest in rrrgrnicform and an increasing desire to create ever r.nore flexible spaces and

forms. Williarn We sley Pcters to the author, 22 Aprll 1991.39. Wright had previously used the term only rlrely. Its earlicst

instance occtrrs in An Autobiopraplry in Wright's discussion of building inthe Arizona desert. In describing the absence of "obvious symnretry" inhis plans lor Ocatilla and the hotc'l project San Marcos-in-the-l)escrt of1928-29, Wright drew an analogy to hunran reflexcs, staring thar: "Anysound constitution is pregnantwith graceftrl reflexcs." V/right,Autobio,qra-phy, 3{13. The statenrent, however, cloes not rcfer to any specific geometry,nor does it irnpute to thc br.rilding's desigrr dre ability to influencc social

behavior. "lleflexes" relers strictly to a design's responsiveness to featurcsof its site. It succeeding pagcs, howcver, Wright seems to suggest a Furtherassociation with thc architect's "one-fwo triangles," thc thirry-to-sixtydegrec set square, that fornr thc gables of the Ocatilla cabins whichreflected thc' rnountain rangcs and the ocatilla bloom; Wright, ,4 utobiogra-

phy,305. Thc referenccs, Irowever, are figurative, not sociological.,10. Wright, "Honcyconrb House," 60-61.

'11. Frank Lloyd Wright to Paul Hanna,2 April 1936, vol. 1, FrankLloyd Wright/Hanna-Honeycornb House Collcction, Stanlord [Jniver-sity Archives, Stanford University, Stanlbrd, Califbrnia.

JONOAS: FLw'S HANNA HOUSE IIEViSITED 313

admirably to life, as life is to be lived in it."r2 The analogy may

have come from Cornelia Brierly. In an essay of early 1937, she

emphasized the spatial and sociological continuum implicit in the

structural nature of the hcxagon, drawing an analogy to "those

master builders, the bces": "The sociological structure within the

beehive demands a unit adaptable to thc tremcndous growth and

activity that flows on from one generation of bees to another."

Thus, the hexagon was "space fluorescent."43

Wright ascribed to the hexagon two significant properties

which are distinctive of his notions of nonrectangular geometry

in general. First, that the hexagon's greater potential as a rellex

form lies in its ability to make space extcnsive along six rather than

four sides. Sccondly, and perhaps morc importantly, the obtuse

rngle gencrates spatial cxtensibilify primarily along diagonal

rather than thc gridiron axes of the square. It is this inherent

openncss ofthe obtuse angle, its greater flexibiliry in structuring

space and adaptabiliry to human motion through space, which

informs Wright's notion of reflcx geometry.

Thc plan of the Hanna House itsclf described a partial hcxagon,

the inflcxions of the wings of the housc marking the various sides

along thirry degree axial shifts (Fig. 3). Siting the building thirtydegrees north by northeast, coincidentally across the lot's widest

diameter, allowed the house to be seen from the crlrving road

below at a sixry degrce raking anglc, visually wedging the buildinginto its site. Panoramic views of the neighboring foothills opened

up lrom thc site of the house. As in the project for the Ralph

Cudncy Descrt Cottage ncar Chandler, Arizona (1929), and the

first schemc for thc Richard Lloyd Jones House, Tulsa, Okla-

homa (1929-31), both of which cmploycd triangulrr gcometry,

the building wraps around and opens onto a stceply-pitched, rear

garden.

Howevcr, the hcxagonal plan of thc Hanna House, though

sympathetic to its fi'ra1 location, was not initially detcrmined by

factors ol' siting. As mcntioned earlier, the Hanna House was

conccived bcf'ore thc present site had been dctermined. Wright's

initial plan was for thc single, flat lot.ra This is evident in Wright's

first color pcncil perspectivc drawing for the house, which shows

a much €ientler grade than the present site. Thc housc sits

42. Wright, ".Wright," 68.

43. Eugene Masselink to Paul Hanna, l January 1937, vol. 3, FrankLloyd Wright/Hanna-Honeycomb House Collection, Stanlord (Jniver-

sity Archives, Stanlord University, Stanford, California. L. CornelialJrierly, included in a letter fiom Eugene Masselink to Paul Hanna, 27

January 1937, Paul and Jean Hanna Archivcs, Frank Lloyd Wright/Hanna-Honeycomb Htiusc Collection, Stanlord University Archives, StanfordUniversity, Stanford, California. According to the Flannas, Brierly'sstatements ecl.roed idcas they had heard earlicr from Wright. Harrna, T[eOlients' Report, 54. Of course, Wright ncver abandoned the use ofrectangular spaces. However, it is irnportant to note that at about the timeof the Hanna Housc his prcFerence lor nonrcctangular geomctry inarchitectural design increased dranratically, and tl.re hcxagonal rnodulcbecanrc hereaficr one ofthe staplcs ofhis gconretric vocabulary.

,{,{. This was the plan that Wriglrt scnt to thc Hannas during the firstweek of April shortly after his visit to the Strnlord Campus.

314 JSAH 52:3, SEPTEMIIER 1993

{ir

,t .i,/ :,'

' 'It',.1

.il.r\I .r .\I 1tf.1.)i

Ff.r; -'-b:rt"t1i,.&,1-, li.G .ilc-,{it$.rr .R.AN, r,,r rr !Aur I r.,rur:{ i'liitl.. 4:r-ro .AL,.r FcRN,A ..i:.R,r.1 r L,t_tSyt

Fig. 3. Wright, Hanna House, plan, 1937, pencil on tracing papcr, 35" x 41" . (The Frank Lloyd Wright Mcmorial Foundatiorr)

Fig. 4. Wright, Hanna House, perspective clrawing showing the first site, 1937, color pencil on trrcing paper, 10" x 29". (The Frank Lloyd WrightMcmorial Foundation)

1.

':,},'"\-

t(/\

ffil'|:ot"-* ri'*rys;r:;: . .-_*.

li- iffi:{il':;g'* -ew:,l:ii6:l "ry'

.' ).:

il'.;."

.:,4:i

J{)NC]AS: FLW,S HANNA IIOUSE REVISITED

!Y:-.. uli

,i51''+'

@

the present site, looking northeast, 1937, pencil on tracins paper,22" x 37". (Thc Frank

,,,:'i.,*,.:.j

315

.4

Fig. 5. Wright, Hanna House, perspective drawing showingLloyd Wright Menrorial Found:rtion)

perfi'ctly flush on a concrete platform that is stcppcd up lroln the

llround (Fig. a). The steep grade ofthe prcsent site, an irregular

rhombus-shapcd lot, forccd Wright to adopt difTering floor and

tcrrace lcvels and retaining walls (Figs. 5, 6), thouglr using the

same nonorthogonal grid and diagonal phnning.+s

The Hanrras' educational conccpt of family intcrection is

manifcst as a seminal forcc in three planning features of the

house: thc design of the children's bedrooms, the inclusion of an

activity arca, or playmonr, firr the childrcn; and thc centrality ofthc kitchcn, or "laboratory," with its scientific-educational allusion.

The Hannas' rcfusal to irnplernent Wright's proposal lbr thc

children's bcdrt.lorns ccntcred on the educational valuc ofindcpen-

dettt personal expericlrce. Wright's initial schcrne called fbr a

single continuorls spacc with only rnoveable partitions bctween

thc threc beds. The Hannas, howcvcr, bclieved that a conrnrunal

bedroom would invitc a disruptivc cnvironrnent.+(' In a lctter to

45. It should rlso be rcrncrnbe rcd that Wriglit hacl initially proposed an

entrrely diff-erent lrouse. It is inrportant to notc thet at thc tinrc Wright was

drawing r.rp proposals fbr thc Hannas' lrorrse, rncludirrg per\Fcctivercnderings, no plrticular site lrad vct been settled on, unclcrscoring a

certain dcgree oiindepcndencc benvccn architecturc and nature in thisparticular projcct.

4(r. Jean S. Hatrna to Frank Lloyd Wright,2lJunc 193(r, vol. 1, FrankLloyd Wright/Hanna-Honeycourb Honse Collection, Stanfirrd Urriver-siry Archivcs, Stanlord Universiry, Starrlbrd, Califurnia.

Wright, they advanccd a philosophicel incentive: "For us, thc

sitnplcst way to achicve . . . harnrony as a linrily is to hold fist tcr

thc . . . principle that each individual rnust havc liis right tcr

ct'rnrpletc privacy. . . . Our wholc philosophy of eclucation re-

volvcs about the idea ofrcspect fi.lr thc privacy ofother niclnbers

of our srnall sociery."+7 Thc disposition of thc children's rooms

was crucial to thcir edrrcational devcloprncnt and, the I lannas

bclicved, only scparatc "stalls," as Wright rcltrred to the adoptcd

errangerncnt, would nurturc a happy environrncnt conducivc to

pcrsonal discovcry.

The Hannas' notion of activiry as a fundamental tool inedrrcation manifcsts itsclf irr thc acldition of a playroorn (Fig. 7).48

,17. Jcan S. Hanna to Frank Lloycl Wright,21 June 1936. Thc word"cclucation" appcars in thc only draft ofthe lettcr, though it is underlinedwrth the accornplnyirrg rlotation, prcsrrmably niaclc byJearr Hanna at thctinrc of thc letter's conrposition: "l bettcr say living." In the publishcdversion which appears in thc llannrs' book, the word hrd been substi-tutcd fbr "livinr," hrrther urrderscorinq tht' intcrchangcability of thcse

corlcepts to the Hannas. Hannr,'.1}rc Clints' I?cport,25..18. The playnrorn h:rd appcared in numcrorrs dcsigns by Vy'right belorc

this timc. In 1U95. he built onc rs an lddition to his own Oak Park honre

ancl studio. Anrong othcr purp()scs! tlre playroclm was uscd lor his orvrr

children's trainin€i in the activiry-orientecl exercises of the Froebel

kittdergarten mcthod. l)crhaps the rrrost larnous onc, howcver, is the

Avery Coonley I)layhouse, Ilivcrsidc, Illinois (1911). My thanks to the

anolrymous reaclcr ofthis articlc for pointing out this connection. RobertL. Swccttc'y, in his article "Thc Coorrley Playhousc, Riverside, Illinois,"

316 JSAIr 52:3, sEPTEMBER le93

Fig. 6. Wright, Hanna House, spring 193t1. The house, ficing south, showing the extensive retaining walls and garden fence to the right. "Theoverhanging eavcs ofthe living room fcenter ofphotograph] should have been ertcnded one-iralfhcxagon to provide more shade for the interior in lateafternoon." (E. tsorn, l)epartment of Special Collections, Stanfbrd University)

In the housc, thc playroorn's overall educational function and

importance within thc socir>logical construct of the family com-

munity is lrnderscorcd by its intimate bond with the main

living-dining areas.a') Altbough separated by a short flight of steps,

the playroom is both within view and reach of thcsc more lorrnal

spaccs. And its significance is anrplified by thc lact that, at lcast

visually, the combined area of the playrtlom and its olltdoorterrace rival that of the dining and living rooms.

'I'ln' Frank Lloyd Wright Neudctter (Nov.-Dec. 1978), 1: 2-,{, nrentions thatMrs. Coonley was deeply influcnced by thc tcaching ofJohn Dewey and

implernented thern in the kinds of activities undertaken by thc children-Their reenactnrent, fbr examplc, of historical events is cornparable to theideas espouscd by thc Hannas. It might also bc noted that Mrs. CoonleyWard, mothcr of Avery Coonley, f.:atured pronrinently in thc activitics ofthc liberal (Jnitarians and was lriends with Jane Addams. Indeed, she,

;rlong with Addarns, occasionally lecturcd at Tower Hill, Olcl Helena,'Wisconsin, which was an educational cornnrunity rtrn by Wriglrt's uncle,

Jenkin Lloyd Jones, not flr lrorn the present site of Taliesin. See, lorexarnplc, Uriiry (3 August 1899),39,+.

49. This relationship can bc compared to Dewey's advocacy of an

educational process not isolated lronr society: "tlre sclrool itself shall bc

rnade a genuine lbrnr of activc comrnunity lifb, instead of l place sct apart

in which to learn lessons." Dcwcy, Thc Srhool antl Sotiety, 14.

Moreover, Wright subtly tied the separate spaces together; he

ran thc primary a-xis of thc playroom through the open mouth ofthe fireplace. Esther Born's photographs of the playroom showing

a ciry ofbuilding blocks (Fig. 8), reveal the continuity benveen

these dilferent spatial areas. However, the spatial articulation ofthe playroom and the main living areas within thc house is

entirely absent on the exterior where a singlc continuous terrace

ties the two functionally distinct areas to€lether (Figs. 1,6). The

terrace, carrying thc scored hexagonal modulc outdoors, is in fact

the concretc mat on which the building sits. And when the light,

transparent wall screens of the playroom are fully opened, the

childre n's play area can embrace the whole house both psychically

and physically (Figs. 9, 10). Thus, a stronll psychological and

symbolic accent was given to the centrality of the childrcn and the

notion ofeducation through activity in the planning ofthe house

and the life of the family.

The analogy ofbecs buzzing around a hive ofactivity (represent-

cd by the hexagonal module), seems appropriate he re. Tl-re pivotal

location of the kitchen heightened an obvious sociological

rclationship bewveen the communiry of the beehive and the plan

of the housc, as Brierly suggested: "The mother is Queen Bee of

Fig. 7. Wright, Hanna House, Johnand Emily-Jean Hanna and lriendbuilding a block city in the playroomof the Hanna House, 193[J. (E. Born,Department of Special Collections,Stanlord University)

the Hanna honeycomb and from her kitchen-'Laboratory'-inthe center of thc hive can supervise completely the work ofmaintenance and the activities of her growing young family."str

The focus of family life around the kitchen, a prominer-rt feature

of Wright's latcr lJsonian houscs-whethcr psychological or

real-reflccted not only the exigencies of a Depression-era

economy which rcquired the family to maintain its own home,

but also thc refusal ofJean Hanna to be incarcerated in an area ofthe house away from the activities of the family.sl

Moreover, Wright's unusual description of thc kitchen as a

"laboratory" on the plans fbr thc Hanna Housc, a term not used

by him before thbn, undcrscored a practical ex?erience-and a

scicntific impulse-which dctermined the plan.52 Wright may

50. Brierly told tl.re author that Wright had initiated the analogy to tlrchoneycornb. A slightly different version of this quotation appcars in the

Hannas'book, although rt is apparcntly taketr lrom thc same sourcc. Thelatcr vcrsion reads as fbllows: "The nrother is queen bec'of the Hanrta

Honeyconrb and from her kitchcn in the center of thc hive she cart

supervise the housework and the activities of her growing young larnily."Hanrra, 'lhc Climts' Report, 54. Nevertl-reless, thc functional nteaning ofthe word "laboratory" here strggests atr analogy to Dewey's educationallaboratories as ideal or rcfincd envirotrnrc'nts in which the lcssons ofapplied psychology werc observed and analyzed. Sec Dewey, School and

Soriery wii-xxix.51. Wright's first constructed lJsonian house was the HerbertJacobs

house in Westnlorland, Wisconsin, designed sonretinre anrund August orSeptenrber 1936. Sec Hcrbert Jacobs with Katherine J acobs, Buildilry u'itlt

r-rank Lloyd Wright (San Fratrcisco, 1978), 11. See also John Sergeant,

Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Iloasn (NewYork, 1976), hcrealter cited as

LJsonian IIouses.

52. The word "laboratory" as applied to the kitchcrl tnay have beetr

inspired by a lctter lrorn Dorothy Johnson Field, prrblished in I'alicirr,(Spring Green, 1934), 1:1. Sec Sergeant, UsLtnian Housts 30. Although shc

assertcd that "The kitchen is not thc laboratory of thc house," Wright may

have liked the association. Moreover, John l)ewey was lbnd of using thc

.f ONCIAS: FLW'S HANNA IIOUSE IIEVISITEI) 317

have employed the word because of its appeal to the Hannas.

Indeed, as a center ofboth activity ar-rd obscrvation (an area from

which the Hannas could watch their children in the playroom), itfunctioned ideally as a kind of scientific laboratory. However, the

term had bcen popularized by domestic scicntists at about this

time.53 In any case, Wright located the hboratory at the heart ofthe house, removing it from the outsidc walls and backing onto

the chirnncy mass where it would be hooked up to a utilities core

as a prefabricated unit, as in lJuckminster Fuller's Dyrnaxion

house.sa

The kitchen in the Hanna House, as in most of Wright's

lJsonians, now opened onto an adjoining dining area flMright

word as a rnetaphor lor the scientific rationalL' behind technologicalprogress as it contributed to the bettcrnrcnt ofsocietal conditions. In his

essay or) "Philosophy" lrorn 1928, fbr example, he declared that "Practi-cally every phasc ofour present technique ofindustry and commerce has

its roots in some discovery rnacle soltrewherc' in sorne laboratory by stlnc'

scicntist. . . . Wc cannot discrirninatc . . . thc scicntific phasc of prcsent

civilization fiom its technological phase. . . . The rtrachine is the ar:thenti-

cally enrbodied /crr'os of modcrn liG. . . ." Betrd,Whither Mu*ind,316-17.Thc usc of laboratories in Dewcy's edrrcational instruction was n)eant

Iitc'r:lly ro crrrhrrcc.r scierrtific spirit.53. For example, in 1930, tlte M'rl York Herald Tlibtrie had published a

model kitchen dcsigncd by Lillian (]ilbreth, a nrember of the Tribune'snewly lounded Institutc firr V/onrcn. This ideal "labor-saving kitchen"was described as a "true hornc laboratory," underscoring the scientific

basis of its cngineering. "Test Your Kitchen by Ours," Ncur York HualdTribunt' Magozinc (15June 1930), in lllarrche Halbert, ed.,'flrc Better Honrcs

Manual of I'he Llniuersity d Clicago I lontc Erononit Scrir'-s (Chicago, 1931),

475.54. Thc influence of Fuller on Wright's desigr.r of the Hanna Housc

rnight also be notcd. Certainly Wright was lamiliar with Fuller'sDyrnaxion house, which was exhibited in Chicago in 1927, and published

extensively.

-tF

318 JSAH 52:3, SEPTEMBEII 1993

abolished the separate dining room), set adjacent to, ifnot in fact

made part of, the living room (Fig. 11). Although the living areas

embraced the fireplace along the obtuse angles of the brick walls,

Wright diffe rentiated the distinct functional areas of the seem-

ingly continuous open space. Pivoted on either side ofthe central,

projecting, hexagonal fireplace mass, the dining and living areas

were visually segregated by a ceiling deck spanning the void to the

fireplace itself from the dropped ceiling along the outside walls.

The living arers of the Hanna House, therefore, constituted a

three-dime nsional, spatial interweaving of overlapping functional

zones, reinforcing the impression of a flexible interior.

The Hannas' Fervent admiration of the house likely stemmed

from the fundamental construct ofthe sociological relationship ofspaces, and their preservatior-r during subsequcnt remodellings.

When the Hannas'children left home, the playroom was enlarged

to serve as a new dining room. Although altered, reflecting the

different focus of the parents' attention away from the education

of their children to the gathering of family and friends for meals,

the playroom remained intimately bound to the living rreas of the

house. Indeed, by aligning the dining table on the primary a-xis ofthe playroom centered on the hearth, the Hannas cnhanced thc

intimacy of both the room and its atte ndant activity. lnThe Clients'

Report, the Hannas noted the scientific principle organizing the

spaces: "The only true test of a theory is the way in which itworks. We can say that for us our house met the acid test of family

life."55 The Hannas further declared that "Mr. V/right gave us a

home that left an imprint on the lives of our children. They know

the subtle but true relations of form and purpose, of site and

dwclling. For them. beaury is a way of living. . . ."i"

55. Hanria, T'he Clients' Report,77.

56. Hanna, The Cllents' Report,77.

Fig. 8. Wright, Hanna House, play-room, 193i1. "In this original playroomthe children could construct their ar-chitectural projects with wooden blockand run their toys without our de-mand that the project be dismantledevery night. The wooden blocks weremanulactured by us out of scraps fromPhase One construction [1937]. Theprojecrs were :umetimes,rirporrs.sometimes harbors; other times ruralscenes or urban communities. In goodweather (most of the year) the slidingdoors made the indoors and outdoorsa continuous space." (E. Born, Depart-ment of Special Collections, StanlordUniversity)

In the 1938 issue of Arthitectural Forum, Wright summarized his

own experiences with the design of the Hanna House, stressing

the intimate relationship benveen geometry, technology, and

their resultant sociological influence: "I find it easy to take a

definite unit of any simple geometric pattern and by modern

technologies suited to the purpose, adjusted to human scale,

evolve not only fresh appearances but vital contributions to a

livelier domesticiry.":; This statement echoes Paul Hanna's own

conviction that social forces were shaped by modern technology,

and that activity in cducation could direct those forces into

dcsired goals.

Science as a pedagogic principle

Throughout thc commission, both Wright and the Hannas

invoked the language of science to substantiate the unconven-

tional nature of the house's design. The Hannas' belief in the

"acid test" oFtheoretical ideas was distinctive of Dewey's science-

based learning by doing. The Hannas' pragmatism seems to have

compelled Wright often to use comparable scientific rationale to

explain his ideas or to allay the Hannas' concerns about the

unconventional spaces gcnerated by the hexagonal moduie as wellas its cost and convenience. For example, in aJanuary 1937 letter

to the Hannas, Wright identified the hexagonal module with a

"new Reality" inspired by a practical simplicity, "or shall we say

science? It is the kind of science that is the true basis for art."58

Wright reasoned that in the long run, with the test of time, the

57. Wright, "Wright," 68.

58. Frank Lloyd Wright to Paul Hanna, 27 January 1937 , vol.3, FrankLloyd Wright/Hanna-Honeycomb House Collection, Stanlord lJniver-sity Archives, Stanford University, Stanford, California. In characteristicWrightian lashion, he dismisscs one forrn of standardization for another,one rlore responsive to his own aesthetic at this time.

:r.l'*"

JONCAS: FLW'S HANNA HOUSE REVISITED 319

Fig. 9. Wright, Hanna House, looking northwest, spring 193i1. "Large concrete terraces lor play and entertainment." (E. Born, Department of Special

Collections, Stanlord University)

proportions of such modular construction would avoid current

"cl-rmsy," "wasteful," and "ugly" stock and shop proportions.se

Moreover, in the 1938,4rrhitectural Forum,Wright was eager to

link science and machine production in thc design of the Hanna

House, creating a rathcr lalsc impression of the actual technolog-

ical proccsscs and materials used.60 Characterizing the design as

an "erperiment," a "preliminary study in prefabrication," he

declared that the Hanna House was a "plyr,vood housc, plyrvood

furnished."61 However, this is a somewhat misleading assertion.

The hexagonal module, composed ofunconvcntional 120 degree

59. Wright, "Wright," 68.

60. Wright's interest in machinc standardization in architecture had

been longstanding. This was especially so just prior to and in.rmcdiatclyafter the Hanna commission. In thc 1920s, he developed the textileconcrete block systern, and later the lJsonian housc. In both cases, Wrightassociated standardization with a rcpetitive, geonretric, rnodular unit and a

*yrten r oipref, rbricrted cor rstructiun.61. Wright, "Wright," 68. Thc Hanna House was designed ideally lbr

prefrbricated construction, principally sandwich wall units of redwood

boards and b:rttens screwed to either side ofa papered plylvood corc boardor stud, simultaneously creating in a single process both interior and

exterior wall laces (reminiscent of the supposed mono-matcrial properties

of the concrete block systern). Thc module ordered the disposition of theinterior walls both spatially and structurally, facilitating rnachine standard-

ization while reducing the neecl lor rnuch on-site labor.

angles, nrilitated against standardization, requiring instead the

employment of craft-traincd, skrlled carpenters to assemble the

walls over thc hcxagonal lines scored on the concrete floor mat.

Also, solid redwood boards and battens were used throughout.

These, howevcr, wcre secured to either face of papered plylvood

studs by scrcws.62'Wright's use of the term "plyr,vood" (a material

that was clearly the product of laboratory science), was also a loose

characterization of the layering of the panel walls.63 Although

Wright adrnitted that "this model for prefabrication was built by

hand," he declared that it was "primarily designcd" for "shop

methods."6a

62. Twelve-inch boards wcrc sccLrred by half-inch battens screwed

(the ir grooved heads uniforrnly set horizontally), to 718" x 8" pllwoodstuds (tlreir laces coatecl with aluminum foil lor insulation), set2'2" on

center. See Hanna, TJre Cllenx' Report, 73. This panel wall constructionwas characteristic of his LJsonian houses, first developed in the rnid-1930s. See Sergeant, Usonidn Houscs, 19. Also, the doors and the furniturewcrc constrLrcted from plywood.

63. In one instance, Wright referrcd to the wall panel system of his

lJsonian houses as "laminated wood, three thicknesses with paper-insulation benveen them. . . ." Frank Lloyd Wright, "Frank Lloyd Wright,"Architertural Foruni 88,January 194f1, 69.

6,1. Wright, "Honeycomb Housc," 68.

320 JSAH 52:3, sEPTEMUER 1993

Fig. 10. V/right, Hanna House, spring 1938. "The Hanna-Honeycomb House lrom the back terrace with the builder's officc still standing at the right.The hexagonal tiles of the terracc were originally a brick color but have fadcd over the years." (E. Born, Departmcr.lt of Special Collcctions, Stanford

University)

The somcwhat enhanced vicw of the technological potential ofthe Hanna House is, ncvertheless, consonant with certain design

ideals held especially during the Depression. The salvation of a

moribund building industry was thought to lic in mass-produced,

low-cost housing utilizing innovative materials and technical

systems based on prefabricated and standardizcd parts. In his

publishcd descriptions of the Hanna House in thc architectural

press, Wright evidently tried to idcnti$, the house with such

widcspread interests. In fact, his own assessfflcnt that conven-

tional "stock and shop proportions in planning modern houses

were as clumsy and wastcful as they were ugly" would have found

broad support since it was generally believcd that the collapse ofthe building industry had come about by an unregulated,

haphazard, and unscientiflc approach to materials, construction

processcs, and housing requircmcnts.{''

65. Suclr articles as that by Kenneth Kingsley Stowell, "A PreliminaryPlan for the Building Industry," Arrhitectural Forum 55 (August 1931):

125-29, callng fbr a scientif-ic study of building needs and r.naterials werenumerous. In one article reporting about a round-tablc discrtssion whiclrhad taken place at Princeton University, thc author asserted that "torealize how true it is that the tirnes have changed, onc' hacl only to hear

such phrases as architecture beirrg firndanientally the 'humanistic science

Tire Hanna Housc, however, was a protot)?ical (Jsonian.{'(' Itwas the first to use nonrectangular geometry, did not incorporatc

radiant heat in thc concrete floor, and included a large playroom

for the childrcn. It was not locatcd on a small suburban lot. And

its cost and size put it well beyond the stated goal ofthe (Jsonian

as a solutiorl to thc "moderate-cost house-problem."67 Wright, in

thc Arthitectural Forun issue of 1938, rccognized the exccptional

nature of the Hanna House. It was the "first expression" into a

"fascinating realm of form," a different manifestation of the

"thesis Ithat is, prefabrication and standardization]... in

<>f constructior.r.'" Anonyrnous, "Premises and Conclusions at the

Princeton Architectural Ilound Table," Arthitunral Rrrord (Septerrrber

I 937): 5il.66. The lJsonian, llrst devised by Wright in the carly 1930s, was nre ant

to be a nrass-prodtrccd, low-cost housc, cmploying a basic geonretricnrodule, sandwich wall construction, and radiant heat, its pipes embeddedin a thin concrete floor pad. The lJsonian was generally sct on snrall

suburban tracts of land. The house was usrrally closed to the street, and

crpcned onto rear garden cnclosure. See Sergcant, Usonian IIouses.

67. V/right, "Wright," 78. Thc construction rccords lor this first phase

of building suggest that thc house cost sonrcwhcre between $20,(XX)-30,(x)0.

JONCAS: FLW'S HANNA HOUSE REVISITED 321

Fig. 1 1. Wright, Flanna House, living roorn looking south toward the dining area. The areas are integrated through the use of ceiling decks and the pivotal

location of the large sunken hearth. Carpeting has been added, 193f1. (E. tsorn, Department of Special Collections, Stanford Universiry)

eryression.""8 In the same issue, Wright reiterated his beliel, first

stated in letters to the Hannas and in Cornelia Brierly's article,

that the "obtuse angle is more suited to human 'to and fro' than

the right angle."6e Nevertheless, the Hanna House marked a

significant moment in Wright's architectural career, and itsinfluence was lasting; it was the first realization of nonrectangular

modular dcsign since Vr'right began to explore such geometry in

the 1920s; and it created an avenue ofdesign parallel to his use ofrectangular geometry.To

Conrlusion

V/right captioned the plan of the Hanna House in the

Architectural Fofl)m rsstre of 1938 with a passage from "Song of the

68. Wright, "V/right," 78,8,1.

69. Wright, "Wright," 84. However, Wright never addrcsses the

contradiction he introduces: ifthe obtuse angle ofthe hexagon is nrore

appropriate to human movement, why then continue to use the rightangle in architectural design?

70. The influence of the Hanna House should also be mentioned inrelation to the development of the Eichler tract house in the late

1940s 50s. Eichler based his early models on V/right's Bazett House inHillsborough, California, a house that made use of the hexagon and had

been commissioned alter the Bazetts contacted the Hannas.

Open Road," from Vy'alt Whitman's Leaues oJ Crass. 'Wright

seems

to underscore the pedagogical stimulus behind the design of the

house. Whitman's passage also captures the essence of the

practical scientific spirit that wed V/right's architectural principles

and the Hannas' edr.rcational philosophy in the design of the

house:

'S/isdon is not finally tcsted in schools, Wisdom cannot be passed

from one having it to another not having it, V/isdom is ofthe soul, Is

not susceptible of proof, Is its own prool . . . Something there is in

the float ofthe sight oFthings that provokes rt out ofthe soul. Now Ire-examine philosophies and religions, They may prove well inlecture-rooms, Yet r.rot prove at all under the spacious clouds and

along the landscape and flowing currents.Tl

Whitman eschews academic processes in education for the

freedom of personal discovery wedded to the individual's life

experience. This is an ideal the Hannas learned from Dewey and

shared with Wright, and endeavored to incorporate into the

design oftheir house.

The Hannas may have acted as a catalyst on Wright's emerging

7'1. Wright, "Wright," 85.

i

l

I

-l'

322 JSAH 52:3, sEPTEMBER 1993

notions ofnonrectangular reflex geometry as a social determinant.

It seems likely that the Hannas contributed both directly and

indirectly to-Wright's perception of the hexagon as a fundamental

sociological tool. Their belief in architecture's ability to influence

behavior both consciously and subconsciously within a scientifi-

cally constructed realm may have inspired Wright's own burgeon-

ing notion of geometric form as social determinant. In his

autobiography, Wright recalled his own mother's efforts to

influence his environment by hanging illustrations of English

cathedrals on the walls of his room. Such an experience may have

reinforced in him a psychic relation between the built world and

its capability to influence character. This is further borne out by

the fact that V/right did not develop the hexagonal module in the

Hanna House from any specific Gature of the site, but apparently

appropriated it to serve the educational wants and needs of a

growing family. The Hanna commission served to realize archi-

tectural ideals latent in Wright's work since the 1920s, ultimately

determining the future course of his development.

t