Usonia is a word used by
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works....
to refer to his vision for the landscape of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including the
planning of citiesUrban, city, and town planning is the integration of the disciplines of land use planning and transport planning to explore a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities...
and the
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective
Usonian in place of
American to describe the particular
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions.
Usonian has occasionally been used in the sense of "U.S.
Usonia is a word used by
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works....
to refer to his vision for the landscape of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including the
planning of citiesUrban, city, and town planning is the integration of the disciplines of land use planning and transport planning to explore a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities...
and the
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective
Usonian in place of
American to describe the particular
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions.
Usonian has occasionally been used in the sense of "U.S. citizen". (See :wiktionary:Usonian and names for Americans.)
Usonian houses
'Usonian' is a term usually referring to a group of approximately fifty middle-income family homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in 1936 with the Jacobs House. The "Usonian Homes" were typically small, single-story dwellings without a
garageright|thumb|200px|A garage in [[Belo Horizonte]], [[Brazil]].A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles...
or much storage, L-shaped to fit around a garden terrace on odd (and cheap) lots, and
environmentally consciousEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment...
with native materials, flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive
solar heatingSolar heating is the usage of solar energy to provide process, space or water heating. The heating of water is covered in solar hot water. Solar heating design is divided into two groups:...
and natural cooling, natural lighting with
clerestoryClerestory is an architectural term denoting an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows...
windows, and radiant-floor heating. A strong visual connection between the interior and exterior spaces is an important characteristic of all Usonian homes. The word
carportA carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from the elements. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures a carport does not have four walls, and usually has one or two...
was coined by Wright to describe an overhang for a vehicle to park under.
Variants of the Jacobs House design are still in existence today and do not look overly dated. The Usonian design is considered among the aesthetic origins of the popular "ranch" tract home popular in the American west of the 1950s.
Origin of the word
The word
Usonian appears to have been coined by James Duff Law, an American writer born in 1865. In a miscellaneous collection titled
Here and There in Two Hemispheres (1903), Law quoted a letter of his own (dated 18 June 1903) that begins "We of the United States, in justice to Canadians and Mexicans, have no right to use the title 'Americans' when referring to matters pertaining exclusively to ourselves." He went on to acknowledge that some author had proposed "Usona," but that he preferred "Usonia." Perhaps the earliest published use by Wright was in 1927,
But why this term "America" has become representative as the name of these United States at home and abroad is past recall. Samuel Butler fitted us with a good name. He called us Usonians, and our Nation of combined States, Usonia.
-
- –(Frank Lloyd Wright on Architecture: Selected Writings 1894-1940, p. 100.)
No one has found the Butler reference.
John SergeantJohn Sergeant is the name of:* John Sergeant , English journalist and broadcaster* John Sergeant , American politician* John Sergeant , Roman Catholic priest and writer...
wrote, "It has been suggested that Wright picked up the name on his first European trip in 1910 when there was talk of calling the U.S.A. 'U-S-O-N-A', to avoid confusion with the new Union of South Africa." (USONA would have stood for
United
States
of
North
America.)
The word is clearly cognate with the
Esperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself...
name for the United States,
Usono. The creator of Esperanto,
L. L. ZamenhofLudwik Łazarz Zamenhof was an ophthalmologist, philologist, and the inventor of Esperanto, a constructed language designed for international communication....
, used this name in his speech at the 1910
World Congress of EsperantoThe World Congress of Esperanto has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run of more than a hundred years. The Congresses have been held since 1905 every year, except during World Wars I and II...
in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
, coincidentally the same year Wright was in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. However, the Esperanto online dictionary
Reta Vortaro attributes the word to Wright.
Noted Usonian houses
- Arthur Pieper residence, Paradise Valley, Arizona
Paradise Valley is an affluent town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town was 14,558. Despite the town's relatively small area and population compared to other municipalities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Paradise...
- Dorothy H. Turkel House, Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
- Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, commonly referred to as Jacobs I, is a single family home located in Madison, Wisconsin. Designed by noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was constructed in 1937 and is considered by most to be the first Usonian home.-History:Madison...
, Madison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
- Lowell and Agnes Walter House, Quasqueton, Iowa
Quasqueton is a city in Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 574 at the 2000 census. Just northwest of the town is Cedar Rock, a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which is maintained by the state as a museum.-Geography:...
- Kentuck Knob
Kentuck Knob, also known as the Hagan House, is a residence designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in rural Stewart Township near the village of Chalk Hill, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA, about southeast of Pittsburgh...
, Western PennsylvaniaWestern Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
- Muirhead Farmhouse, Hampshire, Illinois
Hampshire is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,900 at the 2000 census. A 2003 special census revealed the village has 3,805 residents.-Geography:Hampshire is located at ....
- Pope-Leighey House, Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,283. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as...
- Rosenbaum House
The Rosenbaum House is a single-family house, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in Florence, Alabama. A noted example of his Usonian house concept, it is the only Wright building in Alabama, and is one of only 26 pre-World War II Usonian houses...
, Florence, AlabamaFlorence is a city in and the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
- Weltzheimer/Johnson House, Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
- Zimmerman House, Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population...
- Donald C. Duncan House, Donegal, Pennsylvania
Donegal is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a distinct municipality from the adjacent Donegal Township. The population was 165 at the 2000 census...
(Dismantled and relocated from its original location in Lisle, ILLisle is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,182 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 23,376 as of 2005...
)
- Louis Penfield House
The Louis Penfield House is a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright, located in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. It is one of nine "Usonian" homes in the state of Ohio....
, Willoughby, Ohio
- Robert Levin House
In 1949, Robert and Rae Levin worked with Frank Lloyd Wright to build a house in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was the first house to be built in Parkwyn Village, a planned community of Usonian houses...
, Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo is the largest city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 76,145...
- Bernard Schwartz House
The Bernard Schwartz House, or Bernard Schwartz Residence, is a house in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. It is considered to be Frank Lloyd Wright's Life Magazine "Dream House". Wright originally developed the design for the house for Life Magazine in 1938. The Schwartz House is one of the few Wright...
, Two Rivers, WisconsinTwo Rivers is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 12,639 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace of the ice cream sundae . The city's advertising slogan is "Catch our friendly waves".The city has a city manager-council form of government...
- Usonia Homes
Usonia Homes is a planned community in Pleasantville, New York. In 1945, a 100 acre rural tract was purchased by a cooperative of young couples from New York City, who were able to enlist Frank Lloyd Wright to build his Broadacre City concept. Wright decided where each house should be placed...
, PleasantvillePleasantville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 7,172 at the 2000 census. As a village, it is located in the Town of Mount Pleasant. Pleasantville is home to a campus of Pace University, and the Jacob Burns film center...
, New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Sol Friedman House
Sol Friedman House Toyhill, was built in Pleasantville, New York in 1948. This was the first of the three Frank Lloyd Wright homes built in the "Usonia Homes" development north of New York City....
- Edward Serlin House
Edward Serlin House was built in Pleasantville, New York in 1949.This is the second of the "Usonia Homes", and its design includes a shed roof.-References:...
- Roland Reisley House
Roland Reisley House was built in Pleasantville, New York in 1951. The third of the "Usonia Homes", this is a building on a hillside with a masonry "core" and wood siding. Roland Reisley was 26 when he built his home...
- Frank S. Sander House, Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 118,475, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England Stamford is part of the New York metropolitan area.-Sister...
- J.A. Sweeton House
The J.A. Sweeton Residence was built built in 1950 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. At , it is the smallest of the four Frank Lloyd Wright houses in New Jersey. This Usonian scheme house was constructed of concrete blocks and redwood plywood....
, Cherry Hill, New JerseyCherry Hill is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. In the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 69,965 and was the 13th-largest municipality in New Jersey by population...
See also
- Names for Americans
- Polychrome Historic District
The Polychrome Historic District is a national historic district in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. It recognizes a group of five houses built by John Joseph Earley in 1934 and 1935. Earley used precast concrete panels with brightly-colored aggregate to produce the polychrome effect,...
A similar effort to provide inexpensive housing by John Joseph Earley
External links