Testing the 'Wright Space': using isovists to analyse prospect-refuge characteristics in Usonian architecture

Historians and critics argue that the innate appeal of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture can be traced to the way in which it balances the properties of outlook, enclosure and mystery. Such properties, it has been theorised, are responsible for the positive emotional response felt by inhabitants of Wright's buildings. Hildebrand explains these psychological responses by proposing the existence of a particular pattern of prospect-refuge characteristics: the 'Wright Space'. In response to this claim, the present paper uses isovists to analyse the spatial and visual experience of moving through five of Wright's Usonian houses to seek evidence of this pattern. The mathematical properties of these isovists provide measures for comparing the spatio-visual character of different locations. The results of this research show some evidence of the spatial pattern identified by Hildebrand but it is insufficient to class this as either unique to Wright or especially significant.