#110 The Latest Member of My #500fllwproject

Jacobs II Home - Herbert and Katherine (1944). Middleton, Wisconsin. Photo by Andrew Pielage (2022).

Say hi to the latest member of the #500fllwproject, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs II Home, 1944.

I’ll just say right now, I love me some Frank Lloyd Wright Solar Hemicycle designs. Just when you think Wright can’t connect you any more with Mother Nature. 🤯

In architecture, a hemicycle is a wall, building, or architectural feature that forms the shape of a half circle. Wright named them “Solar” as the facade largely of glass faces south with a solid earth berm at its back. All winter long the sun would shine into the half circle of ground-floor living and dining areas and into the bedrooms that share a mezzanine. In summer, the broad curved overhang keeps the glass in shadow.

I always thought that Jacobs II was the original Hemicycle but come to find out, there was another Solar Hemicycle designed for a client down in Texas prior to Jacobs II but was never built. I’ll dive deeper into the Solar Hemicycle and my experience photographing this (build) original in my next newsletter coming out soon. Newsletter sign up here.