It’s not surprising that Frank Lloyd Wright was one of Barbara Ashton’s favorite architects. “Wright used mathematics extensively in his work—not just in the engineering of his buildings, but in their artistic design,” says Ashton, an associate professor of mathematics.
Next month, Ashton will conduct a one-day workshop for kindergarten teachers and K-12 teachers in which she explores ways they can use Wright’s architecture in the classroom to help children develop proficiency in mathematics and a greater appreciation for art and nature.
“As a math teacher, I’ve always felt a responsibility to help students see the connection between math and the real world,” she says. “Perhaps nowhere is that connection more evident or important than in architecture.”
A unique setting
Fittingly, Ashton’s workshop will take place at Falling Water, a landmark house built over a waterfall in western Pennsylvania, designed by Wright in 1934 and ranked by many as one of the most beautiful and innovative residences in the world.
“What few people know is that Wright’s mother was one of the first kindergarten teachers in the U.S.,” says Ashton. “She’d been impressed by the work of Frederick Fröbel, the German educator who pioneered the kindergarten concept in the 1840s as a setting where children would learn through play.”
Fröbel designed a variety of materials children could work with in kindergarten, “starting with simple blocks and progressing through multicolored piles and other objects they could use to create designs—animals, flowers and other objects found in nature, and then pure artistic designs like starbursts or geometric shapes,” Ashton says.
Creative blocks
In his autobiography, Wright wrote that it was through working with Fröbel’s materials “that he developed a real feel for the connection between nature, mathematics and art—a connection that had a profound impact on his perception of the world and his creative abilities throughout his career,” says Ashton.
“This is evident in the fact that he typically created architectural designs by placing blocks on a grid.” Many of the buildings he designed reflect that technique; a notable exception is the Guggenheim Museum, “where Wright’s basic shape was the circle,” she says.
In her workshop, which will take place on November 21, Ashton will help familiarize teachers with Wright’s designs and what makes them unique. More importantly, she will help them develop ways “to get children to use their hands, eyes and mind and integrate ideas from nature, mathematics and art,” she says. “They’ll also have the opportunity to tour Falling Water, a fascinating place to visit. Hopefully, they’ll be able to bring their students there as well someday.”
