Niedecken Writing Desk

Sofa and desk
This multipurpose piece is a sofa or daybed and a desk, and also has a bookcase and built-in lamp. As such, it is a prime example of furniture made in the Prairie School style, which merged architecture, interior design, and even the landscape and setting into an organic whole.

Irving House
George Mann Niedecken made this desk for architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Irving House, located in Decatur, Illinois.

Niedecken trained in Milwaukee and Chicago, as well as in many European countries, and worked in Wright’s studio. He left the architect’s employ in 1906 to form his own company in Milwaukee, but he continued to collaborate with Wright for years afterward.

Long horizontal
From the low-slung sofa to the wide desk, this furniture piece is more horizontal than it is vertical. The Prairie School drew inspiration from the midwestern prairie and its long horizon.

Lamp
The mixture of colors and horizontal and vertical shapes on the lamp are reminiscent of Wright’s stained-glass designs.

Bookcase
Wright was known for making chimneys the focal points of his homes. To mirror the architecture and remain true to the Prairie School style, Niedecken purposefully designed the central bookcase column, topped by a glowing lamp, to resemble the pillar of a chimney.

Columns, overhang
The solid columns and the dramatic overhang of the desk, which juts out far over the base, evoke a typical cantilevered Frank Lloyd Wright building, in which the roof extends significantly beyond the building itself.