Falling Water

Falling Water


Falling Water is located in Pennsylvania and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Completed in 1964, Falling water is an excellent example of organic/modern architecture. This residence was designed for the Kaufmann family after the son developed a friendship with Frank Lloyd Wright while attending his school. The family imagined a home facing the waterfall so that they could view it every day. However, Frank Lloyd Wright envisioned the house integrating with the waterfall itself. He planned on doing this by placing the house onto of the waterfall in order to have it become a part of the Kaufmann family’s lives. Wright always had a great admiration for Japanese architecture which had a strong belief in strengthening the harmony between man and nature. By placing the building on top of the waterfall, it becomes dominant in the house through sound and feeling rather than sight. The waterfall is constantly crashing just below the summer home, echoing the sound throughout the house. Frank Lloyd Wright’s design was aimed to redefine the relationship between man, the architecture, and nature. Throughout the house there is architectural implementations to encourage the relationship of the people in the house to the beautiful natural landscape just outside. Each of the rooms relate to the natural surroundings of the house, some very directly, for example, the living room has steps that lead directly into the water just below. Wright arranged the interior of the house around a fireplace which he thought would be the main gathering place inside the house. Even this main internal piece has a relation to the waterfall by having rocks cut away into the fireplace which physically brings the waterfall into this great design. Other ways this building relates to its surroundings is in its circulation. The house has narrow passageways that open up to the nature surrounding the house, creating a feeling of compression while in the corridors. The corridors are also short in height only reaching up to 6’-4” in order to force eye level to look horizontally outside. The extensions of these corridors out towards the natural landscape encourages a physical relation or interaction between man and nature, aided by architecture. Corridors aren't the only parts of the house that strengthens the relationship between man and nature. Big cantilevered terraces shoot out at very orthogonal ninety degree angles towards natural elements and are one of the houses most identifiable aspects. These terraces are made of reinforced concrete, and this was the first time Frank Lloyd Wright used concrete on a small residential scale. The adaption of concrete to this scale allows for endless amounts of unique and original shapes that can be reinforced with steel to provide extraordinary strength . With Frank Lloyd Wright being well-known for his “organic” architecture, it seems a bit ironic that masonry is the material of choice. However, using concrete to create organic shapes, encourages the relationship between man and architecture and almost makes it seem as if they are becoming one with each other. 



“AD Classics: Fallingwater House / Frank Lloyd Wright.” ArchDaily, 14 May 2010, www.archdaily.com/60022/ad-classics-fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright.

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