Sulaiman Bin Ahmed
Extra Credit
Falling Water
Falling
water house was designed in 1935 by a renowned American architect named Frank
Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). Falling water is located in the mountains of south western
Pennsylvania, also known as the Laurel Highlands, in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. in
Fayette County, and a distance of about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. In this
location i.e. In Mill Run,
Pennsylvania in the Bear Run Nature Reserve, the stream flows at 1298 feet
above sea level and suddenly breaks to fall at 30 feet. The building is one of
Wright’s most widely acclaimed works which best exemplifies his philosophy of
organic architecture: the harmonious union of art and nature. Falling water
house was designed for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner, Edgar
J. Kaufmann, Sr. as a private residence and weekend home. The Kaufmann family,
Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. (1885-1955), Liliane S. Kaufmann (1889-1952), and their
son, Edgar Kaufmann jr. (1910-1989), owned, lived in and used the building in
various capacities during their lifetimes. In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann jr. donated
and entrusted Fallingwater and the surrounding 1,500 acres of natural land to
the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
The
waterfall had been the family's retreat point for fifteen years therefore, they
envisioned the design as one across from the waterfall, so that they could have
it in their view. Instead, Wright integrated the design of the house with the
waterfall itself, placing it right on top of it to make it a part of the
Kaufmanns' lives. Wright's admiration for Japanese architecture influenced and
inspired the falling water house design and most of his work. In resemblance to
Japanese architecture, Wright wanted to create harmony between man and nature,
and his integration of the house with the waterfall was successful in achieving
his aim. The house was meant to compliment its site while competing with the features
of the falls and their endless sounds of crashing water. The power of the falls
is always felt, not visually but through its endless sound, as the breaking
water could constantly be heard throughout the entire house.
Falling
water building was constructed with native sandstone and other materials
quarried from the property. Falling water was built by local craftsman from
Fayette County. Wright revolved the design of the house around the fireplace,
the hearth of the home which he considered to be the gathering place for the
family. Here a rock cuts into the fireplace, physically bringing in the
waterfall into the house. He made this concept noticeable by dramatically
extending the chimney upwards to make it the highest point on the exterior of
the house. Falling water building is divided into two parts: The main house of
the family built between the year 1936-1938, and the guest room which was
completed in 1939. The main building contains simple rooms furnished by Wright
himself, with an open living room and compact kitchen on the first floor, and
three small bedrooms located on the second floor. The third floor was the study
room and bedroom of Edgar Jr., the Kaufmann's son. The rooms all relate towards
the house's natural surroundings, and the living room has steps that lead
directly into the water below.
The
circulation through the house consists of dark, narrow passageways, so that the
inhabitant will experience a feeling of compression when compared to that of
expansion they experience as they go closer to the outdoors. The ceilings of
the rooms are low, reaching only up to 6'4" in some places, in order to
direct the eye horizontally to look outside. The beauty of these spaces is
found in their extensions towards nature, done with long cantilevered terraces.
Shooting out at a series of right angles, the terraces add an element of sculpture
to the houses aside from their function. The terraces form a complex,
overriding horizontal force with their protrusions that liberated space with
their risen planes parallel to the ground. In order to support them, Wright
worked with engineers Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters. Their solution
was in the materials. The house took on "a definite masonry form"
that related to the site, and for the terraces they decided on a
reinforced-concrete structure. It was Wright's first time working with concrete
for residences and though at first he did not have much interest in the
material, it had the flexibility to be cast into any shape, and when reinforced
with steel it gained an extraordinary tensile strength. The exterior of Falling
water enforces a strong horizontal pattern with the bricks and long terraces.
The windows on the facade have also have a special condition where they open up
at the corners, breaking the box of the house and opening it to the vast
outdoors. The perfection of these details perfected the house itself, and even
though the house tends to have structural problems that need constant
maintenance due to its location. The Falling water, now a National Historic
Landmark, is a work of genius. From its daring cantilevers to its corner window
detail and constant sound of the waterfall, Falling water is the physical and
spiritual occurrence of man and architecture in harmony with nature.
Falling
water is an architectural wonder, but it still has a few major flaws. Its
skylights leak, the waterfall promotes mould growth and even worse the builders
didn’t use enough reinforcing steel to support the first floor’s concrete
skeleton. Kaufmann had initial doubts about the technical feasibility of
Wright's concept, and he hired consulting engineers to examine Wright's plans.
They discovered that the main floor's girders needed additional reinforcement,
but Wright dismissed this claim and forged ahead with construction. Over time,
gravity caused the home's first floor cantilever to sag, and in 2002, the
structure’s foundation was reinforced to prevent a future collapse. In the
process, the first level’s stone floor and furniture had to be ripped out.
Reference
PHMC
Historical Markers. Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical &
Museum Commission. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
Adelyn
P. (2010). AD Classics: Fallingwater House / Frank Lloyd Wright.
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