Fallingwater

A different sort of structure today. An inspiring house called Fallingwater.

I found it almost by chance, idly studying a map. I recognised the name from articles I'd read in the past. It is held in reverential awe by architects - some of whom we met on our way round - a place that threw away the rulebook and has become an icon of modern design. When I say modern, I'm talking about 1938. But it still has a fresh modern feel about it almost three quarters of a century later. It's considered by many to be Frank Lloyd Wright's finest work.

The man himself.

He designed it in 1935 and it was built over three years. It was finished in 1939. It was commissioned by Edgar Kaufmann, who owned a department store in Pittsburgh. They had a log cabin retreat in the hills away from the smoke and dirt of the city, but wanted a new house away from the nearby road that was getting a little too busy for their peace and quiet. Now, after having our tour, we came to the conclusion that the Kaufmanns are due a lot of credit in the building of this place - more of which later.

We couldn't just turn up. On investigation we found we had to book a tour to be sure of getting in, such is its popularity. So, wondering whether it was as good as its reputation or if it was all overblown hype, we arrived at the visitor centre in the woods.

We were called for our tour, and walked a few hundred yards down through the woods to the bottom of the ravine where the house was built. First sight is stunning - the place seems impossible the way it is flung out over the stream and waterfall.

 I don't think either of us were prepared for the experience of walking round FLW's masterpiece. The entrance from the side was very small for such a large house, and the lobby area was almost claustrophobic, with stone walls close on both sides. But then it opened out to the diagonal of the living area, and what a feeling of space!

The ceiling was quite low though, and this took the eye out to the valley beyond. We immediately felt we'd love to live here - but only if we didn't have to do the maintenance…

The house was donated to the West Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963 by Edgar Kaufmann Jnr, and since then they've had the task of keeping the house as a museum.

But it's not like any other house museum we've visited. Nothing is roped off, all furniture is left as in a normal home, and there are works of art hanging and lying around in every room. We spotted two Picasso prints in separate rooms. The whole tour was a delightful voyage of discovery, there was so much to take note of and we only had two eyes each.

And this is where I think Edgar Kaufmann snr. deserves credit. He obviously loved art, and he knew that he wasn't just having a weekend retreat built, he was commissioning a work of art. The fact that the original budget of $25-30,000 went up to $150.000 certainly shows that he was on FLW's side. They apparently argued about the design and FLW didn't let them have everything they wanted, but they were good friends still when it was all over.

Edgar did eventually get his swimming pool, and there was a compromise on the garage - FLW allowed him to have four car ports under the servants' quarters.

It was cutting edge design for it's time, and although design principles using reinforced concrete were well understood it was still pushing the boundaries. When the wooden shuttering was removed after the concrete had set, the builder was sure it would collapse.

It is said that Frank Lloyd Wright spent a lot of time here looking for inspiration.

Apparently he got it from the rocks around...

There are structural problems due to the expansion and contraction of the building in the wide temperature range of this climate, and some strengthening work has been done. But as you can see, this beautiful building still stands to delight the thousands of people who visit every year.

Frank Lloyd Wright was certainly something special...

To get a feel for the place, have a look at this excellent computer generated video:

https://vimeo.com/802540

The official website is here:
http://www.fallingwater.org/