Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright
Anna Matevosyan and Diana Mirzaalieva
Every one knows that the most iconic building in America is the skyscraper. But not every one knows that a small personal residence in southwest Pennsylvania might be America’s most ingenious (smithsonianmag.com). And there is no doubt about it. One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most widely acclaimed works is about an hour's drive outside Pittsburgh. The house that stretches out over a waterfall immediately attracted people’s attention and instantly became famous. A National Historic Landmark today has a long history behind its name. Frank Lloyd Wright named his unique creation Fallingwater. Wayne Andrews, an author and professor of art history, has called it the "most famous modern house in the world" while Vincent Scully, a professor of the History of Art in Architecture at Yale University, proclaimed it "one of the complete masterpieces of twentieth-century art" (Fallingwater). A house in rural Pennsylvania that was designed and built between 1936 and 1939 specially for a successful Pittsburgh businessman, Edgar Kaufmann, by one of the most famous American's architect who loved nature and who was obsessed with an idea that the waterfalls should not only be an object of their admiration but become a part of their lives (Fallingwater.org). This residence is an example of organic architecture, the term that was actually coined by Wright himself. Today it is not a dwelling house anymore, but a place that in 1964 was opened to the public as a museum.
The person who made this project a reality was Frank Lloyd Wright, an American architect, writer, interior designer, and educator who exerted influence upon western architecture of XX century. He was born in 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, United States. His father named William Carey Wright was a music teacher and his mother, Anna Lloyd Jones, was a school teacher. His parents divorced in 1885 by reason of William's inability to provide a family so that Frank had to take upon himself the responsibility for his mother and two sisters. Afterwards Wright, originally named Frank Lincoln, changed his name to Frank Lloyd. In 1885 he entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he studied engineering. Two years later Wright left the University, moved to Chicago and worked there at first for architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee and then he was hired by the prestigious firm of Adler and Sullivan for whom he served for six years as the chief of design. In 1893 Wright opened his own firm on Randolph Street in Chicago and by the end of 1901 he had completed about 50 projects. And within his lifespan Wright designed several hundred buildings, of which around 500 were built. The main thing that brought fame to Frank Lloyd Wright was houses in the 'Prairie style' that he was designing from 1900 to 1917. The most distinctive features of these houses were sloping roofs, long and low windows, allowing a connection between the interior and nature and demonstrating the 'open plan', suppressed chimneys, overhangs and terraces made of unfinished materials. It all reflected the influence of Japanese architecture on Wright. Moreover, Wright promoted organic architecture (a philosophy that promotes harmony between the natural world and human habitation). This kind of architecture is very well exemplified by Fallingwater (Frank Lloyd Wright).
This house which Time magazine put on its cover, proclaiming it the architect's "most beautiful job", is truly a masterpiece (smithsonianmag.com). This small personal residence is constructed of cantilevered planes which are built in reinforced concrete. These planes are fixed into the rock of the hillside (Fallingwater). But the key of the exotic ensemble is the waterfall over which the house is built. Although the house itself may look as a loose pile of concrete slabs that may any minute topple into the stream, there is no danger at all. The heaviest and the largest part of the house is at the rear, not directly over the water, and thus with the house right on the top of the falls, it was very difficult to see them but easy to hear them. The interior of the house hasn’t changed at all. Everything remains just as the Kaufmanns lived in it. The furniture was specially designed for the house by Wright and it is mixed with other pieces the Kaufmanns bought themselves. This creation inspired the whole family and they became very interested in modern art and design. Afterwards, their son Edgar Jr., fascinated with Wright's ideas, studied with him at his school. Edgar Kaufmann himself described the structure of his residence as something extraordinary and unique. He said that “it is so unusual that, although it is accurately expressed, more familiar preconceptions lead most people to 'read' the house wrongly. In fact, Wright conceived the house as a series of horizontal concrete trays, upturned, stiffening edges; these trays are merely spaced one above the other by short stone masses” (Fallingwater). Wright didn’t want the inhabitants just to admire the waterfall. He wanted them to be a part of it, to live with it. The Kaufmanns’ residence is one of the most significant works of this innovative architect. He called it “a great blessing - one of the great blessings to be experienced here on earth” (Edgar J. Kaufmann, Jr. Residence “Fallingwater.”). He thought that “nothing yet ever equaled the coordination, sympathetic expression of the great principle of repose where forest and stream and rock and all the elements of structure are combined so quietly that really you listen not to any noise whatsoever although the music of the stream is there. But you listen to Fallingwater the way you listen to the quiet of the country (Fallingwater.org).”
Frank Lloyd Wright's life, views and philosophy have inspired generations of artists and architects all over the world and he is truly considered by many of them to be the most outstanding architect who ever lived. Fallingwater exemplifies Wright's own philosophy that "architecture is the triumph of human imagination over materials, methods, and men”. This house embodies man’s acceptance of a partnership with the environment and became a symbol of his respect for nature (Fallingwater).
Works Cited
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