Frank
Lloyd Wright (born
Frank Lincoln Wright, June 8, 1867 – April 9,
1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who
designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in
designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a
philosophy he called
organic
architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by his design for
Fallingwater (1935), which
has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture".
[1]
Wright was a leader of the
Prairie School movement
of architecture and developed the concept of the
Usonian home, his unique vision
for urban planning in the United States.
Design and constructionThe
structural design for Fallingwater was undertaken by Wright in association with
staff engineers Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters, who had been
responsible for the columns featured in Wright’s revolutionary design for the
Johnson Wax
Headquarters.
Preliminary plans were issued to Kaufmann for approval on
October 15, 1935,
[9]
after which Wright made a further visit to the site and provided a cost estimate
for the job. In December 1935 an old rock quarry was reopened to the west of the
site to provide the stones needed for the house’s walls. Wright only made
periodic visits during construction, instead assigning his apprentice
Robert
Mosher as his permanent on-site representative.
[9]
The final working drawings were issued by Wright in March 1936 with work
beginning on the bridge and main house in April 1936.
The strong horizontal and vertical lines are a
distinctive feature of Fallingwater
The construction was
plagued by conflicts between Wright, Kaufmann, and the construction contractor.
Uncomfortable with what he saw as Wright's insufficient experience using
reinforced concrete,
Kaufmann had the architect's daring
cantilever design reviewed by
a firm of consulting engineers. Upon receiving their report, Wright took offense
and immediately requested Kaufmann to return his drawings and indicated he was
withdrawing from the project. Kaufmann relented to Wright's gambit and the
engineer’s report was subsequently buried within a stone wall of the house.
[9]After
a visit to the site in June 1936, Wright rejected the stonemasonry of the
bridge, which had to be rebuilt.
[citation
needed]For the cantilevered floors, Wright and his team
used upside down T-shaped beams integrated into a monolithic concrete slab which
both formed the ceiling of the space below and provided resistance against
compression. The contractor, Walter Hall, also an engineer, produced independent
computations and argued for increasing the
reinforcing steel in the first
floor’s slab. Wright refused the suggestion. While some sources state that it
was the contractor who quietly doubled the amount of reinforcement,
[10]
according to others,
[9]
it was at Kaufmann’s request that his consulting engineers redrew Wright’s
reinforcing drawings and doubled the amount of steel specified by Wright. In
addition, the contractor did not build in a slight upward incline in the
formwork for the
cantilever to compensate for the settling and
deflection of
the cantilever. Once the concrete formwork was removed, the cantilever developed
a noticeable sag. Upon learning of the steel addition without his approval,
Wright recalled Mosher.
[11]With
Kaufmann’s approval, the consulting engineers arranged for the contractor to
install a supporting wall under the main supporting beam for the west terrace.
When Wright discovered it on a site visit he had Mosher discreetly remove the
top course of stones. When Kaufmann later confessed to what had been done,
Wright showed him what Mosher had done and pointed out that the cantilever had
held up for the past month under test loads without the wall’s support.
[12]In
October 1937, the main house was completed.
Cost
The home and guest house
cost US$155,000,
[5][13]
broken down as follows: house $75,000; finishing and furnishing $22,000; guest
house, garage and servants' quarters $50,000; architect's fee $8,000.
The
total project price of $155,000, adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of
approximately $2.4 million in 2009.
[14]
A more accurate reflection of the relative cost of the project in its time is
that the cost of restoration alone in 2002 was reported at $11.4 million.
Use of the
house
Fallingwater was the family's weekend home from 1937 to 1963.
In 1963, Kaufmann, Jr. donated the property to the
Western
Pennsylvania Conservancy. In 1964, it was opened to the public as a museum.
Nearly six million people have visited the house as of January 2008. Despite its
location in a remote corner of Pennsylvania (two hours' drive from Pittsburgh),
the house (according to the informational pamphlet distributed on the grounds)
currently hosts more than 150,000 visitors each year.
[13] Style
Interior of Fallingwater depicting a sitting area
with furnishings designed by Wright
Fallingwater stands as one
of Wright's greatest masterpieces both for its dynamism and for its integration
with the striking natural surroundings. Wright's passion for
Japanese
architecture was strongly reflected in the design of Fallingwater,
particularly in the importance of interpenetrating exterior and interior spaces
and the strong emphasis placed on harmony between man and nature. Contemporary
Japanese architect
Tadao Ando has stated: "I
think Wright learned the most important aspect of architecture, the treatment of
space, from
Japanese
architecture. When I visited Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, I found that same
sensibility of space. But there was the additional sounds of nature that
appealed to me."
[15]The
extent of Wright's genius in integrating every detail of his design can only be
hinted at in photographs. This
organically
designed private residence was intended to be a nature retreat for its
owners. The house is well known for its connection to the site; it is built on
top of an active waterfall which flows beneath the house. The fireplace
hearth in the living
room integrates boulders found on the site and upon which the house was built —
ledge rock which protrudes up to a foot through the living room floor was left
in place to demonstrably link the outside with the inside. Wright had initially
intended that the ledge be cut flush with the floor, but this had been one of
the Kaufmann family's favorite sunning spots, so Mr. Kaufmann suggested that it
be left as it was.
[citation
needed] The stone floors are waxed, while the hearth is
left plain, giving the impression of dry rocks protruding from a
stream.
Integration with the setting extends even to small details. For
example, where glass meets stone walls there is no metal frame; rather, the
glass and its horizontal dividers were run into a caulked recess in the
stonework so that the stone walls appear uninterrupted by glazing. From the
cantilevered living room, a stairway leads directly down to the stream below,
and in a connecting space which connects the main house with the guest and
servant level, a natural
spring drips water
inside, which is then channeled back out. Bedrooms are small, some with low
ceilings to encourage people outward toward the open social areas, decks, and
outdoors.
cited;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater
