A Precedent A Day. Entry #9: Fallingwater

A classic piece of architecture, the Fallingwater House is simply one of the most outstanding precedent in the world. Living up to its architect's reputation, Frank Lloyd Wright as one of the leading prominent architects for the last century, it resonates beauty and organic, lying in Pennsylvania, the United States. It served as a weekend home to a succesful businessman, Edgar Kauffman Sr. and his family for over 25 years.

The anecdote where Wright was asked to design the house was indeed interesting. It started when Wright was invited after an itemization of utopian model city to the house of Kauffman, 'La Tourelle', a masterpiece by a local architect, Benno Janssen. Wrigth, without subtlety remarked to Kauffman's son who is also an architecture student of his, Edgar Kauffman Jr., loud enough intending to be overheard by his parents, "Edgar, this house is not worthy of your parents." The boldness of Frank Lloyd Wright is simply powerful and intriguing that Kauffman then contacted Wright to propose a weekend house on one of his property outside Pittsburgh.

The main element of this house is the geographical value of the site. The property site that was intended to build the weekend house was around waterfall, at which to the client's surprise and then approval, the architect decided to have the house on top of the waterfall rather than facing it, hence dubed Fallingwater. The house constructed with little mean to not affect too much on the surrounding of the nature. The house make use of different cantilevers adjacent to each other creating different planes levetating on top of each other. This feature somehow blends nicely with the nature surrounding, organically imitating the formation of stones around the active waterfall that appear to come out beneath the house.

Compliments to Japanese architecture, Wright inspired to create the interior space to be interpenetrate with the exterior of the house, creating harmony between nature and human, according to Tadao Ando. Accustomed with Wright's own unique style and perception of architecture, the house is indeed organic and compliments the nature.

Personally, I want to hate the building for reason that it blends with the environment of nature too much, making use of the beauty of nature rather than the purpose of design. But, the design of the house does not seem to fade or made transparent by the magnificent of the nature. On the contrary, the house stands out and the architecture design definitely transfers beautifully. Fallingwater is one house that remains to inspire people and gives a good literal meaning of great art and architecture. An icon.

Images taken from http://www.wright-house.com/frank-lloyd-wright/fallingwater-pictures/pictures-of-fallingwater.html

"you can change it if you want..."

I have not written a journal for quite a long time. Something personal, something I experienced in my days of life as a first year Architectural student. Here it goes.

On 5th of March, there held an interim review on the Research Retreat, 2 weeks into the project. This project, based on a site in Hospitalfeld is to design a place for artists internationally to retreat and have personal space for work, to create new pieces in confinement. The requirement for the project proposal is to have six personal homes/studios, a communal place for the inhabitants including a public kitchen and a gallery.

The basic concept of my design is to have something simple yet intriguing which is to contrast with the microcosmos nature of the site that are covered with trees and flowers, features that are deep in complexity, something that is brought up during the previous Mediator project. The design of the structure started as doodles in the sketchbook, simple slanted structure which could allocate all different functions inside one structure. Upon trying it out on the Google SketchUp, the design of the house seemed too two-dimensional, too flat and plain. Hence, I played with the shape of the structure which brought to the now design shape of the project, an approach I most keen on.

My approach for the project is understandable as completely different, which is creating three towers that could allocate all six homes/studios with different structure for the gallery and communal place.

Having said that, during the review, problems regarding the idea is compiled - the positions of the towers which could benefit the northern light, the orientation of structure functionality, the difference and advantages of the upper and lower homes inside the tower, and basically the whole design itself. One said that the shape of the tower is pointless at which he exclaimed, "This is your design, you can change it if you want." Subtle.

But one did encourage the whole conceptuality of the design and to pursue it. Backing up the design, he required for solid solutions regarding the problems of the tower which to an extend of requiring to have not one, but a few 1:50 scaled models of the tower which are all due this week.

Personally, I do believe in this design and hope to be able to have it as the final product. I am getting into the project that I find myself excited in my own design and feeling rather proud not to change the whole basic idea which alas, seem quite self-indulged?