Franklin Lloyd Wright - Falling Water

[Zathros]

Ayn Rand commenting on Wright is just too much. It is a hypocrisy as her life was. Frank Lloyd Wright was the closest Architect to live juxtaposed to the Architect in "The Fountainhead". Wright would have done better with today's technology. I think Ayn Rand would have found a community of papermodelers at little to socialist, wanting one to build on one's own. She had a rather distasteful personal life also. Lots of biography written about her. She doesn't come out too good and I don't think history will treat her too kindly, since her personal life will forever be linked with her work (thanks to the internet), some which I liked but found simplistic, detached, and elitist. Many places in the world would have eaten her up and spit her out, as many other parts of the country would have, she lived in a fantasy land, and in fact that is what happened. Frank Lloyd Wright produced fantasy , in his work, but fantasy in which one could live in, not just read about.

I guess you have gathered that , "I cant stand Ayn Rand., nothing personnel.

[MIKBEW]

Although this reply doesn't help Stingray out some of you out there might like to get hold of 'Dimensions of Frank Lloyd Wright'. This is a 'pop-up' book which does contain a nice paper 'model' of Fallingwater' - closest I can find!

Amazon USA has a number of copies at $20. I picked a 'remaindered' copy up in the UK a couple of years ago for about $5. Sometimes you get lucky.

It's a good book.

[ukg]

hi,
is there any modelers available to convert brihadeeswara temple available in 3d sketchup into a paper model.

[Lady Prisspott]

There's some misinformation here. Wright did NOT divert the stream to build the house (have you even been there to see how its built?). He deliberately left it untouched against the wishes of his client and cantilevered the house from the existing rock strata above the stream and built a bridge over it to allow entry, all to avoid interfering at all with the stream. Wrights primary philosophy was that a building should harmonize with and not dominate its landscape. He would be spinning in his grave if he knew anyone thought he would divert a stream to build a house, he was a pioneer ing green architecture.

The house required refurbishment because the builder was unfamiliar with forming concrete and with reinforced concrete (a radical new idea at the time). He failed to bow the forms as Wright instructed resulting in sag after the perfectly horizontal forms (rather than slightly convex as designed) were removed. Kaufman also had less gifted engineers study Wright's plans and unbeknownst to Wright took it upon themselves to suggest increased amount of steel in the cantilevers increasing their weight and further increasing the sag. To top it off, the builder had a construction shed with heavy building supplies and equipment sitting on the outer end of the main cantilever as the concrete cured. These factors led to cracks and leaks that would have been avoided if Wrights plans were properly executed. Despite these construction issues the house stood cantilevered over the stream for 75 years before it was decided to do the post tensioning to prevent further sagging.

Its amazing how much misinformation there is about this house and how much people seem to want to tear down the legacies of pioneers and innovators. BTW, why would you buy a house with a tree growing through it if you're only going to complain about it? What would you expect would happen in the winter or any other time? Were the buyers too blinded by the desire to acquire a status symbol? Why blame Wright for something that a buyer was to blind to or too ignorant to understand?

[whulsey]

There's a Wright house here in Phoenix, the only one built using his spiral plan like the Guggenheim, that is in danger of being demolished by the new owners. Its on a couple of acres so the plan was to tear it down and build a couple of new houses on the property. Enough people went ballistic that the project is temporarily on hold, while the attempt is made to get a historical overlay for the property.

[HMCS]

rumor had it that he had not worked on the project at all,.. even though he told the client that he was,.. (he was busy on another project),.. when the client called him to tell him he was coming over to see the progress on the drawings FLW started drawing like crazy and had drawings done that same day right before the client showed up

[HMCS]

I have this one somewhere in my collection,..
http://www.steinerag.com/flw/Book%20...ieHs-Cut_1.jpg

Amazon.com: Cut & Assemble Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House (Dover Children's Activity Books) (9780486253688): Edmund V. Gillon Jr.: Books

[HMCS]

he was also notorious for never paying his bills
a roomate of mine in wisconsin said his grandfather use to have to "cut the power off of his house" for lack of bill paying,.. FLW would pay his bills usually when forced too

[Lady Prisspott]

Originally Posted by HMCS

rumor had it that he had not worked on the project at all,.. even though he told the client that he was,.. (he was busy on another project),.. when the client called him to tell him he was coming over to see the progress on the drawings FLW started drawing like crazy and had drawings done that same day right before the client showed up

Actually, that story about the drawing is correct. Kaufman flew to Chicago and phoned Wright to tell him he was getting on the train to come to Taliesen and look at the plans. Wright had not drawn anything but had worked it all out in his head. He told Kaufman, "Come along EJ" and went to the drafting room and began drawing furiously as apprentices handed him sharpened pencils describing, as he drew, how the clients would live in he house and in under 2 hours completed all the drawings. When asked later how he did that so quickly he would say he, "just shook it out of his sleeve".

Wright only visited the site of Fallingwater 3 times. Twice during construction and once well after completion. When asked at the time it was completed if he didn't want to see it he replied, "I designed it, I know what it looks like" He sent an apprentice to oversee construction but he wasn't there full time and the builder who was a local had to work from Wright's plans without guidance at times. This was complicated by Kaufman who was concerned that the building would collapse and hired engineers from Pittsburg who were constantly suggesting changes. Wright got word of this and sent Kaufman a terse letter withdrawing from the project at which point Kaufman relented but had the recommendations of the engineers sealed in one of the main parapet walls so that if it collapsed the engineers would be proven right and if it stood no one would know. The problem was that the damage with the increased steel reinforcements was already done.

[Kevin WS]

Lady - interesting story..... Thank you!

I'll be topical, and say quite frankly I personally do not like Wright's work at all - I think his buildings are brash and have little visual appeal!

I wonder if this is just me or other people feel in a similar way?