Fallingwater, Also Known as the Edgar Kaufmann House - Essay Example

"Fallingwater is a great blessing - one of the great blessings to be experienced here on earth, I think 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 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..."
–Frank Lloyd Wright
Talk to the Taliesin Fellowship,
May 1, 1955 (http://www.wpconline.org/fallingwater_main.htm, par.1)

Edgar Kaufmann Sr. was a successful Pittsburgh businessman and an owner of some property in the countryside with a waterfall and some cabins. When the small houses at their camp had been destroyed to the point that something had to be rebuilt, Edgar Jr. persuaded his father to hire the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Fallingwater is famous; all over the world lots of visitors come each year to its faraway site. Fallingwater has taken pleasure to many people over the years; as an energizing weekend retreat for the Kaufmann himself and his relatives, as a source of pride to Wright and his assistants, and now--cared for by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy--as a remarkable experience for visitors from near and far...

When Wright came to the site he enjoyed the powerful sound of the falls, the vital verdure of the young forest, and the dramatic rock ledges and boulders; these were elements to be reconstituted with the tenderly soaring spaces of his structure. But Wright's insight came to the depths. He realized that people were creatures of nature, thus an architecture that suited nature would conform to what was basic in people. For instance, though all of Fallingwater is opened by wide bands of windows, people inside are ‘safe’ as in a deep cave, secure in the sense of a hill behind them.

The attention is paid to the outside by constructing low ceilings; no luxury in the hall but, instead, the light textures of the woodland, enframed in great harmony. The color of the building reminds the colorings of trees and rocks.’Occasional accents are provided by bright furnishings, like wildflowers or birds outside. The paths within the house, stairs, and passages meander without formality or urgency, and the house hardly has the main entrance; there are many ways in and out’(Fallingwater,2004 The official site of Fallingwater). Communication and privacy are both possible, as are the properties of home and the adventures of the seasons. So the trip was refreshing and I felt relaxed and calm. The active watercourse, immediate surroundings, and cantilevered design of the house are considered to be in harmony, in line with Wright's interest in making buildings that were more "natural" and which therefore seemed to be more connected with their surroundings.

It is significant as it has a large historical and aesthetic value and is an example of Modernist trends in architecture. The house represents the culture of American Modernism, and it was very interesting to dive into the epoch of the first half of the 20th century. The building is connected with nature, which surrounds it and its significance is determined by the symbolic meaning of the eternal connection between humans and nature. People who lived there or spent their weekends felt refreshed, and as, for me, I felt that spirit of unity among people and connection with nature. As for me, I always believed that it is easier to express yourself by creating a piece of art – and now found clear proof for that.

Fallingwater is a masterpiece of the architectural vanguard. Fallingwater opened a new page in American architecture and is probably rightly viewed as Wright's greatest work, for he was first an architect of houses. Though we cannot help feeling that there is more than beautiful and unusual design; this is a creative work that penetrates our imagination, letting us see space and habitation in ways that seem new, but which we consider ancient at the same time, somehow basic to our human nature.

To sum up, I’d like to say that perceiving beauty and harmony does not depend a lot on race and ethnicity. Everyone in my excursion group enjoyed the picturesque sites and insight into the spirit of the 40th and early 50th. Also, I noticed that amidst such juicy nature we became ourselves, as we no longer felt the pressure of society and social frames, we just did not notice the race and ethnicity of each other and didn't feel communicational barriers. There we felt that human is a social creature and he needs socialization and communication regardless of gender, race, ethnicity and culture,e and stereotypes. As for me, it was important to visit this cultural site and to feel part of nature. Read More