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Architecture of Fallingwater
What is Architecture?
The word architecture has two
meanings. Architecture is:
Why is it so famous? Think about it! A house that doesn’t even appear
to stand on solid ground, but instead stretches out over a 30’ waterfall.
It captured everyone’s imagination and was in newspapers, books, and
magazine covers like Time in 1938.
BUILDING WITH NATURE
Wild animals live near
it. Trees surround it.
Water swirls
underneath. Huge
boulders rest at its
feet. Architect Frank
Lloyd Wright designed
Fallingwater to be in
harmony with nature.
When the Kaufmanns first looked at Wright’s drawings, they were very
surprised! They thought their new house would have a wonderful
view of the falls. But instead, with the house right on top of the falls,
it was very difficult to even see them. But not to hear them! Frank
Lloyd Wright told them that he wanted them to live with the
waterfalls, to make them part of their everyday life, and not just to
look at them now and then.
Wright used only 4 materials to build Fallingwater—
sandstone, reinforced concrete, steel and glass. Can
you find all of them?
How many of these geometric shapes can you find at Fallingwater? Where are they?
Fallingwater Challenge!
Explore the outside of Fallingwater, then try to
answer these questions. Answers are below:
concrete, stone,
steel, and glass.
3 stories, plus a
the Servants
materials—
reinforced
architecture cooperating
Quarters.
with nature?
3. A lot!
With special thanks to our friends at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art for helping develop this guide!
www.ringling.org