INSTRUCTIONS AND PROPHECIES OF THE Blessed MOTHER ALIPIA GOLOSEEVSKY, Kyiv...
Unique Vacation home, designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in southwestern Pennsylvania, 80 kilometers southeast of the city of Pittsburgh - in a picturesque area called Bear Creek.
Wright, a passionate admirer of Japanese architecture, managed to create an object saturated with dynamism and very successfully fit it into the natural and very picturesque nature. The building is completely merged with surrounding nature and is perceived as part of the landscape, and not as something alien to it. In this creation, Wright focuses on interpenetrating external and internal spaces, symbolizing the harmony between man and nature.
Wright's masterpiece has been called "undoubtedly the most famous house modern America if not the whole world. Almost immediately after the completion of construction, the American magazine Time called the "House over the Falls" "the most beautiful work Wright." Another American magazine, the Smithsonian, included The Falls House on its list of "28 Places to Visit Before You Die". In 2007, the building was ranked twenty-ninth on America's Favorite Architecture list.
After the well-known American writer Henry Lewis told readers about the "House over the Falls" from the pages of leading American magazines, this place became a cult one. Visitors flocked here from all over the country. Among them were many celebrities of those years: Albert Einstein, Ingrid Bergman, William Randolph Hearst, Marlene Dietrich. The fame of this amazing building even reached the President of the United States - Franklin Roosevelt. The president, despite his busy schedule, still managed to find time to see this architectural marvel with his own eyes. In total, the House over the waterfall has already been visited by more than 6 million people.
Where did modern private architecture come from.
Plus video:
Wright's Core Principles
Minimize the number of required building parts and the number private rooms in the house, forming the whole as a closed space, subdivided in such a way that the whole is permeated with air and freely visible, giving a sense of unity.
1. To connect the building as a whole with its site by giving it a horizontal extension and emphasizing planes parallel to the ground, but not occupying the best part of the site with the building, thus leaving this the best part for its use, for functions related to life at home; it is a continuation of the horizontal planes of the floors of the house, extending beyond its limits.
2. Do not make the room a box, and the house - another box, why turn the walls into screens that enclose the space; ceilings, floors and enclosing screens should overflow into each other, forming one general fencing a space with a minimum of subdivisions. To make all the proportions of the house closer to human, constructive solution with the smallest expenditure of volume and most suitable for the materials used, and the whole, therefore, the most suitable for life in it. Apply straight lines and streamlined shapes.
3. Remove the base of the house, containing the unhygienic basement, from the ground, place it completely above the ground, turning it into a low plinth for the living part of the house, making the foundation in the form of a low stone platform on which the house should stand.
4. Bring all the necessary openings leading outward or inward in accordance with human proportions and place them naturally in the scheme of the entire building - either in a single form, or in groups. Usually they act as transparent screens instead of walls, because the whole so-called "architecture" of the house is expressed mainly in the way these openings in the walls are grouped into rooms as enclosing screens. interior as such now takes on significant architectural expression, and there should be no holes cut into the walls like holes cut into the walls of a box. "To make holes in the walls is violence."
5. Avoid combination various materials and, as far as possible, strive for the use of one material in construction; do not use decorations that do not follow from the nature of the material, so that the building more clearly expresses the place in which they live, and so that the general character of the building clearly testifies to this. Straight lines and geometric shapes correspond to the work of the machine in construction, so that the interior naturally takes on the character of machine production.
6. Combine heating, lighting, water supply with building structures so that these systems become integral part the building itself. The elements of the equipment thus acquire an architectural quality: here, too, the development of the ideal of organic architecture is manifested.
7. Combine with building elements, as far as possible, furnishings, as elements of organic architecture, making them one with the building and giving them simple shapes corresponding to the operation of the machine. Straight lines again rectangular shapes.
8. Exclude the work of the decorator. If he does not bring styles to the rescue, then he will definitely use “curls and flowers”.
And one more thing: Wright's "commandments" addressed to young architects.
1. Forget about all the architectures in the world if you don't understand that they were good in their kind and in their time.
2. Let none of you enter into architecture for the sake of earning your living, if you do not love architecture as a living principle, if you do not love it for its sake; prepare to be faithful to her, as mother, friend, yourself.
3. Beware of architecture schools in anything but engineering.
4. Go to the production, where you can see the actions of machines and mechanisms that produce modern buildings, or work in practical construction until you can naturally move from construction to design.
5. Immediately begin to develop the habit of thinking "why" about everything you like or dislike.
6. Take nothing for granted beautiful or ugly, but dismantle each building piece by piece, finding fault with every feature. Learn to distinguish the curious from the beautiful.
7. Acquire the habit of analyzing, in time the ability to analyze will enable the development of the ability to synthesize, which will also become a habit of the mind.
8. “Think in simple terms,” as my teacher used to say, meaning that the whole is reduced to its parts and simplest elements on the basis of first principles. Do this in order to go from the general to the particular, never confusing them, otherwise you will get confused yourself.
9. Bane the American "quick turnaround" idea. To begin practical activities half-baked is to sell your birthright to be an architect for lentil soup, or die claiming to be an architect.
10. Take your time to finish your preparation. At least ten years of preliminary preparation for architectural practice is necessary for an architect who wants to rise above the average level in the ability to evaluate and in practical architectural activity.
12. Consider building a chicken coop as good a job as building a cathedral. The size of the project means little in art, apart from financial matters. Expressiveness is taken into account in the actual calculation. Expressiveness can be big in small or small in big.
You should not put everything in life on a commercial footing, and precisely because you happened to live in the age of machines. For example, architecture today stalks the streets for sale, as "getting a job" has become the first principle of architecture. In architecture, the job is to look for the person, not the person for the job. In art, work and man are partners; none of them can be bought or sold to others. In the meantime, since what we have been talking about is the highest and most beautiful kind of integrality, hold your own ideal of honesty so high that the most important thought of your ambition in life is to call yourself honest man and look yourself straight in the eye. Hold your ideal of honesty so high that you yourself cannot reach it.
[F.L. Wright. "The Future of Architecture". State publishing house of literature on construction, architecture and building materials. Moscow - 1960]
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
« house above the waterfall (Villa Kaufman), Bear Run, pc. Pennsylvania, 1935
We were as lucky as drowned men with Mr. Kaufman's villa - it rained all day in Pennsylvania. Although, how to say? I remember many years ago my colleague Sasha Mikhailov assured that after rain the tree trunks darken and black verticals emphasize the flying horizontal planes of the House above the waterfall. Hmm... Maybe it looks like this in winter, but in early autumn the crowns are still full of greenery, and you can only see the most iconic villa of the 20th century in the foliage grid. 
The first 4 hours of our journey flew by quite cloudlessly, but we drove up to Bear Run in a dense wall of rain. It was suggested that in such weather we were unlikely to be disturbed by large crowds of tourists.
But these hopes were dashed as soon as we saw two large, densely packed parking lots.
There were too many tourists. This is probably always the case, because special pavilions are built for waiting, where you can relax after a long journey, have a bite to eat and buy an abyss of largely useless things with the logos of Wright and his Villa.
After coffee, those who are unfamiliar with the work of the maestro can partially replenish their knowledge without leaving the cafeteria.
In the remaining time, it is pleasant to stroll through the surrounding forest, looking at the multicolored wet leaves in the grass.
We bought tickets for the tour in advance on the Kaufman Villa website. Upon arrival, we registered and received a pager in our hands, which told us about the collection of our excursion group. So after half an hour of waiting, we finally set off to look at the house, not forgetting to grab umbrellas from the Wright Foundation along the way, which were placed everywhere at the entrances and exits.
First stop near the bridge over the backwater at the waterfall. A general excursion into the history of the villa, a few words about the greatness of Wright, the first photographs and a warning that photography is strictly prohibited inside.
In the last moments before entering, everyone is envious and considers the lucky ones, who are already pushing umbrellas on the large terrace.
Therefore, after getting inside - first of all on that very terrace ...
Look at the waterfall from above. And, alas, it is almost non-existent. Not a season.
The house is almost impossible to rent because of the dense umbrella curtain.
With difficulty I make my way into the corner and take a couple of pictures of Wright's famous corner windows.
If you know, he was also a famous lover of Japanese art.
In the interior, they still manage to take a few pictures, until it turns out that security cameras are placed throughout the house.
I get a scolding from the guide and, unfortunately, I hide the camera in a wardrobe trunk.
Therefore, the rest, including the absolutely amazing guest house, remains only in memory.
But after getting out of it, you can pull back and click whatever you want.
Thus, frames appear that, as a rule, are not published in books.
This is a passage under the house and an open passage to the guest house.
The rain is trying to interfere, but we absolutely do not care. After so many decades of waiting, nothing can spoil the holiday.
We return to the starting point of the tour. After hanging around here for a while, you can take a dozen well-known photographs.
But the main shooting point is still ahead.
No, it's not her yet. This one is pretty good though!
And this one too :)
And here she is. I wait a few minutes until a spot is free for photographing. Snapping off a few panoramas. And it's time to say goodbye.
My dear
house above the waterfall- the project of Frank Wright, which was implemented in the period from 1936-39. It is located in the southwest of the US state of Pennsylvania, in a wooded area called "Bear Creek". The nearest city is Pittsburgh, it is located 80 kilometers to the northeast. In 1966, this one received the status of a US National Historic Landmark. Today " house above the waterfall” is included in the mandatory program of many tourist routes.
The history of the creation of "House over the waterfall"
Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect who developed the Houses over the Falls project, was a very famous and sought-after specialist in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. However, during the Great Depression of 1929-1933, he found himself practically out of work. During these years, he opened the art studio "Taliesin" at his home, which went to Edgar Kaufman, the son of an influential businessman from Pittsburgh. Edgar was very imbued with the architectural ideas of Wright and persuaded his father to entrust him with the construction of their new country house. The difficulty was that the construction site was located in a rocky area. When Wright saw the picturesque surroundings of Bear Creek, he came up with the idea to create such a house that would become part of this picture. During the construction of the "House over the waterfall", he sought to leave intact all the trees and not move a single boulder. To do this, the Pennsylvania engineering company Fayette Engineering Company of Uniontown made a detailed topographic survey of the site, indicating all the growing trees and the location of all stones, rocks and streams.
On the development of the project "Houses over the waterfall" Frank Wright worked with two colleagues, engineers Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters. In March 1936, they completed the development of the project and began building the house. It lasted 6 years and cost 155 thousand US dollars. This amount included the cost of building the main house (75 thousand dollars), its decoration and interior furnishings (22 thousand dollars), guest house, a garage and a house for servants ($50,000). The architect Frank Wright's fee was $8,000.
The exterior of the house is designed mainly in light colors, matching the color of the surrounding landscape. The interior of the whole house is similar in design to the exterior. There is almost no plaster inside the house. To soften the overly stern look stone walls and reinforced concrete, wood paneling is actively used in the interior. Wright didn't stop at designing just one house. According to his sketches, many interior items were created. For example, carpets and living room furniture.
In 1963, Edgar Kaufman Jr. donated the Falls House to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. In 1964 the house became a museum and was opened to the public. As of January 2008, the House over the Falls has had about six million visitors. Despite its remote location in Pennsylvania, the Falls House currently welcomes more than 150,000 visitors annually.
general information
Wealthy Pittsburgh businessman Edgar Kaufmann commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build a country residence near the city in Pennsylvania. Kaufmann wanted a simple house with a view of the falls.
Wright asked permission to visit the site of the future construction and inspect the waterfall, all the boulders and trees. He then designed one of his most famous creations, which the American Institute of Architecture proclaimed " best job American architect for all time. This is a stunning example of organic architecture, a harmonious fusion of man and nature through design. Following the natural relief of the surrounding rocks, Wright built a house over the waterfall in the form of several concrete "trays", using sandstone slabs for the walls. Rising more than 9 m above the waterfall, clear horizontals and low ceilings Wright's buildings create a sense of security without disturbing the surrounding landscape.
Completed in 1939, this house is Wright's only project with original furniture and works of art designed by him, open to the public. The house exhibits a collection of works of fine art, books, furniture and other interesting exhibits collected by the Kaufmann family from the 1930s to the 1960s. Here you can see the creations of Audubon, Tiffany, Diego Rivera, Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Richmand Barthes and Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai.
Since the opening of the museum in 1964, more than 2 million visitors have visited it - book tickets in advance.
Let's start the story about this building with a 3D video, which has already been created in our time. See.
"was erected in 1935-1938. At that time, Frank Wright was already 70 years old. Despite the fact that he was very popular in America at the beginning of the 20th century, when the ideas of organic architecture were in demand, by the 30s the popularity left the master.And in order to earn money, he opened an art school at home, which was called Talezin.The parents of one of the students gave Wright an order to build their country house.
A place for the house was chosen for a long time and carefully, and finally, a picturesque corner called Bear Creek in Pinselvania became the site for the construction of the future work of architecture. The place itself was very picturesque - a solid rocky ledge that hung over the waterfall like a console. F. L. Wright approved the choice of the Kaufmans (that was the name of the customer). Wright's main architectural idea is that the house should be one with nature, be one with the environment.
We can say that the very idea of creating a house not near a waterfall, but directly above the waterfall is a kind of Hymn to Organic Architecture. Wright excelled himself in this project in trying to harmonize nature and man. This project walked the line of conflict between architecture - ideas - a work of art and architecture, which should fulfill its main role - create comfortable housing. And this conflict, in principle, subsequently manifested itself, but more on that later ...
The main features of the House above the waterfall.
- The structural and spatial principle underlying the house was that the massive reinforced concrete slabs, served as ceilings and protruded from the central array into different sides at various levels. This decision gave a special uniqueness to the building and united it with the rocks around. Terrace consoles hang right over the waterfall
- Windows in continuous rows went under the overhangs of the roof, which had a slight slope. Through this tape glazing inner space opened outside world. The lower surfaces of the roof overhangs were flattened and painted bright hues. This technique made it possible for the roof not only to be shelter and protection for the walls, but also to be an additional illumination of the rooms on the second floor due to the reflected and scattered light from the white surfaces of the overhangs.
United space - unity with nature
- Thanks to continuous glazing, which Wright called "transparent screens," the residents of the house could actually contemplate the nature around the house from virtually anywhere in the house.
- A huge hall, with an adjoining kitchen, hallway and dining room - the first floor of the house. common room goes to the terraces. merging with nature, thanks to the same continuous glazing.
- On the second floor there were traditionally three bedrooms, each with its own balcony.
- In the interior, following his principles of "non-cluttering" and "non-decoration" described by us in the previous article, Wright made the inner texture of the walls similar to the outer one, without using plaster at all.
The principle of Organic Architecture - From the inside out in action.
Occasionally in the interior, the severity of the stone is softened by wooden paneling.
- In this house, even the furniture was made according to the sketches of the author and chairs, and tables and even carpets. The fireplace was the center of the composition and Wright's pride. It was built of stone and the hearth was surrounded by a block of rock protruding right from under the floor, on which the house itself stood. A vivid example of the unity of internal and external.
Concrete floor slabs added uniqueness to the house
In this project, F. L. Wright was the first to use reinforced concrete as the main material.
Stone inscribed in architecture
The walls were placed on a concrete platform - a platform, grew from the ground and ended at the level of the windows of the second floor.
Even the furniture was created according to the sketches of the master.
On the third floor there was another bedroom with a large balcony and a terrace that led through a catwalk to the servants' wing and the garage.
And of course, I have to mention that the house, which was planned to be built for $ 45,000, cost the owners twice as much. Well, why not, for the sake of art and exclusivity.
Triumph "Houses over the waterfall"
Villa Kaufmanov (as they called it) became one of the most famous villas in America, after a well-known publisher spoke about it in popular magazines. And since then "" has become a cult. Albert Einstein, Marlene Dietrich and even American President Roosevelt came to look at the miracle of architecture, after whose visit it became a sign of good taste to visit the house above the waterfall. And in the Bear Creek there were endless receptions, the highest cream of society arranged balls there, went on horseback, and so on.
But soon the conflict that we mentioned at the beginning of the article between the architecture-idea and the utilitarian architecture came into force. Namely, the house under the influence high humidity gradually began to collapse, and the consoles that held the foundation began to slide. The house needed renovation. Kaufman began repairs, and no longer invited guests. By 1950, the condition of the house was critical, as well as the condition of the owners themselves. Kaufman's wife was seriously ill and died in 1852, and Kaufman himself died in 1955 without completing the repairs.
The heir to the "house over the falls" handed it over to the state department. And since then masterpiece of organic architecture- a work of art - has become a museum.
Since then, more than 4 million people have visited this museum. Today the house is completely renovated, but it can only be visited by a group.
The most interesting thing is that Frank Lloyd Wright himself, after creating his masterpiece, entered into new round creativity, which lasted another 20 years and ended with his death at 95 years old. And he himself will remain a masterpiece of architecture, an example of a bold project that will teach and inspire more generations of architects.
