Organic form was Frank Lloyd Wright's credo, and its most splendid
embodiment is Fallingwater, designed and built for the Pittsburgh
merchant Edgar Kaufmann in the 1930s. The private dwelling, which juts
directly over a waterfall at Bear Run in western Pennsylvania, is the
boldest and most personal architectural statement of Wright's mature
years.
This volume is a total revision -- both in text and illustrations -- of
the standard document of Fallingwater. With the opening of the Frank
Lloyd Wright Archives, valuable new material has come to light that has
provided the basis for this completely rewritten and expanded account.
The new material has enabled the author, Wright expert Donald Hoffmann,
to tell a more comprehensive, vivid, and authentic story. This book is
the complete record of the birth, growth, and maturity of an
architectural masterpiece. It documents in special detail Fallingwater's
architectural innovations: its cantilevered construction, its ingenious
integration with a majestic waterfall, the cascading staircases, organic
use of ornament, and the problematic but ultimately triumphant use of
reinforced concrete.
Preliminary drawings, sketches, and plans show the early phases of the
project. Over 100 photographs depict in both panoramic and intimate
detail Fallingwater's site, every phase of its construction, and its
distinctive interior and exterior detailing. The superb text tells the
story in full, from the earliest notions of the project, through heated
confrontations over issues of aesthetics and structure, to its
completion. In every aspect, this carefully researched book offers
readers an extremely rare insider's view of how one of UNESCO's World
Heritage Sites came into being. Fascinating. -- The New York Times.
