Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright: Kaufmann house above the waterfall

Fallingwater,
Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect:
Kaufmann house above the waterfall

[fallingwater guest house window detail]

Detail: corner window at the guest house, from southeast.

In keeping with Wright's overall method, a natural degree of continuity is achieved in that there are themes here which echo those of the main house, but also slight variations on the themes. Notice also that at the vertical corner, the two panes of glass meet with nothing obstructing the view, symbolizing no barrier between inside and outside, a harmonization of the two; this feature is common in Frank Lloyd Wright windows.

Original photo, taken by the webmaster.
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The long front wall of the guest wing has embedded in it a number of steel posts covered with lath and cement plaster painted to merge with the concrete. Typically, Wright was not concerned to express the skeletal structure but rather to build expediently, achieving a harmonious whole that was understandable but not explicit.... In the very area of the living room, the metal framework of the glazing membrane is extended far beyond the glass; the horizontal bars mutate into shelves that wrap around the interior corner and curve out to meet a stone wall. This play of horizontals distracts attention from the anomalous wall treatment and strongly ties the corner elements together.

- Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., Fallingwater: A Frank Lloyd Wright Country House, p. 114.

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Updated 12/1/01