When Howard Hughes hired Jane Russell to star in his pictures, he also hired a structural engineer from Hughes Aircraft to design a new bra to "maximize" and support the assets he had purchased.
Perhaps Mr. Wright should have used the same engineer when he built Fallingwater. Frank Lloyd Wright used cantilevers to infinitely extend the lines of his buildings.
If you remember your high school geometry, you will remember that lines and planes are infinite. Hence a cantilever projection out of a house, makes the house appear to go on forever. This is especially true of our little usonian with its cantilevered carport and trellis projections at the end of each wing. The planes of the house are extended forever and simultaneously they seem to hug the earth. However, these cantilevers need to be anchored firmly to maintain their structural integrity.
Unlike Ms. Russells' foundation garments though, Fallingwater's cantilevers began to fail almost as soon as they were built and they underwent a massive reconstruction just before we toured the home a couple of years ago.
Our carport has steel structures to help anchor it in place. AND the steel was fabricated right here in good ole Burlington NC at Piedmont Metals of Burlington... just about spittin' distance from our lot.
Thanks to Wikepedia for the picture of Fallingwater.
Boy, that Fallingwater is a work of art, isn't it? I think maybe you'd never want to go out if you lived there. One of these days, M and I will have to make the trip up there to see it.
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Kentuck Knob which is right next door so to speak is actually much nicer, although not nearly as "splashy". And, there was something about the interior we didn't' care for.That whole area is really fabulous, except for Monesson which is sad.
ReplyDeletePat just said, the house was better from the outside.