I think nothing yet ever equal to coordination sympathetic expression of the great principle over pose where forest and stream and rock and all the elements of structure are combined so quietly that really you listen not to any noise whatsoever although the music of the stream is there but you listen to Falling Water the way you listen to The Quiet of the country these words were echoed by Frank Lloyd Wright recalling the journey to falling water hi everyone Ken here welcome to this house poetry aside the path to what is widely considered to be the greatest work of American architecture was paved with the unexpected to better understand how this building came to be let's start all the way back at the beginning before the waterfall was harmoniously tuned to the built environment make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an intriguing episode of this house in the early 1900s Edgar Kaufman owned a successful department store in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania which made him very wealthy instead of spending his free time on the golf course or parading about country clubs he would take his wife Lillian and their son Edgar Jr out to the country to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy City in Fayette County along a natural tributary named Barron the family had a humble cabin at the base of a cascading waterfall but as the years went by the cabin began to fall into disrepair at which point they turned to prominent architect Frank Lloyd Wright to reimagine their weekend's retreat in 1934 Wright traveled to the Kauffman's property to examine its natural landscape ordering a full topographical survey to be conducted and forwarded to his office over the next nine months he largely ignored the project while telling Edgar that the plans were coming along on September 22nd of that year Edgar grew impatient he had not yet seen any plans and had no idea what the house he was paying top dollar for would look like he phoned Wright's office to inform them that he would be arriving in two hours to review the plans when Wright was notified he dropped everything and headed to his drafting table he had not even started their plans yet in a fit of creative genius he thrust the topographical survey on his desk and began drawing there was a large Boulder detailed near the waterfall which he chose as his datum planning the entire design around as the clock ticked he designed a series of cantilevers over the waterfall with indoor and outdoor spaces blending into the hillside just as he put down his pencil Edgar burst through the office doors demanding to see his house plans a calm Frank Lloyd Wright stood up to greet Edgar welcoming him to a revolutionary concept for a new house when Ecker saw the plans he was initially disappointed he had ordered a house to be built at the base of the waterfall so that he could have views of the cascading water but what Frank gave him was quite the opposite a house that sat on top of the waterfall becoming part of the Cascades while he was initially skeptical Edgar allowed construction to begin the entire house was to be anchored on a Central Mass with cantilever Terraces protruding from it the theory was that the reinforced concrete planes would be held in place where the heavy Stone Tower in the center truly this theory was genius we can demonstrate this concept by stacking paper between large blocks if the center of gravity is over the Block's ledge the paper will fall but if we place another block on top of the paper it stays in place Engineers found this to be an exciting concept but were alarmed when they saw the technical drawings in their opinion Wright had not included enough reinforcement to the concrete so without consulting right the engineers added more reinforcement unfortunately while laying the concrete the construction company and the engineers neglected to calculate the extra weight and adjust the slope of the concrete slabs causing them to settle at a nearly 7 degree slope sagging downwards this issue would not have been so dire if it only affected the exterior of the home but these planar elements continued inside to create the floors and ceiling of each room nevertheless construction continued with finishing touches being added in order to blend into nature Wright shows colors which mirrored the natural landscape including ocher for the concrete and Cherokee red for the steel elements instead of using window encasements where glass met Stone the stone walls were grooved so the glass could disappear seamlessly into the stone erasing any sense of disruption between indoor and outdoor space in the sitting area we can see how these elements and colors come together with the massive Stone Hearth seamlessly continuing outside while linear elements stretch the room tying it together through its expressed geometry this same tactic was used creatively in other parts of the house with glass panes butting up to each other making it appear as if the corners of the rooms did not exist continuing deeper into the home it becomes cave-like with an xtn Boulder protruding to the Slate floor at the foot of the hearth turning around we can see the dining space where a table was centered on a stone column dividing the wall and function with Windows on one side and shelves on the other the kitchen was finished out with top of the line Saint Charles steel cabinets their glossy surfaces contrasting against the rugged Stone offering a duality of visual texture linear elements capture and secure more space to the interior while framing views through the glass panes to allow for more intimate family meals back in the dining area to the side of the table with natural light silhouetting it the stairs rise to the second floor arriving at the second floor stair Landing steel rails point to its glass doors opening to The Terrace the Kaufman's bedroom had a fairly regular form for a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home offering 90 degree Corners with built-in wardrobes organized for the couple as we Meander through the home we might lose ourselves in the ever-changing connections to the outdoors what I used every trick in the book constricting you through tight Pathways and releasing you to open spaces having you preview a room through an opening before snaking around to it blurring every line between architecture and art with views from each window forcing A New Perspective on the house and its setting making our way to The Terraces we will find a staircase ending in the Stream in place of a swimming pool the kaufmans could walk down the stairs and enjoy a dip in the water where their home became one with the Cascades over time a guest house was added further up the hill with a curving stair-step Pavilion following its path to the main house up here servants quarters and a four-car garage were also tied into the design when Edgar and Lillian passed away they left falling water to Edgar Jr who enjoyed it with his partner architect Paul Mayan together they planned a visitor center to replace the garage and donated the house and its 1500 wooded acres to Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to open it as a House Museum throughout the years it has required expensive repair work including to the cantilever Terraces upon investigation the extra reinforcement given to the concrete by the engineering firm was still not enough as the cantilevers were showing signs of failure with the slope now dipping 7 inches end to end after the modern day equivalent of nearly 20 million dollars in renovations the cantilevers were made to be permanently sound with more reinforcement being added in the form of post-tensioning it continues to be open to the public for tours and has become one of the most famous works of American architecture for its distinctive styling manipulation of space and harmony with the natural environment as Edgar Jr once wrote about falling water there are many places where conversation and Frank Lloyd Wright's work can be studied there is nowhere else where his architecture can be felt so warmly appreciated so intuitively that is the beginning of wisdom let me know your thoughts on falling water down below in the comments section and while you're there make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of this house I would also like to take a moment to say a very special thank you to our this house supporters whose names you can see on screen right now if you would like to see your name on the screen and contribute in part to the production of these videos join our membership program today I'll see you next time on this house