GROUP 14

FALLING
WATER
HOUSE
Frank Lloyd Wright

ENGLISH CLASS PRESENTATION

 GROUP 14
MEMBER:
1) Glanzennia Aulia Syahrin 21020119120032

2) Zain Salma Fauziyyah 21020119130084

3) Addina Aulia Kirana Syifa 21020119130098

4) Nisaúl Hamidah 21020119130129

5) Ayu Wardani Istiani 21020119140143

 BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARCHITECT
Frank Lloyd Wright
American architect, designer, writer, and educator

Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was

an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He
designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative
period of 70 years. Wright believed in designing in
harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy
he called organic architecture. This philosophy was best
exemplified by Fallingwater (1935), which has been called
"the best all-time work of American architecture." As a
founder of organic architecture, Wright played a key role in
the architectural movements of the twentieth century,
influencing three generations of architects worldwide
through his works.
CONTENT

01 PROFILE
07 INTERIOR & EXTERIOR

02 DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND
08 MATERIAL DESIGN

03 LOCATION ANALYSIS
09 BUILDING STRUCTURE

04 CONCEPT DESIGN
10 PROBLEM

05 ARCHITECTURE DESIGN METHOD

06 FLOORPLAN
PROFILE

Falling Water is a house designed by Frank in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The
building materials (finishing) were taken from the quarry around the site using wise exploitation. The building was designated a
National Historic Landmark in 1966. In 1991, the American Institute of ArcGeographic Traveler designated it as "Place of a
Lifetime".The reason why we choose this house is because Frank L. Wright designed an extraordinary house that redefined the
relationship between man, architecture, and nature. Wright integrated the design of the house with the waterfall itself. The power
of the falls is always felt, not visually but through sound, as the breaking water could constantly be heard throughout the entire
house.
 The mid-1930s were among the darkest years for
BACKGROUND
DEVELOPMENT
architecture and architects in American history; the
country’s financial system had collapsed with the failure
of hundreds of banks. Almost no private homes were
built. Many of the architectural projects started during the
boom of the late 1920s were halted for lack of funds. Now
in his sixties, Wright and his new wife Olgivanna were
struggling to keep Taliesin, his Wisconsin home and
studio, out of foreclosure. Worse still, his peers were
beginning to regard Wright as an irrelevant anachronism
whose time had passed.
LOCATION ANALYSIS
The location of Fallingwater according to
Wright's analysis is a place that has many
interesting things. Wright saw a place that no one
else could see. It is an ability that is continually
honed - seeing with sense by Wright. Architecture
as part of building work is not always associated
with the existence of a building first. Precisely
with a composition such as streams, waterfalls,
rows of trees, rocky plains, paths, and bridges is a
perfect reflection of the architectural balance
according to science paths. Japanese Garden
which then affects the career of Frank Lloyd
Wright, especially in terms of landscape and
garden architecture. Located in a forested area of
Southwest Pennsylvania, Fallingwater has a
variety of interesting elements: flat land with
rocky edges. The stones are naturally flat and
horizontal in shape, with a river that separates
them between the two, which is then located at
the edge of the border stream, which is not too
high. On the right, there is a bridge followed by a
path. Under the bridge, the river Bear Run is a
national conservation so that it is a preserved and
protected nature reserve.
CONCEPT DESIGN

Entering the falling water area, a simple impression starts at

the main entrance which is only marked with a stone pillar, continues
to the museum management building which is dominated by wood, a
path, and ends in falling water that stands on the bank of a rocky
river with water dove in front of him. Falling Water was built with an
unusual design concept at the time, where F.L. Wright (who is heavily
influenced by Japanese culture) tries to present a work of
architecture with a conceptual approach to nature, in stark contrast
to modern architecture which tends to be in sync with the
environment.
DESIGN METHOD
ARCHITECTURE

The composition of the Wright space is using a 5 x 5 ft grid system. The grid
is a tool that can change the irregularity of space into a more humane one.
Because of the power of the grid, it is easier for architects to adjust the layout and
the relationships between design elements. Wright not only applies discipline to
the boundaries of space but also arranges them so that he can interact with the
surrounding topography. That is, which must-have a lower elevation and which
area must be higher can be applied in this Fallingwater design appropriately.

Wright used the fireplace as the center of the grid development of the other
rooms. The fireplace also created a series of designs that developed in a vertical
and horizontal direction. The chimney of the fireplace seems to be the main pillar
of the house where the fireplace that sits above the existing large stone "altar" is
the foundation.

A line of concrete walls to the north bordered by a path leads to the corner
of the building's entrance and the side of the bridge to the right. This is an
example that Wright sticks to the orthogonal grid system but also follows what the
surrounding environment "wants" to do.
FLOORPLAN

Fallingwater consists of two parts: The main house of the clients The circulation through the house consists of dark,
which was built between 1936-1938, and the guest room which was narrow passageways, intended this way so that people
completed in 1939. The original house contains simple rooms experience a feeling of compression when compared to
furnished by Wright himself, with an open living room and compact that of expansion the closer they get to the outdoors. The
kitchen on the first floor, and three small bedrooms located on the ceilings of the rooms are low, reaching only up to 6'4" in
second floor. The third floor was the location of the study and some places, to direct the eye horizontally to look outside.
bedroom of Edgar Jr., the Kaufmann's son. The rooms all relate to the The beauty of these spaces is found in their extensions
house's natural surroundings, and the living room even has steps that towards nature, done with long cantilevered terraces.
lead directly into the water below. Shooting out at a series of right angles, the terraces add an
element of sculpture to the houses aside from their
function. The terraces form a complex, overriding
horizontal force with their protrusions that liberated space
with their risen planes parallel to the ground to support
them.

The house took on "a definite masonry form" that

related to the site, and for the terraces, they decided on a
reinforced-concrete structure. It was Wright's first time
working with concrete for residences and though at first,
he did not have much interest in the material, it had the
flexibility to be cast into any shape, and when reinforced
with steel it gained an extraordinary tensile strength.
INTERIOR & EXTERIOR
The exterior of Fallingwater
The interior design combines the rustic
enforces a strong horizontal
texture and wood colors to create a strong
pattern with the bricks and long
balance of natural materials and stone with
terraces. The windows on the
modern architecture ideas. Wright also designed
facade have also had a special
all of the furniture to echo the house. Sofas that
condition where they open up at
cantilevered from the walls and the low seats and
the corners, breaking the box of
tables had edges that extended like balconies.
the house and opening it to the
The basic color scheme of Fallingwater was
vast outdoors.
selected by the architect himself. It shows his
fondness of the warm earth colors of the
Outer terrace area, a concrete
American Southwest. Cherokee red became the
cantilever is made which at the
Frank Lloyd Wright architecture signature color,
same time reinforces the
which was used on all the steel frames around the
character of the building to the
house.
surrounding geology. From the
main living room area, steps are
Wright used the large stone icon on the
made to a small platform that is
fireplace as the centerpiece and the basis for
slightly above the water level.
developing the design of other rooms. On the side
The two trees at the main
next to the fireplace, Wright installed an artificial
entrance of the house are left as
stone finish that resembled the stones in outer
they are, as a marker to enter
space.
the front area of the house.
Frank's design never forgets the setting.
The living room opens to the stream below. Here a
stairway lets in the sounds of the falls and
provides ventilation as well.
MATERIAL DESIGN

Taken from the quarry around the location with the selection
of a structure that is dominated by a cantilever system (overhang)
made of reinforced concrete at first glance it looks normal, but if it
is seen in more detail it shows that the falling water was built with a
complex and very detailed structural system. Located in a remote
area that tends to be the middle of nowhere.

Frank Lloyd designed and constructed Fallingwater of 4 basic

materials, Stone which was quarried locally on the site, concrete
which is a very organic material, steel which is largely showing up in
the reinforcement of the concrete but also evident in the frames of
the windows and glass.

Paper, cardboard, wood, foam, polystyrene, and metal are all

common materials used in models. A variety of adhesives are
needed to combine all of the materials and paint is often needed to
achieve the desired final result.
BUILDING STRUCTURE

Located beneath the lowest floor slab is a massive structure that

supports the giant cantilever. These cantilever blocks spaced 12.6 ft or
about 3.8m in between. Then in line with the fireplace at the bottom is a
large stone 'altar' that serves as a support structure for the fireplace
chimney. Next is the semi-open structure in the living room that leads to
the platform above the river water, and the shear structure along the path
to the main door. The rhythm of this structure always follows a grid
system of 5 x 5-foot squares. The result is a complex relationship between
geometry and topography.

The post-tensioning technique is used to remedy the problem of the

cantilever in master terraces. It is similar to the use of steel to reinforce
concrete because it involves adding steel cables to a building element and
then tightening the cable to create a built-in compressive force in the
member to resist tension. This process was done on main beams and
joists, raising the terraces by half an inch and resulting in a self-supporting
structure.
PROBLEM
In Fallingwater he chose ferroconcrete for his
cantilevers, this use of reinforced concrete for the long
suspended balconies was revolutionary. He boldly
extended the balcony of the second-floor master
bedroom soaring six feet beyond the living room below.
However, due to the lack of proper support, cracks
began appearing in the balcony floors soon after they
were poured.

Over the years since, cracks have been repeatedly

repaired as the cantilevers continued to sag. By 2001
some of the 15-foot cantilevers had fallen more than 7
inches. To avoid a complete collapse, an ingenious
system was devised using tensioned cables to correct
the problem and stabilize Wright’s masterwork.

Almost from the day of its completion,

Fallingwater was celebrated around the world. The
house and its architect were featured in major
publications including the cover of Time Magazine. Over
the years, its fame has only increased. According to
Franklin Toker, Fallingwater’s most important
contribution to Modern Architecture is surely the
"acceptance of Modern architecture itself.
SEASTON REALTY

Q & A SESSION
NOISSES A & Q
NOISSES A & Q
 THANK YOU
GROUP 14 ENGLISH CLASS PRESENTATION