Wright Studies, Volume Two: Fallingwater and Pittsburgh

by Narciso G. Menocal (Editor)

As series editor Narciso G. Menocal points out in his preface to Wright Studies Volume Taliesin 1911–1914 , each volume, focusing on a different subject, is envisioned as a “forum for different views and interpretations of Wright’s work.”             In Wright Studies Volume Fallingwater and Pittsburgh , c ontributors Kathryn Smith, Neil Levine, and Richard Cleary concentrate on two Smith focuses on Wright’s interest in the imagery of water in architecture while Levine and Cleary look at Wright’s relationship with Edgar Kaufmann, the department store magnate, and analyze the results―aesthetic and otherwise―of that relationship. All three deal with Fallingwater, built for Kaufmann in the 1930s, and other projects planned for Pittsburgh, which included a planetarium, a civic center, a parking garage, and an apartment house.             Smith discusses how Wright refined his integration of bodies of water into his designs over the course of his career, the most successful of which is Fallingwater. Levine provides historical background on Fallingwater and analyzes the architectural elements of the design while emphasizing Fallingwater’s temporal dimension. Cleary covers Wright’s Pittsburgh projects and Edgar Kaufmann Sr.’s role in them.                  Wright Studies Volume Two is richly illustrated, with seventy-three halftones and twenty-three line drawings.            

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2000

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, and it's context in Pittsburgh history. The book is comprised of essays by art historians. One essay focuses on Fallingwater and its design features and Wright's challenges faced building it, and another on its dialogue with the landscape around it. A third focuses on the house's owner and Wright's patron, Edgar Kaufmann and his place in Pittsburgh history. An excellent intro for an upcoming visit.