Tea at Trianon: Fallingwater

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Fallingwater

An organic house.

Though its materials aren't necessarily eco-friendly, Fallingwater is indeed an organic house because of how well it merges with its natural surroundings. Glass isn't edged in metal frames; it's caulked to stone. The terraces mimic rock formations. The waterfall echoes throughout the house. "I'm designing a building to the music of the stream," Wright once told Kaufmann.

Anonymous said...: During my 1st semester of graduate school, our ALA student chapter took a day trip there. It was late October and not quite as scenic. Nevertheless it was still a wonderful tour of the house and the guest house. The Kaufmanns' bookshelves got our attention! (Did I mention this was a group of library science graduate students?) You can pass a half day or full day there.; October 17, 2007 at 1:57:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: This is one of the "sacred temples" to architects and (American) architecture students, as it is the masterpiece of that great American idol himself -- "Franky baby" as he is endearingly referred to!

I remember taking a drive out there with my niece (who was an interior design student at the time)about 16 years ago. We both thought it was even more beautiful than we imagined from our architecture history classes. Everything in the house is custom designed, including all windows, doors and furniture. The organic feeling that the article talks about is based in great part by the clever way Wright incorporated boulders right where they lay into the design elements: as the hearth for a center-piece fireplace; an interior garden feature -- to name the two that comes off the top of my head. The natural surroundings of the trees and stream make it a most gorgeous retreat!; October 17, 2007 at 11:15:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: We never made it there when we lived in Pittsburgh. Someday....; October 18, 2007 at 9:14:00 PM EDT