Engineering Maze

House with natural beauty

Falling water suggests the name of a very special kind of house that is entirely built above a waterfall.Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect who designed Falling water, was a master at manipulating how his clients would move about his houses, and in this one that is nestled in the Pennsylvania countryside about 60 miles west of Pittsburgh, he put nature front stage center, a focus that is not well known beyond Wright scholars.

The house is wondrous, to be sure. The dramatic cantilevered terraces over the waterfall, the look of the rooms, the feel of the spaces, the simplicity of the palette, the limited number of materials, and the disciplined spareness of the detailing are captivating. But a visitor who’s allowed to linger and enjoy a quiet afternoon in Falling water, as I did when I participated in Falling water’s Insight/Onsite program, begins to understand that for Wright the house was also a lens through which the sights and sounds of nature could be viewed, heard and experienced.