▷ Casa de la cascada comentario | Actualizado octubre 2024

waterfall house eb2 danielgustavobustamantebermeo

Although several repairs had to be made due to some miscalculations, the house is still intact and can be visited by those who are interested. Considered as one of the milestones of 20th century architecture, the Casa de la Cascada is an ideal place for architecture lovers, since there is no other residence in the world with these characteristics. To contemplate it is to be part of one of the greatest works of architectural art and a spectacle created by nature and the ingenuity of Frank Lloyd Wright.

cascade house/ autocad drawings

I fulfill the stereotype of an engineer whose artistic training is severely lacking. Let’s say that I have been nurturing it through specific works, specific artists and specific architectural currents. Even so, I recognize the value, vision, sense and functionality that architects give to any project in which they collaborate. The objective or subjective evaluation of this contribution would be the subject of another post. Under my humble point of view it is, many times, personal and by its very nature depends on the eyes with which the project is viewed.

However, I wanted to show in this post that even in such “quasi-perfect” projects, there are failures that can and should be learned from. Structurally the house is supported by 4 pillars and a masonry wall reinforced with a series of cantilevers that project the house over the waterfall. These cantilevers were materialized with reinforced concrete beams that, together with the slab, functioned monolithically creating rooms that were embedded in the walls and pillars. The second floor cantilever, which houses the terrace of the master bedroom, is supported by the second floor cantilever through the window frames, thus reducing its overhang.

waterfall house – frank lloyd wright – group 2

An architect who worked on over 1000 projects, Frank Lloyd Wright’s most acclaimed project to date is ‘The Cascade’. A house built on a waterfall way in 1934, it has had the honor of being designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Having placed 29th in America’s favorite architecture of all time, this house was the former residence of Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr.

Dispensing with ornamentation,Wright lets the materials speak for themselves. He brings the outside world inside, just as he extends the house outside. The interior walls and slab are finished in rusticated stone, resembling the interior of a cavern.

The walls dissolve into glass, to open the interior to the ever-changing views across the valley. Wright enjoyed plate glass as a modern material: “the diamond-like power of steel glass is held at its golden value” – which, in its transparency, could serve as a counterbalance to the masses of old stone along the north side of the house.

waterfall house – frank lloyd wright – group 1

It is Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece and one of the main landmarks of 20th century architecture. It is located in Bear Run, Pennsylvania (USA) and was completed in 1939. Frank Lloyd Wright (1876-1959) is considered by some authors as the best American architect, and in turn, the “house of the waterfall” his masterpiece. Called “the most famous residence ever built”, the AIA (American Institute of Architects) has judged it to be “the finest work by an American architect”.

Fallingwater follows the principles of “organic architecture” emphasized by Wright in his Taliesin school and studio. Basically it consists of integrating into a unit (building) the environmental factors of the site, use and function, native materials, the construction process and the human being or client. There are several anecdotes about the construction of Fallingwater; the Kaufmanns’ preferred location on their summer estate was across from the waterfall formed by Bear Run Creek. After a couple of visits to the site, proposing and being accepted to build over the waterfall, and nine months “without touching a pencil”, Frank Lloyd Wright “germinated” the project in his head.