Discussions on Architecture
Discussion 2: Falling Water: The House on the Waterfall
Questions
- Frank Wright Falling Water architecture periodic breaks into a natural setting which is not taxing but it is absorbing. What relationship with nature does the falling water architecture express?
- While sitting in the living room at Falling Water, laurel bushes, mossy patches and birch bushes are visible from the window. Is it possible for most architectures to regard what is outside the house than what is inside the house while approaching their architectural design?
- Falling Water was an extraordinary building in the 20th century. Which basic materials were used to construct the building?
Question 1: How does Falling Water reflect Wright’s ideas about Organic Architecture?
I think the organic architecture revolves around the concept that human life is part of nature and Wright introduced an outcropping rock which projected over the floor of the living room into a vast central hearth. The devoted incorporation of nature and the environment where the building was structured reflects Frank Wright ideas on nature. The house is contouring into the cantilevered ledges responds nicely to the rock strata of the streams on the banks, creating a beautiful landscape. The connection with nature is further emphasized by the use of glass where the house lacks walls facing the falls but with only a central core stone used to build the stone columns and fireplaces. The liberal use of glass provides an elongated vista which directs the eye into the woods and the horizon. The creative design of the architecture has used corner turning windows without mullions results in the vanishing of the edges. Finally, nature is incorporated into the construction by bending the trellis beam to give way for the existing tree.
Discussion 3: Lessons from Las Vegas
Questions
- Postmodernism was gaining popularity in the 1960s and hit its strides in the 1980s and 90s. Why did it fall back in fashion? Which new ideas forced clients to go back to modernism?
- Postmodernism was a design used by architectures to make buildings and constructions to be highly communicative and also meaningful with fun? Why were a lot of designers only focusing on the fun and meaning?
- The students realized that Las Vegas had the unique architecture which deserved to be appreciated. What ways was their perception of Las Vegas architecture influenced?
Question 1: Lessons learned by Brown and Venturi’s students from observing Las Vegas
The students learned that the strip was like a bazaar, but technically it was built on a scale for cars with broad roads and numerous significant types of signs to guide people
- While observing the strip and the way people and cars go around it, they realized that the signs served their function. The signs were mainly focused on making the buildings legible, and they resulted in the postmodernism. New directions such as de-constructivism spawned from the ideas and this are what made architectures to observe modernism. To this day, architectures look up at Las Vegas since it teaches people how to design architecture which meets the expectations of people but not just to the constructions. The architectures have considered creating what their clients love, and this is a lesson learned from the Las Vegas observation.