[Info-vax] Completely OT: Frank Lloyd Wright

[Paul Sture]

In article <cc3b1$5071cd6d$5ed43c14$31550 at cache1.tilbu1.nb.home.nl>,
 Dirk Munk <munk at home.nl> wrote:

> David Froble wrote:
> >
> > Any decent Architect works for a living, doing many assignments,
> > possibly more than one at a time.  I haven't bothered to research the
> > specifics, but I can guess that FLW designed many structures.
> 
> Yes he did, from industrially produced kit houses to factories, houses 
> for the very rich and the Guggenheim museum.
> 
> > It's also
> > a good guess that not all were of the caliber that earned him his
> > recognition.  Some could even be rather sub-standard.
> 
> No, not to my knowledge. He did not like to make compromises in his 
> designs. All of his work has been documented, so you can check for yourself.

But the buildings do suffer from what the Fallingwater web site refers 
to as "the effects of weather and time."  There comes a point when it 
may not be economically feasible to save a site.

I note that the Fallingwater supporters' current fund raising drive is 
for new windows.  When I looked at the site several years ago they were 
addressing structural flaws in the cantilevered parts, and IIRC it was 
closed to the public while this work was carried out.

http://www.fallingwater.org/113/window-legacy-fund

And yes, I am a keen fan of FLW's work and have been since we were
introduced to it in an optional architecture course at school.

> > To now declare
> > every design he did an important work of art is rather ridiculous.
> >
> 
> Only if you assume he made designs that are sub-standard or can not be 
> distinguished from those from other architects.
> 
> > On the other hand, to a developer money isn't everything, it's the only
> > thing.
> 
> Indeed. Restoring this house to its former glory, making sympathetic 
> improvements to modernize it, and you might have a house that is very 
> attractive to buyers with a sense for architecture and culture, and who 
> are willing to pay a bonus for that.

My father was an architect and they do make mistakes, especially where 
the use of new and untested materials is involved.  My theory is that 
architects sometimes get carried away and tend to look at the big 
picture.

I am still wary of flat roof construction in countries with a high 
rainfall as I saw the pain my father had had with one he put on his own 
house :-)

-- 
Paul Sture