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Materials-Conservation Efforts at Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece Author(S): Norman Weiss, Pamela Jerome and Stephen Gottlieb Source: APT Bulletin, Vol

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Materials-Conservation Efforts at Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece Author(S): Norman Weiss, Pamela Jerome and Stephen Gottlieb Source: APT Bulletin, Vol Fallingwater Part 1: Materials-Conservation Efforts at Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece Author(s): Norman Weiss, Pamela Jerome and Stephen Gottlieb Source: APT Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 4 (2001), pp. 44-55 Published by: Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1504772 Accessed: 17-06-2015 02:44 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to APT Bulletin. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.59.222.12 on Wed, 17 Jun 2015 02:44:41 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions FallingwaterPart 1: Materials-Conservation Efforts at Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece NORMAN WEISS, PAMELA JEROME, and STEPHEN GOTTLIEB A 13-year-long investigation of Fallingwateris among the world's best- employees.By 1932 the Kaufmannshad deterioration mechanisms, along known privateresidences. Located in titleto the propertywhere they had built Mill Run, Pennsylvania,about 60 miles a weekendcabin 11 with prototype treatments, has prefabricated years southeastof Pittsburgh,the house was earlier.3The focus of the siteis a water- a better of the yielded understanding designedby FrankLloyd Wrightin 1935 fall in a streamknown as BearRun. nonstructural pathology of materials and constructedin 1936-39 as a week- Unlikethe family'scabin, Fallingwater deterioration at a twentieth-century end residencefor Edgarand Liliane did not overlookthe waterfallbut in- Kaufmann.Mr. Kaufmannwas a suc- steadsat on of it. architectural icon. directly top cessful departmentstore owner in Pitts- Fallingwateris significantas an burgh. His son, EdgarKaufmann jr. embodimentof Wright'sorganic style of [sic], apprenticedto Wrightat Taliesin architecture.In his autobiography, in the fall of 1934, and the parentssoon Wrightstates that "itis in the natureof came to visit.' Thus began the family's anyorganic building to growfrom its patronageof the architectwho designed site,come out of the groundinto the more than a dozen projectsfor them, of light... ,"4and Fallingwater typifies this which only three were executed.These philosophy.Built of stoneand reinforced include Fallingwater,its guest house, concrete,it risesfrom its denselyfoliated and Kaufmann'soffices on the tenth surroundingswith enormous drama floor of his store.2 (Fig.1). The Mill Run propertywas previ- Thehouse remained in the family's ously leased by Kaufmann'sSummer possessionuntil 1963. It was then Club and used for vacationingfemale deeded,along with 1,700 acresof sur- roundingland, to theWestern Pennsyl- vaniaConservancy. It currently operates as a housemuseum, accommodating morethan 140,000 visitors per year. WankAdams Slavin Associates, LLP (WASA),a 112-yearold New YorkCity- basedarchitecture and engineering firm witha preservationdepartment,s first II becameinvolved as architecturalconser- [ :.. .• vatorsin 1988,when two of the authors ??..•.-'~ (Weissand Gottlieb) were invited to reviewconcrete and stucco conditions at 10 Fallingwater.6Since then, WASA has documentedand evaluated deteriora- -AM tion,and it hasprovided recommenda- tionsfor interventionin the formof reportsand construction documents. As partof the research,a reviewwas undertakenof availabledrawings and specifications,shop drawings, corre- spondence,published materials covering the since and 1. andis period construction, previ- Fig. Fallingwater,which rises dramaticallyamong its denselyfoliated surroundings perched ous consultants' and construc- overa waterfall,is the embodimentof FrankLloyd Wright's organic architecture. This continuously reports dampenvironment is largelyresponsible for materialsdeterioration. Photograph by WASA. All tion documents.Numerous probes were photographscourtesy of the WesternPennsylvania Conservancy. made, selectedmaterials were character- 44 This content downloaded from 128.59.222.12 on Wed, 17 Jun 2015 02:44:41 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions MATERIALS-CONSERVATIONEFFORTS AT FALLINGWATER 45 ?. .* i~R,: b i -L?b~CI~43e;ar~JT r t'~ ~I~;;Lrr*l~:;-E~l~'~i?~i~f~l~fk~,~-~ '1L~Zr~L : I ~ar g ~j??? ~YZ~I~I~'* ~e~+ R ??I;~L~p~llilb~9* f~i~~6~! 1.~ ---?I ~L~a~ --sl ?i.i ti ??I. l?lli~ `~~1? ~?~?a b ~~~rpW~T ~ * r ~?;~F~' Yagsy i/ s~- * 1 ~-E~?L~.E I~~cll%"Dnri~,?t~Ft?I*rY~'Z %1~~~3~aE~:"~??~ZP~P ~l"~r* T~C1~ -U I*?L;: I , .,? ,,.I.. -..,. Y?? I1E. : ~C PS~??:r~ ~Z EE is le~'?1~ -E--A~~~~~ `F~-~?7Y?S? :,T* IIE~YII~ICCI i Is~ ?.. ~E?~~isll~rsl 14" , ~L~it~:Q~u~:~ ~I~ I ?r ~f x .I I ; :; ' ~, f~b,. Y: i?~q u.. ~E~5? ??i W ~ ?i~~I?? ??1"7~AI? *i tr * *.. ~ IC / ~*~?~ i?;: r ? ? I. t I? i. *I r 5*:~, ~ C:~c. r- ,r 1 *. ;d ,?? * * ~i4~i .t* ,??~""; *C~ "I 91~:..3" " ~i * t. Y 1?!I k. ~if r?.: *~~ ,? : ~. :crF~L~fi~YZ ?~~ ?X~~, ??-~;~c~ k? sr. .- ?~;-J~~e~a~? . -u?: i, : .?? : '*' ' i~d~P~1B~B~ i y*: ,r iL~- ..%?Y 1 i :~, ,~?. .', i :~JyX ~!?-' ii ;, :, II ~a~ L ~; *sr --~ro ~~?t j " ?5 ?~r * ~L~ :* "1~, ;~ ;?1.. ;z~X * *: ?r * 1..- I? "4 ~~E-~SrSC~i~2~ ~ll~~q~R~ ?~f~'~e~ .~s~ii~_~ .* a~CL~ "** *" rrz 1~91ff: g *f~T~ ??~? $* t?.l :1. ~E~.i~b~;:~*;~v""rs~t~13~s~;1~7Y~~~' Fig. 2. Aerialview of Fallingwater'smain house, with the guest house visible in the upper-right-handcorner. More than half of the approximately7,000 total square feet is terrace area. Photographby Paul Wiegman. izedin the laboratory,and prototype materials-restorationprogram currently Fallingwater'sstructure consists of treatmentswere installed and evaluated. in progress.The completedrestoration cantileveredreinforced-concrete floors Moisturemonitoring was performedin will be the subjectof a futurearticle. and cantileveredreinforced-concrete problematiclocations. Interviews were roofs with integralparapets, supported conductedwith naturalrock Fallingwater'sprevious Description of the Building by outcroppings,tapered andcurrent maintenance staff,7 includ- concretepiers ("bolsters"),and stone- ing EarlFriend (who worked on the Fallingwateris a largeweekend residen- bearingwalls. The stone (a calcareous originalconstruction crew), Bob Mosher tial complex with approximately7,000 sandstone9)is of very high qualityand andEdgar Tafel (Wright's apprentices total squarefeet, of which almost half is was quarriedon site. The main house who supervisedthe work),and William terracearea (Fig. 2). The main house, was completedin 1937, and the guest WesleyPeters (Wright's apprentice who articulatedby massiveterraces at each house in 1939. At $155,000, the total dealtwith structural engineering). level, stands three stories tall. Addition- cost of the complex, architect'sfees Thisarticle describes many of the ally, there is a two-story guest house included,was well over the estimated conditionsfound at Fallingwater.Some with servants'quarters and carport budget.10 of the solutionshave not beenfinalized furtheruphill. In style, this modernist All concretewas originallycovered becausestudies are still in progress. buildingacknowledges its De Stijland with a white cement stucco to an aver- However,this paper is intendedto give Bauhauspredecessors, as well as age thicknessof 1/4inch. This stucco the backgroundinformation necessary RichardNeutra's Lovell Heath House was always painted.Initially, Wright for understandingthe designof the of 1929.8 proposed that the concretebe coveredin This content downloaded from 128.59.222.12 on Wed, 17 Jun 2015 02:44:41 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 46 APT BULLETIN --.... ... Design-Based Pathology After 65 years, Fallingwateris undergo- SERVANTS' QUARTERS ing a majorrestoration campaign. TERRACE (Structuralfailures are significantand are being addressedby the New York City-basedengineering firm, Robert SilmanAssociates, PC).14 The main materials-conservationissue facing Fallingwateris deteriorationcaused by ROOF moisturepenetration. Much of this is RMONTTOR inherentto Wright'sdesign. Moreover, the complex is located in a continuously damp environment;it is cantilevered over a stream,surrounded by trees and shrubs,and restingon a hillsidefrom which water seeps almost all year round. Fallingwateris shapedlike a pin- wheel in plan, with extensiveterrace arms projectingoutward (Fig. 3). Exposureof horizontalsurfaces to the weatheris much greaterthan for a more traditionalhouse of the 1930s. Penetra- tion of rain and meltingsnow, associ- ated with waterproofing/roofingsystems ROOF NEAR EK, SR's ROOF failuresand the lack of through-wall BRIDGE TO G. H. is a in VN flashing, continuingproblem Y OBROOFMOVER Hr B T R E many locations. i . .... Roofs/terraces/skylights. Terracesare HERBTERRACE ROOF surfacedwith large irregularlyshaped - -POTTERY stones quarriedon site, varyingin thick- WEST TERRACE ness from 1/2inch to 11/2inches. The UVING ROOM MASTER BELOW TERRACE BEDROOM cantileveredterraces are largelysup- LIVING ROOM ported by upturnedbeamsis that are MASTERBEDROOM concealedbeneath the flagstones.With a TERRACEROOF CONCRETETRELLIS I of concretejoists MASTERPLAN system placed perpen- dicularto the beams, the effect is that of coffers. The originalterrace substrate was
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