Though the two destinations we saw on the trip were very different, they both have significance in the ROOTS of American architecture. I did the drawing of the tree above while sitting on the bus, looking out at the Virginia hillside. The roots of the tree symbolize the roots of American government, and American architecture done by Jefferson and shown in his Monticello. We saw some great examples of where one of this countries founding fathers lived and got a little taste of what life may have been like for him. It is really weird to me how completely different things were back then.
The family of fish in the drawing above illustrate a little bit of CONGRUENCE in the way they fit and flow together. I feel that this word is one of the focus words for this week so we can try to explain the congruence of Monticello and Fallingwater. From my understanding, the two are from totally different time periods, and created with different intentions but there are many correlations that can be drawn from the two. For instance, both houses were created in an effort to achieve creating a truly significant structure, and both accomplished that. They were both created with the intention of being somewhat of a retreat, though due to the constant crowdedness of Monticello, Jefferson had to build another place to retreat from Monticello. Monticello crowns the top of the hill while Fallingwater crowned the waterfall of the Bull Run River where it is located.
Though I have seen many images of both Monticello and Fallingwater, I couldn’t truly begin to understand the CONCEPT that either architect had for the buildings until I was actually in them. It was very clear that Frank Lloyd Wright wand Fallingwater to be set in the wilderness and make you feel truly part of nature. From walking in and around the house I can confidently say he achieved that goal very well. I would have to guess that Jefferson’s concept for Monticello was to borrow themes and ideas from classical Palladian architecture the concept for the creation of Monticello. I think it is also true that part of his concept for the house was to constantly be evolving and changing and adapting the plan since it took him so long to design and he changed it so many time and that was still uncompleted when he died. This definitely echoed his spirit in the way he was constantly pursuing knowledge.
Of the two places we visited, I think Fallingwater had a stronger sense of MATERIALITY. The material being primarily ones found locally onsite. The bedrock of the river and waterfall itself were used for the foundation of the house. The rest of the stone was quarried onsite which helps the house to fit into its environment even more. And while the use of local materials was present and significant to the house, the re-enforced concrete construction is also an obvious construction choice that makes the building stand out with its massive cantilevers. The above drawing is the beginning phase of the rendering of the stone chimney sections of the house which was made from the local stone.
Fallingwater also incorporated Wright’s concept of COMPRESSION and RELEASE. While being in the house, you can easily get a sense of what exactly this means when walking around any of the rooms. Wright uses the raising and lowering and bringing together and pulling apart of all of the walls, ceilings and floors to create this feeling of being in a tight compressed space with low ceilings then moving into a room where the ceilings aren’t high by normal standards, but they feel that way because of the compressed feeling you just got from being in the previous space. Wright definitely accomplished this feat, but I still am not sure if I am a fan of this technique or not. I am still wondering if there is a need to feel compressed when I am in my home. Is it wrong to want to feel comfortable anywhere in my house? The sketch I did above is of the contour lines of an off-ramp of a highway from the bus window. The two curved lines to me converge and compress together then come to a point and release to the left. It is funny how often the simplest fluid lines I draw always tend to be my favorite.
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for both Wright and Jefferson. And I was truly impressed by both of their structures. But I can honestly say that if they were my buildings, I would have done many things different. I think this is a good thing however. If another architect had already created the “perfect house” I can honestly say I would be kind of disappointed. For if someone else already figured everything out, what then would be my purpose and goal as a designer. It’s nice to know that I still have a lot of original ideas for my own house that I will one day build and that the masters before me didn’t accomplish everything already.
- Jeff Linn
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