International honor
UNESCO affirms Fallingwater’s greatness
Few would argue that Frank Lloyd Wright is the most famous architect of the modern era, if not the length of history. And his most iconic work, Fallingwater, is in Pittsburgh’s shaded backyard.
New — and potentially valuable — attention is being brought to this artist who mastered the integration of structure and materials with its enveloping environs and nature as a whole.
Fallingwater, the house that is cantilevered over a waterfall in Fayette County, is one of eight Wright buildings to be distinguished collectively as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. To be a World Heritage site is to be recognized as a place of “outstanding universal value.”
The honor was long in coming. It had been nominated first in 2008. But the team that has worked for years to secure the designation for Wright’s bevy of buildings kept at it. Led by Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater’s former director, commented on behalf of her team that the buildings “sum up modern architecture in their open plans, abstraction of form, use of new technology, connection to nature and ability to adapt to modern living.”
Fallingwater, as a World Heritage site, is in distinguished company. On the list of some 1,000 sites around the world are the Taj Majal, Victoria Falls and Yellowstone National Park. Only one other site in Pennsylvania has made the grade: Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Wright was commissioned to design Fallingwater by department
store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann and his wife, Liliane. Designed in 1935, it was built in 1936 and 1937. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. donated Fallingwater to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and it opened to the public in 1964. The seven other Wright buildings in the World Heritage site package are Unity Temple in Oak Park, Ill.; Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago; Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., Hollyhock House in Los Angeles; Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House in Madison, Wis.; Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. All eight buildings already are designated National Historical Landmarks.
Fallingwater’s inclusion as a World Heritage site is a singular distinction, the value of which is far reaching. Not only does it honor the memory and the work of a renowned architectural artist, the designation adds to one of Western Pennsylvania’s most popular tourist destinations even more oomph.
This world class coup for Fallingwater, which already attracts about 180,000 visitors annually, is sure to boost the home’s distinctive public profile; encourage Fallingwater visitors to may make slight detours to Kentuck Knob, Duncan House and Mantyla, other Wright works within easy driving distance; and give a leg up to fundraising efforts for the costly and never- ending maintenance work on the structures- cum- artwork.
Perhaps best of all, though, is the recognition of the universal significance of our very own neighborhood’s distinctly designed treasure box.