Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Monticello and Falling Water

This weekend we took a class trip to Charlottesville, VA  and up to western Pennsylvania to see Monticello and Falling water. Both homes were beautiful, but I must say that I enjoyed Falling water the best. Monticello was designed by Thomas Jefferson, the second president of the united states. The home sits on about 3,000 acres of land. The construction of Monticello began in 1768. The home took 40 years to build and Jefferson considered it his "essay in architecture". A lot of Jefferson's designs were French inspired from furnishings to the architectural build of the home and even the gardens surrounding the land. I enjoyed seeing all of the historical artifacts in the museum. I find it surreal to see tools and intricate objects that someone over 200 years ago held in their very hands and walk in halls that someone so long ago use to walk in. Below are some pictures and sketches that I did in the home.






Our second destination, Falling Water, was my favorite. It was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright for the  Edgar Kaufmann and his family in 1935. The house was a vacation home for the Kaufmann's and took 2 years to complete. In 1939 the guest house was built behind the main house. Falling Water is built over the water fall and the water actually runs underneath the house. I liked Wright's attention to lines and the cleanliness of the lines. One thing that I learned about him that I didn't know before was how much creative license Wright would take with his designs and constructions. I don't know if I would've been able to work with someone who had such a huge sense of entitlement regarding their work. For example the Kaufmann's were under the impression that the home would be built below the water fall as opposed to right over it so that the water ran under it. Mr. Kaufmann felt that this was impractical, but Wright begged to differ and built the home in the location it is in today because he felt that from a artistic stand point it made more sense. Mr. Wright looked at his architectural designs as art work and often did not like his clients to cover up his work with paintings and furniture that he did not choose. The most interesting fact that I actually thought was funny was how Wright would often "gift"his clients with paintings, furniture, or other decorative pieces only to send them a bill for it later! Below is my rendered drawing and some pictures that I took while touring the home and grounds.






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