Students Appreciate Art and Architecture at Fallingwater

On Nov. 14, 21 students traveled via bus to Fallingwater, the architectural gem designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Mill Run, Fayette County. Tickets for the trip, which was organized by the Office of Housing and Residence Life, cost $5, and students could earn Academic Village or GEM credit for attending.

Inside the famed home, students split into three groups for their tours, and explored the site, now listed as a National Historic Landmark, and as part of a UNESCO World Heritage site with other Wright buildings, like the Robie House in Chicago and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. 

The Speyer Gallery features its exhibit on Joseph Urban, the Austrian-American designer of buildings like the Hearst Magazine Building, now incorporated into the base of Hearst Tower in New York City. The gallery features drawings that show his unbuilt designs for the Kaufmann’s department store interior redevelopment in the 1930s.

Guides shared stories of the house, and explained the significance of features in both functional and aesthetic ways. Much of the furniture inside was designed by Wright himself and utilized marine grade plywood to combat moisture, as the structure is perched above a waterfall. The surrounding water has been an ongoing architectural battle, and tour guides said that additional structural support was added in the early 2000s. 

In awe of the fusion between nature and architecture, students took many photos to remember their trip, capturing moments together with friends, or of the house and landscape.