FALLINGWATER

WEBSITE: WWW.FALLINGWATER.ORG
LOCATION: PITTSBURGH, USA
NEAREST AIRPORTS: PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 1HOUR 40 MINUTES DRIVE

Fallingwater is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family in 1935. It has been voted time and again the all-time-best work of American architecture and features top of the architectural bucket lists of places to visit before you die.

Frank Lloyd Wright is one of Americas most recognisable names in architecture, not least for his incredibly controversial headline-hogging life. His architecture is consciously sympathetic to the environment in which it is set, a practice he dubbed as Organic Architecture. In this instance, the cool slick blocks of the build are suspended over a waterfall that cascades below it.

The attention to the harmonic balance between man and environment continues in the interior spaces, also designed by Lloyd Wright. The influence of Japanese architecture and design is evident throughout. The waterfall is quietly audible in the house adding to the sense of serenity.

Everything has been considered in the design – where the glass meets the walls (window frames are not used so as not to interrupt the lines of the slate on the exterior walls), the size of the rooms and ceiling height to conduct the flow through the spaces, and how the windows frame the gardens. The house was turned into a museum and can now be visited year round, but I would aim for spring.