The Center for American Architecture at Fallingwater

St. Louis Institute of Correction and Rehabilitation

Fall 2020 - Instructed by John Reynolds

Modern Vernacular: In Search of an American Architecture

Site Planning / Mixed-Use Facility

The following proposal for The Center for American Architecture at Fallingwater draws inspiration from both Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater as well as Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s Barn at Fallingwater to integrate an adaptable, minimal design. This structure aligns with the barn and follows the cascading landscape demonstrating a quiet presence on the site. The inclusion of a 3-season space grounds patrons in reality through exposure to their surroundings as it mediates between inside and outside. Users must pass through the 3-season space to transition from one programmatic element to the next, forcing them to recognize their physical presence on the site. Additionally, the arrangement of the program creates slippages that reference both the preexisting barn as well as Wright’s planning strategies. This allows dynamic volumes to develop in a sequential manner. Ultimately, this structure seeks to reference historic elements while incorporating them into the requirements of the program within a modern setting.

In Collaboration with Colin Finnigan, Mackenzie Kicher, and Macy Whitaker.While this project was collaborative, all documents and images are my own unless otherwise noted.

Approach