MUSIC
Fallingwater inspires new music
During a 1957 lecture, Frank Lloyd Wright famously said, “Never miss the idea that architecture and music belong together. They are practically one.” This is certainly true of Fallingwater, where his dynamic design includes endless musical composition provided by the mountain stream flowing below the house. In a 1934 letter to the Kaufmanns written during the design process, Wright said that the house was taking shape “to the music of the stream.” In fact, on the rare occasion that the temperature falls enough for the waterfall to freeze, the experience of Fallingwater feels eerily incomplete without its soundtrack.
The Kaufmanns’ vacation house was also designed for entertaining, and Wright knew that Fallingwater’s living room would be enlivened by music. In fact, he designed a music listening area with a record player as a distinct space within the open-concept living room.
Musicians often remark that the overall design of Fallingwater has a rhythmic quality that can be understood musically. Fallingwater Institute recently hosted several musicians who were drawn to Fallingwater for these reasons and more, for immersive, creative exploration during workshops and artist residencies.
INSIGHT/ONSITE: A CREATIVE RETREAT FOR MUSICIANS
Grammy award-winning musician and cellist Mike Block found musical inspiration at Fallingwater just waiting to be played. He first visited Fallingwater at age 11 with his family. “Before I committed to becoming a professional musician, I wanted to become an architect and Wright was my primary source of inspiration.”
Block ultimately went on to study at Cleveland Institute of Music and Julliard. He now performs around the world and serves as a faculty member at the New England Conservatory. He is known for designing the Block Strap, a clever invention that enables him to play cello while standing. In fact, he was the first standing cello player to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Mike Block and Hanneke Cassel perform in Fallingwater’s living room, June 2024.
Block was invited to return to Fallingwater as a guest during our Fireside speaker series. Block’s presentation included a combination of musical performances and thoughts on Wright’s work as an ongoing source of inspiration, including interpreting and performing Fallingwater’s art collection as a line of music.
“Wright’s level of intention is inspiring and what I’m still trying to wrap my head around is that… he’s not just designing the space, he’s designing an experience through time. The time element feels very connected to music.”
It was during Block’s Fireside conversation that he realized the potential for Fallingwater as a teaching tool and a powerful setting for creative collaboration. During the summer of 2024 Block returned as a teaching team with his wife, violinist Hanneke Cassel, to lead an educational program called Insight/Onsite: A Creative Retreat for Musicians, Directed by Mike Block and Hanneke Cassel.
The weeklong retreat included eight musicians from across the country, ranging from university students to professionals, who brought cellos, violins, wind instruments and an erhu. The musician cohort participated in group workshops, individual mentoring sessions with Block and Cassel and evening access to Fallingwater for composing and collaborating. The workshop culminated in a musical performance for friends, family and Fallingwater staff, which took place in the living room with Fallingwater’s hearth serving as the stage. The resulting musical performances were impressively innovative and site specific: a reflection of the time the musicians spent immersed in Fallingwater’s architecture and surrounding site. All performances are available to watch on Fallingwater’s YouTube channel.
Following the success of the workshop, Block and Cassel will be offering Insight/Onsite: A Creative Retreat for Musicians again next summer.
“Wright’s level of intention is inspiring... he’s not just designing the space, he’s designing an experience through time. The time element feels very connected to music.”
—Mike Block
FIVE YEARS ON: CELEBRATING WORLD HERITAGE AT FALLINGWATER
SEBASTIAN SACK: FALLINGWATER INSTITUTE MUSICIAN-IN-RESIDENCE
“I try to latch onto specific emotions or shapes or philosophical approaches in architecture, and then translate that into music,” says Fallingwater Institute Artist-in-Residence Sebastian Sack. It is common for artists-in-residence to take notes or sketch while spending time at Fallingwater. Sack is the first to sketch in sound. His artist residency started with a weeklong stay onsite, during which he notated music audible only to him.
Sack’s creative process is that of a human synthesizer, collecting a “data set” that includes impressions, emotions, and ambient, atmospheric sounds of the structure on a summer day. After returning to his home in Los Angeles, Sack synthesized his research notes into an auditory, architectural experience an entire album’s worth! Sack’s Fallingwaterinspired album titled Intra will be released in 2025
Sack considers Intra to be “a dance between natural and constructed. It is a collection of compositions that explores the ways that constructed sound might seamlessly and beautifully intertwine with preexisting (natural) sound. This project, a continuation of my previous architecturally oriented compositional work, will inhabit and represent Fallingwater’s embedded emotions and history.”
Sack is one of several artists and scholars-in-residence who have creative projects in the works. Fallingwater Institute honors the vision of Edgar Kaufmann, jr. by hosting both emerging and established artists, like Sebastian Sack, who provide an ongoing stream of new ideas and perspectives on Fallingwater.
We can look forward to the release of Intra next year. In the meantime, learn more about Sebastian Sack on Fallingwater’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@visitfallingwater.
This past July, Fallingwater commemorated the fifth anniversary of its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. UNESCO’s goal is to preserve cultural and natural heritage sites that are of outstanding value to humanity. There are more than 1,000 sites around the world, and a group of eight Frank Lloyd Wright sites is now among only 24 in the United States.
The inscription, The 20 th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, to the UNESCO World Heritage List represents the first modern architecture designations in the United States, and was a joint effort with seven other Wright sites across the U.S. Scott Perkins, Fallingwater’s senior director of preservation and collections, chatted earlier this year with Lynda Waggoner, director emerita of Fallingwater, and Phyllis Ellin, former historian and architectural historian for the U.S. National Park Service’s Office of International Affairs, to reflect on the nomination process and what the anniversary means going forward.
Scott Perkins: Lynda, around 2004 there was a meeting at Fallingwater to discuss the project.
Lynda Waggoner: Yes, Tom Schmidt, site administrator at Fallingwater from 1975 to 1996 , was on the board of US / ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) at the time, and he and I were also board members of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, which was the sponsoring organization behind the nomination. We requested copies of past dossiers and showed them to Neil Levine, professor of art history at Harvard at the time. We felt it would be a “piece of cake.” Well, what did we know? It was a steep learning curve. Regardless, we felt we had the talent to do it and could bring in outside scholars if needed.
Phyllis Ellin: And the requirements and expectations now are so different than the early years of the program.
LW: Yes. Neil and Preservation Architect John Thorpe as well as University of Pennsylvania Architecture Professor David DeLong came together to advise us on how to select
the buildings. Because this was such a disparate group of buildings—differing ownership situations, functions, locations and chronological period—we had some challenges to get everyone informed and interested. Justin Gunther, Fallingwater’s current director but who at that time was Fallingwater’s curator of buildings and collections, was involved early on to help to coordinate the property owners and their building information for the Tentative List.
SP : The initial submission, Key Works of Modern Architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright, was put forth in 2016, but the nomination was not successfully inscribed. We were sent back with a “referral;” that gave us three years to rework the nomination.
PE I have to say in the long run it’s a good thing that we had to redo it—it was difficult to articulate what it needed at the time. When the new nomination, The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright was submitted, we felt it was much better for having been through the referral process.
SP: And we were inscribed in Baku, Azerbaijan, in July 2019 What were your thoughts on that day?
PE We were feeling pretty good. We had a recommendation for inscription in hand.
LW: Being in the room while in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2016 was perhaps more fascinating than Baku. We came home with the referral, tightened the period of focus to the 20th century and focused on ways the buildings were influential to architects around the world.
SP: How do you feel the World Heritage designation helps sites like Fallingwater, especially to those unfamiliar with its meaning?
LW The inscription should mean more, frankly. But Fallingwater, like all historic sites across the globe, was affected by the pandemic and so visitors were unable to go to sites to appreciate them. In that sense, the impact was less than we hoped.
PE: And now we need to work on informing those close to our sites what it means and what it can do for them. The nomination dossier itself needs to become a touchstone. Learning the history of the process and the variety of other Wright properties that share the designation with Fallingwater is important.
Musician Sebastian Sack gathers inspiration at Fallingwater.
Celebrating the designation in Baku, Azerbaijan in July 2019 were (left to right): Michael Rousek, U.S. Embassy; Justin Gunther, Fallingwater; Scott Perkins, Fallingwater; Phyllis Ellin, National Park Service; Stuart Graff, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; Stephen Morris, National Park Service; Ambassador Lee Litzenberger, U.S. Embassy; Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater; Barbara Gordon, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy; Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House; Jonathan Putnam, National Park Service; and Yvette Wong, U.S. State Department.
WORLD HERITAGE PRESERVED
Edgar Kaufmann jr. entrusted his family’s cherished summer home to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963. One year later, visitors from across the world began traveling to Mill Run, Pa. to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece. Wright’s iconic design is a composition of stone, concrete, steel, glass and wood that come together to form what Wright termed “organic architecture.”
The effects of time and weather have taken their toll on these elements. Caring for Fallingwater is an ongoing and vital task that allows us to achieve our mission of educating and inspiring people of all ages. Now, almost 90 years later, and with the UNESCO World Heritage designation, the Conservancy has undertaken a larger preservation effort, World Heritage Preserved, to repair or replace failing building systems. This is the first major preservation initiative since the 1999 - 2001 restoration that included the posttensioning of the main house cantilevers. We’re pleased to provide an update on what has been accomplished this year.
The effects of time and weather have taken their toll on Fallingwater’s organic architecture.
Following a very productive winter season of “undercover” preservation work, where several contractors completed various tasks within heated scaffolded enclosures, the guest house once again became the primary focus of the project during the summer months. The roof over the guest house sitting room and bedroom has been one of the main targets for eradicating water infiltration, and was fully replaced. In the process, we learned about aspects of its construction that brought about new challenges for Fallingwater’s preservation architects, structural engineer and outside contractors, as well as our own preservation maintenance team.
Demolition of the existing roof began in early June and took approximately two weeks. Working under enclosed scaffolding over the guest house, our roofing contractor, Allegheny Roofing and Sheet Metal, removed layers of past roofing and insulation and prepared the concrete slab surface for its new Siplast roofing system. The existing roofing, an older generation Siplast system, was installed during the 1999-2001 restoration project. Its efficacy had diminished as it reached the end of the manufacturer’s warranty, as had the Kemper brand liquid-applied flashing that was applied to the rolled roof edges that allowed for water to flow over them. This flashing also covered the seams of the Siplast product to prevent water from wicking beneath. As the Kemper material aged, it began delaminating, or lifting away from the concrete, and moisture began entering under the Siplast roofing materials and waterlogging the insulation.
Beneath the insulation, a vapor barrier meant to shield the concrete slab from moisture was also failing and showed signs of water having “ponded” on top of the slab. As the vapor barrier was removed, we found cracks spanning the slab north to south, which could be entry points for water into the guest house’s interior. The concrete slab also showed evidence of being saturated with water, and so was allowed to fully air dry before work continued. To make repairs to the cracks, Allegheny Roofing’s team treated them with an epoxy filler before laying down the first layers of the roofing membrane.
In evaluating all that needed to be addressed, an additional concern was a small roof over the guest house boiler room. This space houses mechanical equipment for heating the building, and is thought to have been created around 1941 by “squaring off” the space through the addition of two walls. Capped with a concrete roof slab of its own, the footprint of the mechanical room is under 100 square feet, but constructed in such a way that has provided opportunities for water infiltration. After the existing roofing was removed, Fallingwater’s preservation maintenance crew removed and rebuilt the degraded concrete in this area, leaving a smooth surface for Allegheny Roofing’s team to install the new roofing membrane.
Our architects Pamela Jerome and Stephanie Gerard of Architectural Preservation Studio and structural engineer John Matteo of Matteo Ferran Structural Engineers were also intrigued with a window on the second floor of the guest house’s east elevation. Similar to those throughout the house, the steel sash was manufactured by Hope’s Windows to Wright’s custom specifications and installed after the stone masonry surrounding it had been laid. To properly seal the mechanical room, the window was removed—possibly the first removal in the history of the house—to ease the application of the roofing membrane and provide a tight seal under the heavy stone slab window sill.
Removing the window proved to be an enlightening move; the project team gained an understanding not only of how the window was fabricated, but also how its deeply channeled frame design allowed hand-packed mortar, when hardened, to “lock” the windows into place. The steel sash was in relatively good condition considering its age and exposure to the humid environment of the site. It was extracted in early
September by H.P. Steel Window Restoration of Wappinger’s Falls, Ny. The firm, which has been conserving Fallingwater’s windows and doors for over a decade, transported the window to their shop to strip the steel of its paint coating and repair any areas of corrosion or loss before returning the window to its home a few weeks later.
Throughout the process to replace the roof over the guest house’s sitting room and bedroom, visitors experienced preservation in action, with scaffolding erected over the roof and along the building’s stone terrace, protecting the beloved wisteria vines and the walkway below. The next stage of reroofing will take place at the guest house and on top of the former staff quarters. Scaffolding there will also be enclosed to insulate the space and protect it from debris, and the scaffolding will extend into the carport to support its concrete overhangs. We plan to replace the entirety of the guest house roof by winter, before preservation efforts to address areas of concern at the main house begin. These efforts afford our visitors a behind-the-scenes look into what caring for a UNESCO World Heritage Site looks like, experiencing preservation in action.
In addition to the generous support provided by donors and private foundations, World Heritage Preserved is partially funded through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), a Commonwealth grant program administered by the Office of the Budget for the design and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects.
1. Fallingwater preservation project manager Jamie Hudson (seen here on the mechanical room roof before its removal) coordinates the work with our preservation architecture and engineering team and outside contractors.
2. September 17: Omar Hernandez of H.P. Steel Window Restoration inspects the guest house window in his shop prior to making repairs.
3. Fallingwater preservation maintenance team members (left to right): Scotty Layman, Corey Fuller, Kyle Ritenour, and Ben Morrison with Pamela Jerome, preservation architect, on Fallingwater’s east terrace.
CHOCOLATE WORKS OF ART: NEW FALLINGWATER CHOCOLATE BARS BY ÉCLAT CHOCOLATE
During a recent visit to Fallingwater, Curtin shared his inspiration for the project:
The Fallingwater Museum Store often works with artisans and designers to create signature products inspired by Fallingwater’s architecture, art or landscape. But working with a master chocolatier to produce a chocolate bar inspired by Fallingwater’s architecture is a first!
Fallingwater Director Justin Gunther and Director of Retail Operations Craig Falatovich discovered Christopher Curtin of Éclat Chocolate after seeing, and tasting, the chocolate bars he created in collaboration with Longwood Gardens, a public garden in Kennett Square, Pa. For these bars, Curtin captured the essence of place by joining together delicious chocolate with fresh, fragrant herbs grown in the gardens at Longwood.
“Working with chocolate is extremely unforgiving and when you’re working in such an exacting and restricting place, how do you bring in texture or how do you bring in the story to those flavors?
Designing a chocolate bar for Fallingwater has been an amazing undertaking because you want to pay homage to the architect, Wright himself, but at the same time you want to modernize it and still make it approachable for people.
FALLINGWATER INSTITUTE
Fallingwater Institute draws inspiration for its educational mission from those who champion human expression, in all its richness and diversity of forms. Through architecture that harmonizes with nature and challenges conventions, Fallingwater Institute seeks to change perceptions of what is possible.
Join us for immersive and transformative educational experiences with Fallingwater Institute in the coming year.
After contacting Curtin about a possible Fallingwater collaboration and learning he is passionate about Frank Lloyd Wright, Gunther and Falatovich knew he was the right fit for our project. Plus, Curtin’s credentials are quite impressive. Setting out from his hometown of Madison, Wi., Curtin studied at the House of le Compagnons du Devoir, home of the premier guild of pastry chefs and artisans in France. It was here where he worked alongside the best journeyman pastry chefs in Europe and became the first American to be awarded the honor of German Pastry Chef and Chocolatier in Cologne, Germany. Immersed in the realm of the world’s top chocolate makers, Curtin continued to hone his skills in the finest chocolate houses of Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany and Japan.
As a Certified Master Chocolatier with more than two decades making delicious handcrafted artisan chocolates, Curtin embraced the challenge to share his art and experience by creating something truly special for Fallingwater. He took inspiration from the design of Fallingwater’s window tower, embossing the bar with the pattern of the steel frames and making the chocolate a work of architecture in and of itself. These beautiful, sophisticated and delicious creations hit the shelves of Fallingwater’s Museum Store and Éclat Chocolates in West Chester this fall.
1. Curtin works in Fallingwater’s kitchen where years ago the Kaufmann’s chef, Elsie Henderson, was also inspired by the scenery in her cooking.
2. The chocolate bar design draws inspiration from the iconic column of windows that overlook the falls.
3. While seated on the Pottery Terrace, Curtin shared his ideas with Justin Gunther for the Fallingwater inspired chocolate bar.
In the past 20 years chocolate has taken me all over the world and I’ve gotten to work with some of the most amazing chefs. So, to be working with your heroes like Eric Ripert or Anthony Bourdain or Jean Georges, it’s just amazing to me. But being here at Fallingwater . . . this is one of the most personal projects we’ve done because I grew up in a house designed by a student of Wright. To be sitting here in the living room is just unreal.
Everything about this one-of-a-kind chocolate bar is inspired by Fallingwater. First, there’s the flavor profile. One of the things that inspired Wright were Japanese designs, so it’s very soft yet elegant and simple while very interesting. When you taste the chocolate, you can tell there’s something very sophisticated happening underneath.
Then, there’s the shape. We emulated the design of these elegant elongated windows that overlook the falls and we did something very special in that we made the glass part of it matte and then we made the frames shiny with a unique mold-making technique.
Even the color of the packaging design is an homage to the two colors Wright primarily used in the building.
I just can’t wait for everyone to try it and to experience our take on the taste of Fallingwater.”
June 9–13
Professional and college-aged musicians are welcome to apply for this weeklong creative retreat, directed by Mike Block and Hanneke Cassel. All instrument types and stylistic backgrounds are welcome but acoustic and portable instruments are best.
HIGH SCHOOL RESIDENCIES & VIRTUAL SUMMER CAMPS: WEEKLONG PROGRAMS
June 16–August 8
Perfect for the creative high schooler in your life, especially those considering careers in art, architecture, design or other creative fields. Live and work onsite at Fallingwater during weeklong High School Residencies or learn from home during Virtual Summer Camps.
Scan this QR code for more information and to register.
The text above is from a video about Curtin’s time at Fallingwater. Scan the QR code to watch the video on YouTube.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
800 Waterfront Drive, FL 2
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-288-2777
WaterLandLife.org
Fallingwater.org
MUSEUM STORE
Rhododendron Collection
Earlier this year we introduced a new piece of pottery by artist Christopher Brody. Brody’s Rhododendron Bowl is the latest addition to his larger collection of vases that began in 2021 with a limited-edition vase. Like the vases, the bowl features a hand-carved rhododendron leaf and blossom motif in tones of greens and ocher, with a Fallingwater Red glaze on the rim and exterior.
Made of hand-carved stone, this bowl measures 2.75" high and 14.5" in diameter.
Price: $498.00
2025 Fallingwater Calendar
Pittsburgh-based architecture and interiors photographer Dave Bryce captures the essence of Fallingwater in our 2025 Fallingwater Calendar. Featuring all new photographs, Bryce uses his well-trained eye to take beautiful images of the house, which is perfectly integrated with its landscape. This 9"x13" calendar is made in the U.S.A.
Price: $16.95
Members receive a 10% discount. Both items are available online at Fallingwater.org.
Fallingwater Advisory Committee:
David Barensfeld
Linda McKenna Boxx
Michael D. Cheteyan, II
Carrie S. Cox
David G. DeLong, member emeritus
Steven G. Elliott
Christopher Fromboluti
To ensure
Felix Fukui
Anthony Wolf Greenberg
Austin Hill
Henry P. Hoffstot, III
Donna Holdorf
William Kolano
H. Lewis Lobdell
Richard Longstreth
Kilolo Luckett
Dennis McFadden
Jack H. Millstein, Jr.
Leslie Nutting
Max Protetch
Aldo Radoczy
Toby Smith
Alexander C. Speyer, III, chair
Michael Strueber
Lynda S. Waggoner, director emerita
Marigil M. Walsh