Volunteering at Fallingwater

Yesterday, I ventured deep into the hills of Fayette County...only to find the most impressive gesture of modern man's integration into nature: Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA...

...like her previous residents and the many who ventured before me, I consider this place sacred; as Frank Lloyd Wright himself commented: Nature is the only body of god we shall ever see...

The illustrations and perspectives above are from my internship at Fallingwater in the summer of 2007. One of my projects was to examine the surroundings of the canopy connecting the main house to the guest house; a compliment to both the site and the architecture, the canopy is a stopping point on the tour, subject to close examination and appreciation of detail...

After several design reviews with Justin Gunther, Curator of Buildings and Grounds, approval was given for the implementation of the design. The design was completed a few weeks later and introduced native species in a simplified and contextual arrangement.
Aside from the arrangement of plant material and the erradication of noxious species, the greatest change exposed the supporting rockface, the very foundation of the main house...here, the visitor can now witness the exact merger of nature and architecture, of God and man...

I took the above photo yesterday after a few minutes of caretaking; I enjoy watching the space mature, evolve, and continue to thrive...


On to another task...assisting Horticultural Specialist (and close friend), Ann Talarek, in repairing the edging along the pedestrian path to the house...

...The objective of the project was to provide an aged, naturalistic setting that guides visitors along the established footpath... the introduction of native plant material interacts with rock born of site, creating an interpretation that will hopefully go unnoticed...successfully harmonizing our efforts with the established environment and visitor expectations of place...

Despite the surrealistic lure of my surroundings and the company of close friends, my time here was only temporary... the approaching Pennsylvania rain and cold may have ended my day, but my heart remains...till text time!

Dan Kiley in Columbus, IN

Last week I visited my sister's family in Columbus, Indiana. My sister works for Cummins - the engine company based in Columbus. Cummins has been paying the architect's fees for public buildings since the late 1950's which has resulted in a small midwestern city that is also a mecca for modern architecture. It has been ranked 4th in the country behind New York, Chicago and Los Angeles for significant architecture. Just a short walk from my sister's suburban house is Eero Saarinen's North Christian Church. Dan Kiley worked closely with Saarinen on the site's landscape design, one of several collaborations between the two. Another Kiley/Saarinen masterpiece, the Miller House, was recently purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is scheduled to open to the public in 2011. ...I look forward to it!

The following text is taken from the Columbus, IN Convention & Visitors Bureau website...

"Kiley designed numerous Columbus projects – both public and private. Perhaps the most cherished Kiley landscape is that of North Christian Church, the last building architect Eero Saarinen designed before his death in 1961. It is the last of three buildings in Columbus that he and Dan Kiley worked on together. The building is integrated into the fabric of the site instead of being an object surrounded by plantings."

"The entry sequence consists of a long curving drive that runs through open woods of old native hardwoods, to a series of parking lots formed into courtyards and camouflaging vehicles by high hedges and perimeter trees. A low-pitched slate roof hovers over a berm and the surrounding magnolia grove, then suddenly soars skyward into a 192-foot high steeple. Maple allees define much of the perimeter of the property. A small meadow bounded by woods, allees, magnolia grove, and hedges affords the single unobstructed view of the building."

"Critic Grady Clay, in the June 1996 issue of Landscape Architecture described the design, saying, "It was and remains a strikingly successful marriage of structure and site design in the complex landscape of Columbus – a combination that, in my view has not since been surpassed."

Left: Horizontal drain pipe between concrete wedge curb at parking lot island - no surface inlets in the parking lot. Right: Tinted concrete curbing near the building entrance.

One of the 3 parking lot "rooms". Note there is no line striping - even at the HC spaces. Water slopes gently away toward the islands, flows through the pipes detailed above, crosses the parking lot access road just beyond then enters the lawn swale at the edge of the site.

A Walk in the Woods...WV Style

On September 21, Rebecca and I traveled to West Virginia to visit Coopers Rock State Forest. Sometimes, a landscape architect needs to head to the forested mountains to find a sense of clarity and inspiration. Sometimes, this can only be done on a barren rock face 2, 159 ft. above sea level...


Rebecca was intrigued by the historic pavilion constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Built between 1936-1942, the structure (as well as several others on site) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rebecca captured not only the structure, but the essence of its surroundings.

My interest was directed to the contrast of the forest that surrounded me: the strong form and rough texture accented by the smooth, twisted forms, both of which arise from the soft moss covered plane....


The forest floor offers great contrast itself...so many intricacies among a fragile balance of life and death.

West-by-God-Virginia, one of the greatest places on Earth! These images are from a short hike we took along the Virgin Hemlock Trail. I have no words for how beautiful and awe-inspiring this place is...