Saturday, February 01, 2025, 5:06AM |  44°
MENU
Advertisement
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.
1
MORE

International honor: UNESCO affirms Fallingwater’s greatness

Post-Gazette

International honor: UNESCO affirms Fallingwater’s greatness

This world class coup for Fallingwater, is sure to boost the home’s distinctive public profile.

Few would argue that Frank Lloyd Wright is the most famous architect of the modern era, if not the length of history. And his most iconic work, Fallingwater, is in Pittsburgh’s shaded backyard.

New — and potentially valuable — attention is being brought to this artist who mastered the integration of structure and materials with its enveloping environs and nature as a whole.

Fallingwater, the house that is cantilevered over a waterfall in Fayette County, is one of eight Wright buildings to be distinguished collectively as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. To be a World Heritage site is to be recognized as a place of “outstanding universal value.”

Advertisement

The honor was long in coming. It had been nominated first in 2008. But the team that has worked for years to secure the designation for Wright’s bevy of buildings kept at it. Led by Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater’s former director, commented on behalf of her team that the buildings “sum up modern architecture in their open plans, abstraction of form, use of new technology, connection to nature and ability to adapt to modern living.”

Go to section

Fallingwater, as a World Heritage site, is in distinguished company. On the list of some 1,000 sites around the world are the Taj Majal, Victoria Falls and Yellowstone National Park. Only one other site in Pennsylvania has made the grade: Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Wright was commissioned to design Fallingwater by department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann and his wife, Liliane. Designed in 1935, it was built in 1936 and 1937. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. donated Fallingwater to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and it opened to the public in 1964. The seven other Wright buildings in the World Heritage site package are Unity Temple in Oak Park, Ill.; Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago; Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., Hollyhock House in Los Angeles; Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House in Madison, Wis.; Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. All eight buildings already are designated National Historical Landmarks.

Advertisement

Fallingwater’s inclusion as a World Heritage site is a singular distinction, the value of which is far reaching. Not only does it honor the memory and the work of a renowned architectural artist, the designation adds to one of Western Pennsylvania’s most popular tourist destinations even more oomph.

This world class coup for Fallingwater, which already attracts about 180,000 visitors annually, is sure to boost the home’s distinctive public profile; encourage Fallingwater visitors to may make slight detours to Kentuck Knob, Duncan House and Mantyla, other Wright works within easy driving distance; and give a leg up to fundraising efforts for the costly and never-ending maintenance work on the structures-cum-artwork.

Perhaps best of all, though, is the recognition of the universal significance of our very own neighborhood’s distinctly designed treasure box.

First Published: July 11, 2019, 9:57 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, center, speaks during a news conference following a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker is at his left.
1
news
A medical plane carrying a child patient and 5 others crashes in Philadelphia, setting homes ablaze
The Monroeville Mall, which was sold on Friday, according to its Chattanooga-based owner.
2
business
Monroeville Mall is sold for $34 million
Downtown is being hit with another round of big property assessment cuts, delivering another blow to a city tax base already staggering.
3
business
'Death by a thousand cuts:' Downtown hit with another $64.9 million in assessment reductions
Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting, left, talks with manager Derek Shelton, right, before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
4
sports
Jason Mackey: Pirates haven't spent much money this winter, but they've made some sizable bets
Swissvale native Billy Gardell stars as "Pete," a house comic at the MGM Grand Casino, in "The Vortex."
5
a&e
Pittsburgh-native actor Billy Gardell gets starring dramatic role in 'The Vortex'
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.  (Post-Gazette)
Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story