Camryn Darkstone is a gem of a builder, and this her version of Fallingwater is a triumph in every way. It's beautiful, it's harmonious, it's informative, and it's fun.
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Together with Littlefield grid owner Walter Balazic, she ported the sim from its original place of creation in SL to their grid almost ten years ago, when Littlefield opened.
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| Walter and Camryn |
The Fallingwater logo is not, as might seem, a Japanese ideogram. Instead it represents the shape of the house and its cascade, although perhaps you can see a F and a L in the pattern also.
The house is primarily a prim build, indeed, it was begun before Mesh was even a thing in SL. Yet the quality of the construction is so perfect that the house, as it does in RL, seems to float above the torrent.
Back in 2010 FLW was a bit of a thing over on SL - here's the story of the short-lived Museum sim from the old ArtsParks blog.
Walter and Camryn admired that museum, but their work was a completely separate project, and they were canny enough to call this sim 'Mill Run' rather than by the real world location name Bull Run, thus keeping a low profile, and in any case, the quality of the build and the complete lack of commercial intent put it in a category apart. But being able to keep this work of art on their own grid is, of course, the best of all possible worlds.
Camryn Darkstone: When I first saw the RL Fallingwater, I thought to myself, as long as there are people who can pull original ideas like this out of their heads, I think there is hope for humanity :-)
About 20 of us visited the sim this week, and Camryn accompanied us through all the stages of the tour - if you missed it, no worries, there is a cleverly laid out self guided tour that introduces you to all the main points along the way.
Camryn Darkstone: Everything about Wright’s design makes it an organic part of the surrounding nature. He used local stone and natural wood, and textiles with colors found in the surrounding woods. Glass walls with windows that open everywhere brought the outdoors in. Wright used the visual elements of the waterfall as a motif: the strong horizontal line of the rock slab, crossed by the vertical line of the falling water. The logo you see here beside me is a representation of that design. You will see that motif reflected in several aspects of the house and its furnishings. The real-world Fallingwater is nestled in a ravine. It is not visible from a distance.
Camryn.Darkstone: We tried to be true to the original Fallingwater, by placing the house deep in a wooded ravine. We also tried to reproduce the interior of the house, including the furniture as it was designed by Wright. That was not easy in 2010 but we did our best :-)
Edgar Kaufmann was a Pittsburgh department store magnate, and it's sometimes said that he and his wife wanted a holiday home with views over the waterfall, and ended up with a house that is part of the waterfall. That's a rather simplified version of the story of the creation of one of the most iconic structures of the 20th century.
Some aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright's personal life and views may not stand up to the test of time, but his architectural vision continues to garner universal respect. For him, a house should enrich both its dwellers and the environment in which it sits. They are part of a whole - the 'pattern in everything' - that ought to be harmonious, organic, plastic. We planet-dwellers need recognize Nature with a capital N, the essential force which shapes the past, present and future. He even came up with a word for what he was after - 'tenuity'.
Anyone who has ever tried to recreate a real world house in the virtual has come up against the challenge of proportions. 
Don't overlook the clever scripting by Walter - the glass hatch that opens up to allow access to the water below is a tour de force. And no, this is not a portrait of Walter, but of Edgar Kaufmann. Or is it?
Kaufmann, his wife, and son Edgar Jr. read FLW's autobiography and became fans of his ideas, connecting as they do spirituality with structures and the notion that landscape is a thing to be embraced, not arbitrarily molded. Edgar Jr joined the Taliesin Fellowship, a sort of live-in apprenticeship at FLW's estate in Wisconsin that lasted several months. His parents were visitors at the Taliesin campus - and not long afterwards, they had the great man reimagine their rather sparse summer cabin at Bear Run. The rest is history.
The number of people who are permanently in Mouselook is very small, most of us need see a room using their camera, which has a significant vertical offset from where our head is. Add to that the tendency to have unrealistically tall avatars, and you have a serious height problem when putting a roof on a room. It's also tempting to make a place that fits one or two avies, but as this picture shows, our coachload looked perfectly at home on the build.
The main living space in Fallingwater, with its focus on the fireplace, reflects FLW's ethos of the household as a gregarious group, occupying communal spaces above all. Camryn explained that some of the rooms - the kitchen for example - in her version is three times the size of the original, simply in order for the room to be a workable space for an avatar. Yet in the entire home, even with 20+ people, she has accomplished something remarkable - it feels like a real space, but without any of the claustrophobia that overly-authentic proportions inflict upon a virtual visitor.
Thirza Ember: what do you think he would have thought of virtual worlds? Is it an architect's paradise?
James Atlloud: I imagine FLW would enjoy the fantasy of VW - like Celtic mythos.
Walter Balazic: yes I bet he would have, would have been interesting to see what he created
Camryn Darkstone: Over here...There is no view of the waterfall from inside the house, but there is direct access to the creek. The hatch opens to a stairway that leads down directly into the water below.
Walter Balazic: oh the hatch, what a pain that was to script LOL, that is how it behaves in RL, we tried to keep everything correct
Camryn Darkstone: Wright designed all the furniture specifically for this house. We reproduced it as best we could in 2010. Most of the furniture is "built in", like the music listening area. A narrow stone staircase outside leads down to a plunge pool, fed by the creek, where Mrs. Kaufmann swam her morning laps.
Upstairs, bedrooms, meant for nocturnal use only (rather than the modern-day bedroom, often a mini apartment for apped-up kids and Netflixed grandkids) form a maze of large-windowed small spaces with some intriguing features, lovingly recreated inworld. 
The long window, designed by FLW works in tandem with the space saving desk that allows into the house all the noise and movement and - dare I say it, damp? - of the waterfall. As Camryn pointed out, the Kaufmanns declared that instead of Falling-water, the house deserved the name Mildew-rising.
Camryn Darkstone: In real life, the second floor is a maze of tiny bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and terrace. We enlarged it slightly so that avatars can move around without cameras getting stuck. Take note of the corner of this window, and how the windows open. Wright's design called for windows with no corner supports, thus giving a seamless view of nature.
Nara Nook: hmm...interesting desk?
Camryn Darkstone: Yes, to FLW the desk was far less important than the window! Must let nature in, at all costs! The third floor was the bedroom and study of the owner's son, Edgar Kaufmann Jr., who was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is said that Wright was upset when Kaufmann committed a sin… by covering up a window with a bookshelf!
Even the bedrooms are complete with books and chairs and beds, and that distinctive dark grey stone everywhere, reminding you at all times of the ground beneath your feet. It is said that Frank Lloyd Wright designed every aspect of the house, from the walls to the wall hangings, making the house an extremely complex work of art, and I wondered if this group of visitors thought of it as a house - a livable space they would like to own and occupy. The response was immediate - Yes please!
Thirza Ember: hoping the balcony can take the weight...
Walter Balazic: was just about to say that :)
Forest Azure: good thing we can hover
Ernest Moncrieff: (its cantilevered ;) )Walter Balazic: yes, I looked into how that worked in great detail when we built this, I wondered how it didn't collapse under it's own weight
Camryn Darkstone: Well they did have to reinforce it at some point about 20 years ago
Nebby Newman: I understand that FLW's blueprints always had things left out because he wanted to be part of the build process
Camryn Darkstone: That sounds like him!
Camryn Darkstone: Fallingwater became perhaps Frank Lloyd Wright’s greatest legacy. The revolutionary design was controversial and instantly famous, being featured on the cover of Time Magazine even before it was finished. Fallingwater inspired the nation as a symbol of hope and freedom from constraint. In 1991, Fallingwater was voted the "best all-time work of American architecture" by members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Today, under the care of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, it is a National Historic Landmark and has been visited by more than 4 million people.
One of the most stable grids in Opensim, with a large and loyal population, regular weekly, monthly, and festive events, Littlefield Grid has many beautiful places to visit.
Camryn Darkstone: If you'd like to see some of our other regions, down at the landing spot where we started today, there is a signpost that is a teleporter to take you around to some notable regions on Littlefield Grid
Walter Balazic:yes we have quite a few interesting regions, in particular, I happen to like Nikola Tesla, so we have a region for him here, it's a replica of his laboratory Wardenclyffe
Camryn Darkstone: Yes the recreation of Nikola Tesla's laboratory, and a Doctor Who experience
Kelso.Uxlay: Oooh!
Camryn Darkstone: Also an Air & Space Museum
Thirza Ember: the 911 region is also a very nice piece of work
Camryn Darkstone: That was an experience to build! We did it before the real one was even opened... all I had to go on was Google Map street view lol
Walter Balazic: and Xi created the Tower of Voices there for us
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| Walter and Camryn |
It was a fantastic last first stop for us all on this final Safari of the season, and it will be great to return as a group to visit the grid next year. In the meantime, make sure you visit the grid's Welcome area to tp to all the landmark regions, and check out the Littlefield website for more information about all things LFgrid !
HG Address for Fallingwater: lfgrid.com:8002:Mill Run
Thirza - We can't tell you enough how much we enjoyed Hypergrid Safari's visit! You are all welcome anytime and we'll be happy to show you around any of the regions! Fantastic article! Thank you again for visiting, hope to see you all very soon!
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