March 13, 2021
If challenging times like these have a silver lining, it’s the innovation that emerges as our lives and our worlds undergo dramatic change. The pandemic has afforded us the freedom to break free of the status quo, reinvent how we do things and think creatively about what the future can bring.
One such idea for Fallingwater’s future was shaped by third-year undergraduate architecture students at Miami University. This past fall semester, the students explored the hypothetical concept of a Center for the Advancement of American Architecture as part of Professor John Reynolds’ Modern Vernacular studio course. Sited beside the Barn at Fallingwater, this center would build upon the legacy of Fallingwater by encouraging a deeper understanding and appreciation of the built environment through engaging exhibitions, research and educational programs. To create designs respectful of the existing context, the students gained inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas of organic architecture, nearby vernacular forms and principles of sustainable design.
We invite you to join Professor Reynolds, Fallingwater director Justin Gunther, Wescott House director Marta Wojcik and architect Bill James of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, as the students present four distinctive and innovative proposals for a new Center for the Advancement of American Architecture at Fallingwater.
View the presentation boards for the students’ four proposals:
Bryce Hendrickson, Tori Hoffmann, Emma Richards, Cam Rowe
Ben Kollmann, Reba Shoup, Lydia Noll, Gilbert Adu-Boampong
Teddy Walker, Hannah Maule, Paige Cardwell, Kayla Smith
Colin Finnigan, Mackenzie Kicher, Holly Reising, Macy Whitaker