CompuServe Messages

Pat, I'm going to end up looking like a real nerd here…. a concrete boat was first displayed and patented by a Frenchman named Lambot in the 1850's. His patent also included designs for reinforced beams and columns. Nervi's genius was in an almost intuitive understanding of where the lines of stressran through out a concrete structure, and his ability to remove the unneeded mass from areas without stress. The result was a beautiful concrete structure with an organic and lacy appearence. If you can't tell, I wrote my history thesis on Nervi in grad school. As to Falling Water, you're right that it is a most impressive building and I can't wait to see this new 3DS book about it. It is interesting to note that the building embodies both the best of architecture and the worst of engineering in one structure. The building was so costly to maintain and became so difficult to live in that it was abandoned long before the heirs donated it to the State of Pennsylvania. This was partly becuase FLW pushed building technology to the state of the art and beyond. It was also partly because FLW could not be bothered with such mundane issues as buildability, maintenence, and weathertightness. Some architects, when they think no one else is listening, whisper that the L in FLW really stands for Leaky <G>. Steven