One aspect that is a not a popular discussion topic about the Falling Water is the Guest House, and why should it be, anyway? It comes without special features or special effects. It was added to the estate at a later stage without a falling water feature like the main building down below.

I saw the Falling Water, one of the corner stones of modern architecture in 2005, which has inspired a generation of architects to design buildings more united with the Nature. I have always been fond of the terraces that stretch like branch trees.

Personally there were a few aspects I didn’t like such as the low ceiling in the living room and the awkward flooring materials; it also came as a shock to learn how expensive it is to maintain the building.

The notes above are not however the main scope of this post. One important point about the building needs to be discussed.

The falling water underneath the building is a famous design feature, but no one appears interested in discussing how noisy this feature is.

The noise level is something that the zillion pictures taken of the building have never been able to capture.

The noise is on day and night. It is not like a teenagers’ party that eventually finishes. The splashing simply never ends. Certainly not an easy place to sleep.

I often think that the purpose of buildings is to protect us from the Nature around us. These days I think it should protect us from noise too… and under the current circumstances, I suspect for the owners of the Falling Water, the Guest House was a great architectural achievement.