2016-05-30

【Aiden in English】

        Money can buy you many things. But, as the saying goes, it can’t buy happiness. What it can buy are things that make happiness. Such items like a cell phone, or food, or a mansion, all bring happiness. As for the Kaufmann’s, a rich family that owned a chain of the department stores in Pittsburgh back to the 1930s, their excessive amount of money could afford a great house, buying not only a home but also a sense of happiness.

        Fallingwater is a natural park where tourists pour in every day to see a house. Most people hear this statement and immediately lose interest. Hear me out, as you will soon see how the reservation and an entrance fee of $25 dollars were worth it a couple of days before you visit it during the Memorial holiday long weekend. 

        The Kaufmann’s loved nature, so for vacation, they built a home in the middle of nowhere to escape the city life. The house was designed by a great architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The entire tour of the house was about Wright’s organic design of the house, masterfully carving in his influences on the residents of the home.

        The tour began in the living room. The phrase “room” does not correctly describe the house, though. More accurately, it should be called a section. Walls were a rare thing in the different parts of the house, as Wright thought they blocked off the connection between humans. Also, he loved to express the outside world. Walls got in the way of viewers, and especially for people like the Kaufmann’s, who were nature-lovers, walls were a large obstacle in their intake of nature’s looks. Wright’s design of the furniture also impacted the scenic view of people. With low chairs, tables, couches, and no shades, the room was completely empty of items that can block one’s sight of the window and the outer scene. What’s so important about the scene? Well, the spot chosen for this amazing house was on a waterfall. Picture a stream trickling over rocks, forming a small drop about ten feet or so. Then add a boxy house on the mesa literally hanging over the water. I mean, no support on or in the water. The Kaufmann’s had one of these rooms, where the bathtub was basically a large bowl with a hole to allow water to flow through. The house had to descend stairs straight into the Bear Run, and also foldable windows allowing direct contact with the spring breeze. Upstairs was just as nice. The bedrooms were small, forcing our attention outside to the light of nature. The craftiness of the building almost scared me. Wright manipulated us even after his death, which quite freaked me out. In a good way. Not only did he make us look outside, but also woke up later in the day. The beds were arranged so the sun rises in a spot where you couldn’t see it. Ideally, it would be great, but there is a thing called school…

        Fallingwater was once a rich man’s home. Now on display, it shows a great piece of American architecture that is unmatched. With the tour around the organic house, this experience really will “hang” with me.

【紅霞譯文】

        金錢能用來買很多商品，但俗語說得好，金錢買不來幸福，不過添置的東西諸如手機、食物、乃至別墅都可以給人帶來幸福。對於生活在上個世紀卅年代匹茲堡百貨公司闊佬──卡夫曼家族來說，用花不完的銀子打造出巨型私家庭院，不僅增強家庭的凝聚力，同時還提升個人的幸福感。

        落水山莊實則一所天然公園，每日過往遊客川流不息，為的是觀賞一棟房子。多數人乍聽於此興趣驟減，但我告訴你，“國殤節”長周末期間必須提前幾天預約，還要支付每人$25塊大洋的參觀門票。

        卡夫曼一家酷愛自然，為了度假休閒，他們在一個前不着村後不着店遠離市井嘈雜的密林深處打造新居，並由現代傑出建築師弗蘭克·勞埃德·賴特親自設計，整個故居遊覽全部圍繞賴特如何將有機建築的設計理念巧妙地轉化成實用民居而進行的。

        我們先從客廳開始參觀，這裡所謂的“房間”並不能恰如其分地描述建築本身的內部結構，較為準確地說應該稱之為“分片”，家庭室書房會客間餐廳之間沒有用牆打成隔段，賴特認為牆影響人與人之間的交流。他崇尚戶外世界，牆的存在會分散人們的注意力，特別像卡夫曼一家三口個個鐘愛自然，一堵牆矗在室內，勢必有悖初衷。賴特所設計的家具同樣從視覺效果出發，桌椅沙發低矮，室內裝潢毫無色調，沒有任何東西可以妨礙人們直視外界。自然場景非常重要嗎？要知道落水山莊之所以新穎獨特，就因為被懸掛在瀑布之上，涓涓碧水穿過岩石，飛流直下10英尺／3米左右的岩崖，這座“方山之宅”由水面騰空而起，我指的是水下水上沒有柱梁支撐。卡夫曼有一個房間的浴缸形狀宛若大碗，山泉可以從內設的孔眼自由穿梭。流水別墅既建有樓梯直入熊溪河道，又裝有摺疊窗戶任春風徐徐吹進。樓上格局也別出心裁，臥室很小，以便讓人一有精力就投身於大自然懷抱。落水山莊室內設計詭秘，賴特百年之後都忘不了捉弄晚輩，真令我心有餘悸，當然完全是善意之舉，其目的在於鼓勵大家要麼多多欣賞山水風光，要麼好好休息養足精神。床鋪頭枕座東朝西，為的是讓你看不到晨曦，踏踏實實地睡個懶覺。主意想得蠻好，但那個叫學校的玩意……

        落水山莊曾經是一個有錢人家的深宅大院，如今已向公眾開放，在美國建築上無與倫比，參觀完這座有機建築，一種道法自然的理念深深縈繞在我的心頭。