Mid2Mod: The Barnsworth Project (at Farnsworth House)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Barnsworth Project (at Farnsworth House)

On September 14, 2008, a torrential rainstorm caused the Fox River in Plano, Illinois, to overflow its banks and flood Farnsworth House, the iconic home designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1951. The home and its contents suffered more than $500,000 worth of damage.

Site director Whitney French knew that the house, which is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated by Landmarks Illinois, could easily be flooded again, so she contacted Professor Frank Flury at the Illinois Institute of Technology. French realized that most of the furniture in the house is small enough to be carried out of harm's way if flooding occurs again, but she was concerned about the massive 12' x 6' x 2' teak wardrobe Mies designed for Edith Farnsworth, which is too large to move during a flood.

The decision was made to allow Flury's architecture students to design a separate building to display the wardrobe and house exhibitions. They initially came up with a modern design inspired by the Farnsworth House itself but quickly realized that nothing could compete with the original design. Instead, they decided to draw on the rural setting and create a modern round barn to be constructed near the visitors' center, well above the current 100-year floodplain.

The students have now turned to Kickstarter, an online funding platform for creative projects, to raise money for construction, as well as to solicit in-kind donations of materials. Their goal is to raise $10,000 by March 11.

Here's how to donate:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barnsworthstudio/barnsworth-exhibition-center

They also accept checks, which can be made payable to:

CoA - Barnsworth Studio

Mailing address:

Faith Kancauski

College of Architecture - S.R. Crown Hall

3360 South State Street

Chicago, IL 60616 -3793

For in-kind donations of material:

Please contact:

Frank Flury