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:
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
Office: 312.567.6815
Email: flury@iit.edu
From barnsworthstudio.com and dwell.com
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| Farnsworth House archdaily.com |
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| The flooded Farnsworth House - September, 2008 regional-modernism.com |
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| Teak wardrobe at back of room prior to flooding farnsworthhouse.org |
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| Barnsworth exterior rendering dwell.com |
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| Barnsworth interior rendering archdaily.com |
