Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Mill Run, Pennsylvania
Conservation of Fallingwater
$250,000 awarded April 2000

Getty funds supported a three-year project to conserve Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and its Wright-designed interior furnishings. Designed in 1935 as a vacation home for Pittsburgh department store magnate Edgar J. Kaufmann, Fallingwater is one of Wright's greatest masterpieces. The structure features a series of dramatic cantilevered terraces constructed over the waterfall that inspired its design. Over the years, however, moisture, structural stress, and the elements took their toll on this National Historic Landmark. The Getty's implementation grant enabled architectural conservators, structural engineers, and other specialists to undertake priority conservation work identified during a previously completed conservation planning project, which also received Getty funding. This work included strengthening the structure's cantilevered beams and joists, restoring deteriorating windows and doors, repointing the exterior stone walls, waterproofing, and conserving many of the home's Wright-designed wood furnishings. During the project, a training program for Fallingwater's maintenance staff enabled them to participate in the conservation project and to develop strategies for the site's future maintenance and repair. In addition, student interns worked to track structural movement at the site. Getty funds supported direct implementation costs, such as costs of consulting architects, structural engineers, furniture conservator, materials, and training costs.

Centre International de la Construction en Terre, Ecole d'Architecture de Grenoble, France
Conservation of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral
$69,680 awarded March 2001

A Getty Architectural Conservation Grant supported the work of the Centre International de la Constuction en Terre's Ecole d'Architecture—an organization dedicated to the preservation of earthen architecture worldwide—to conserve Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral in Navrongo, Ghana. The conservation project was based on a comprehensive implementation plan, which was completed with the help of a previous Getty grant and developed in partnership with the National Monuments and Museums Board of Ghana. Built in 1920, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows is the last remaining earthen cathedral in Ghana. Although its exterior reflects European influences and a merging of cultures, its interior columns and frieze feature traditional bas-relief decorations created by local Nankani and Kassena women and decorated in rich earth colors. The implementation project focused on stabilizing the structure and preserving the elaborate interior decorations. A concurrent training component engaged local women to train other community members in traditional techniques for creating and maintaining the cathedral's painted mud decorations. Getty funds supported the work of on-site architectural conservators, labor, materials, and training costs.

See a complete listing of grants awarded.