Pitt Art History Professor Franklin Toker Authors New Book On Myths and Magic of Fallingwater

PITTSBURGH—The new book Fallingwater Rising (Alfred A. Knopf), by University of Pittsburgh Professor of Art History Franklin Toker, will be available for purchase Sept 30.

Toker worked 18 years on the book, which explores the unlikely collaboration of merchant E. J. Kaufmann and aging architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The building they produced, the Kaufmann family's weekend home, brought international fame to them both and cemented Wright's reputation as the greatest architect of the 20th century.

Fallingwater Rising is also an enthralling family drama involving Kaufmann, his cousin (and wife) Liliane, and their son Edgar Jr., whose own role in the creation of Fallingwater is central to the story. Toker incorporated key figures from 1930s America into the story—including Henry Luce, William Randolph Hearst, and Ayn Rand, as well as the Carnegie, Mellon, and Frick families of Pittsburgh—showing how the house became not just an architectural masterpiece but also a fundamental icon of American life.

"Fallingwater becomes a living thing through Toker's intimate wording: a wondrous creature, exquisitely tuned to the site," stated a starred review in Kirkus Reviews. "Digging into personal and architectural history, Toker demonstrates spadework of the highest, most exacting, and refined order."

Toker is the author of books on the Gothic Revival, the ancient cathedral of Florence, and the architecture and industry of Pittsburgh. Esteemed in his field, he served as president of the Society of Architectural Historians in 1993 and 1994.

For more information, call 412-648-2400.

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