The continuing saga of the Farnsworth House brings us a new chapter. Preservationists are considering installing hydraulic jacks could protect Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House from flood danger:

Preservationists have proposed a system of hydraulic jacks that could safeguard Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House from flood damage by lifting it into the air.

The preferred choice, priced between £1.5 and £1.8 million, would involve temporarily moving the house from its site, then installing a system of hydraulic steel trusses and a pit from which floodwater could be pumped away.

“I think one of the risks is that this is a new application of an old technology,” said Meeks. “The risk is overcoming the question mark in people’s minds. People will want to be satisfied that it’s the simplest solution.”

Our reader will note that I have a special spot for Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, charting the unfortunate flood, visiting the house and comparing it with Philip Johnson’s Glass House. See how Peter Guthrie has upped the ante with his life-like Farnsworth House renderings:
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Signature Shot, originally uploaded by plemeljr

As was previously reported, the Farnsworth House Flooded Again, and it was only recently that the good people at the National Trust for Historic Preservation could assess the damage:

The flood waters started to recede yesterday morning, and unlike the flood of 1996 when the waters rose over 4′ into the house, it appears it was about 18″ above the floor level this time. Our very ingenious low-tech way of raising the furniture on plastic milk crates worked and not one of them was displaced.
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No glass was broken and the travertine floors on the interior seem only mildly dirty. We still don’t know the full impact to the mechanical and electrical systems but are hopeful since most of the equipment is located more than 18″ above the floor. Several very large trees were literally uprooted and getting an arborist in to determine the safety of some of the other trees is a priority.

Also, they have video of the floodwaters, prior to entering the house:

Stay tuned to the Preservation Nation Blog for updates on the cleanup effort.

Photo of the Farnsworth House Flood of 2008 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
If yesterday was a bad day for the SUPERTRAIN, today is a bad day for Modern architecture. The effects of Tropical Storm Lowell has flooded Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. The Fox River in Plano, Illinois crested eight feet above normal water level, flooding Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, which is elevated five feet above the flood plain. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has not been able to asses the situation.

As of mid-day Sunday, flood waters rose above the 5-foot risers on which the steel, glass and stone home sits, leaving its interior covered in another two feet of water, said Whitney French, historic site director.
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Employees at the Farnsworth House used boats to reach the home on Saturday and lift the designer furniture away from the water. Some pieces, including a custom-designed wardrobe bound to the floor, could not be saved. Officials could not yet estimate the cost of damages.
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The architect suspended its floor slab to allow flood waters to run beneath the house. Still, waters have risen above the raised level six times in 60 years, French said.

farnsworth house flood, originally uploaded by park.will

The above picture illustrates the last time the Farnsworth House was flooded in 2007. Information from the Farnsworth House Website paints a bleak picture:

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s famous modern masterpiece, the Farnsworth House, fell prey to Mother Nature Sunday, September 14, as flood waters rose two feet over the top deck, entering the house. Built within the flood plain of the Fox River in Plano, Illinois, the house stands on five-foot tall columns which proved not high enough as record breaking rain amounts brought the river to over eight feet its normal level. More than eight inches of rain fell in two days as Tropical Storm Lowell passed through Saturday, immediately followed by the remnants of Hurricane Ike Saturday night and Sunday. Fox River waters rose quickly and by Sunday morning, September 14, they had breached the interior of the house by over a foot.

For reference, below is the google map of the Farnsworth House.

The recent Midwestern rains and rising floodwaters threaten the Farnsworth House in Plano, IL (which will reopen for tours next month) brought water to just below the elevated floor:

Floodwaters crested on Friday afternoon, August 24, just below the main floor of the house, which was constructed in 1951 on six-foot high piers along the banks of the Fox River. Following torrential rains during the previous week, the staff of Landmarks Illinois–which operates the historic site–implemented an emergency flood plan, raising the house’s furniture on crates and removing other valuable articles. An August 28th
Chicago Tribune article provides more information.

While Pruned calls this design a quasi-failure, I think they protest too much. I do recall from history that the house was lifted on stilts for this very reason; which is quite a Modernist reaction to nature’s wrath.

This is similar to Philip Johnson’s Roofless Church in New Harmony, IN (worth a visit) which is sited just out the Wabash River flood plain. The project is surrounded by a masonry wall with only two voids: the entry, on the major axis, and on the secondary axis a void which functions as an alter to contemplate the rising spring and fall floods. Johnson eloquently designs with Nature, and all of her seasons to create a quite nice contemplative space.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hl=en&msa=0&ll=38.13243,-87.935815&spn=0.002063,0.003755&t=k&om=0&msid=110877284097991833184.000438ea64e2040ee08d9&output=embed&s=AARTsJrBXV9VZ_UuYVWPrdbVqXSbEZzqmw
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• Rising floodwaters threaten the Farnsworth House
• Photos of the Farnesworth House
• Photos of the Roofless Church