Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., Historical Figures
Standing
Concerns Description
Currently States Uneasy about Wright's limited experience with reinforced concrete, Kaufmann had the cantilever design reviewed by outside consulting engineers without first telling Wright. When their report recommended substantially more steel than Wright had specified, Wright took the review as a breach of trust, demanded his drawings back, and threatened to withdraw from the project entirely; Kaufmann backed down and the report was set aside. The reinforcement was increased regardless, before the concrete was poured, either by the contractor acting quietly or by Kaufmann's own engineers redrawing Wright's rebar plans; accounts differ on which. Wright, on learning of it, wrote to Kaufmann that he had put more into the house than any client had a right to expect, and that without Kaufmann's confidence the whole project could go to hell. The house has stood since 1937, though its longest cantilever had sagged as much as seven inches by the 1990s, arrested by a 2002 post-tensioning repair.
Sources agree the cantilever reinforcement Wright's staff engineer Mendel Glickman specified was substantially increased before the concrete was poured, and that Wright was furious about it, but disagree on exactly who ordered the increase and how directly his objection was overridden.
Source Misfits' Architecture