Paul Mayén (May 31, 1916 – November 3, 2000) was a Spanish architect and industrial designer known for his work at

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill R ...

Early years

Mayén was born on May 31, 1916, in La Línea de la Concepción, a town in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

in Andalucia,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He graduated from

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

in New York City with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

and from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a master's degree during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

Mayén was an industrial designer, and following his graduation from Columbia, taught classes in advertising design at his alma mater, Cooper Union, and

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, both in Manhattan. His lamps, tables, and other furniture are featured in the permanent collection of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York City, and was the founder of Habitat, Intrex and Architectural Supplements, Inc.

Fallingwater

Mayén's partner,

Edgar Kaufmann Jr. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. (April 9, 1910 – July 31, 1989) was an American architect, lecturer, author, and an adjunct professor of architecture and art history at Columbia University. Early years He was the son of Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsbu ...

, inherited the 1936

designed

house, over Bear Run, in

Stewart Township, Pennsylvania Stewart Township is a township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 619 at the 2020 census. Stonerville and Kaufmann are the only villages in this very rural township, which ...

, after his father's death in 1955, continuing to use and share it as a mountain retreat until 1963. Kaufmann entrusted the Wright structures and several hundred acres of the surrounding pristine

Laurel Highlands The Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania made up of Fayette County, Somerset County and Westmoreland County. It has a population of about 600,000 people. The region is approximately fifty-five miles southeast of Pitts ...

lands in the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy as an architectural house museum and conservation open space preserve, in memory of his parents. From 1979 to 1981, Mayén oversaw the building of the Fallingwater pavilion, which houses the café, gift store, and visitor's center at Fallingwater.

Personal life

In the 1950s Mayén met fellow art student

Edgar Kaufmann Jr Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

. with whom he would have a relationship and work partnership that would last until Kaufmann's death in 1989. In 1975, Mayén built a country house for himself and Kaufmann in Garrison, New York, on the east side of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Known as Water Run, this property is currently for sale. Kaufmann died in 1989, and his ashes were scattered around the property at Fallingwater by Mayén. Mayén died on November 3, 2000. His ashes were also scattered at Fallingwater in accordance with his wishes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayén, Paul 1916 births 2000 deaths Columbia University alumni Cooper Union alumni LGBT architects Spanish LGBT artists People from La Línea de la Concepción Spanish architects

Early years

Career

Fallingwater

Personal life

See also

References