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Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses
Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E. J. Kaufmann, and America's Most Extraordinary House
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: The House and Its History
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece
Frank Lloyd Wright's
Taliesin and Taliesin West
Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona. 1937
Taliesin West
Taliesin literally means "shining brow" in Welsh, the nationality of Wright's ancestors. Taliesin in Wisconsin sits on the "brow" of a hill overlooking the valley below while Taliesin West is located on a broad mesa. Taliesin West was selected by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as one of 17 buildings nation-wide that exemplify Wright's contribution to American architecture.
Taliesin West is the winter home and workshop of Mr. Wright and his students, and was built almost entirely by the students themselves. Walls are concrete, but of a special kind: native boulders, red, yellow and gray, were laid in rough wooden forms and cement poured over. Above these colorful, variously tapered walls are the great redwood trusses which support canvas-covered roof flaps. Glass is unnecessary, as the canvas admits a softly diffused light. This structure seems to grow organically from the rough soil around it.
The integrating indoor and outdoor spaces, that served as his
personal home, studio and architectural campus. Set on 600 acres of
dramatic Sonorant Desert in the foothills of the McDowell mountains.
Wright spent six months a year at his home. The desert setting
captivated Wright and he felt that its topography and climate
demanded new modes of building
The complex continued to grow, with the original wooden building for
Mr. & Mrs. Wright being converted into a permanent house, Sun
Cottage, in 1948 & with a new cabaret theatre being added for
lectures and social events in 1949. The Fellowship continue to
travel south for the winter.
Visitors to Taliesin West will not see a museum, but rather a
remarkably vital and active community of students and architects
working together to maintain Wright's vision. Today 70 people live,
work and study at Taliesin West.
In 1987, at Taliesin West's 50th anniversary, the U.S. House of
Representatives recognized the complex as "the highest achievement
in American artistic and architectural expression." Taliesin West
today is the international headquarters for The Frank Lloyd Wright
Foundation. The site offers a broad range of tours to meet
individual interests. All tours are led by knowledgeable guides, and
all visitors must be accompanied by a guide.
The Taliesin West is located at Shea Boulevard - Scottsdale,
Arizona. If you are looking for publications on the 'Taliesin West'
or the 'Taliesin West Building Style' click
here.