A few miles northeast of Scottsdale, Arizona there is a living memorial to a great American architect. Nestled in the foothills of the rugged McDowell Mountains and surrounded by the spectacular Sonoran Desert lays a sprawling 600-acre complex called Taliesin West. It was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. The buildings and the landscape at Taliesin West complement each other. They coexist in perfect harmony--form and color, beauty and grace, nature and science are all blended. Taliesin West (pronounced: tal-ee-ess-in) was born of the creative energy, integrity, and visionary zeal of a crusader. It is a National Historic Landmark.
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in 1867. Wright grew up in rural Wisconsin, was taught the virtue of hard work, and acquired a love of the landscape. At the age of eighteen he entered the University to study civil engineering and shortly thereafter began his career in architecture. It soon became evident that he was a revolutionary and a nonconformist. He despised what he called the stale, backward looking ideas of his peers who were designing architecture based on the Greek, Roman, Gothic, and Tudor models instead of creating a new, vibrant American landscape. He longed to be freed from the limits of existing material and designs. In his various writings, he described "organic architecture" with site-specific construction where "form and function were one." He set forth the principles of the Prairie House with open expanses and limited subdivisions, which he referred to as "boxes." While his architectural principles gained him fame overseas, Frank Lloyd Wright was not always appreciated on the home ground; he was often ridiculed. He remained intrepid, and eventually the number of his followers grew.
Taliesin I was built in 1911 on a hilltop in Wisconsin. The word Taliesin means "a shining brow" perhaps alluding to the scenic location and vista. It was built to be a home, a work place, a school and a cultural center for his students. Wright designed it all, to the last piece of furniture. In 1914 it suffered severe fire damage. Taliesin II was soon built on the same spot but was also damaged by fire, and again rebuilt as Taliesin III.
Page 1: Frank Lloyd Wright, Before Arizona
Page 2: Taliesin West is Born
Page 3: Taliesin West Today
