Pioneering architect Frank Lloyd Wright always refused to compromise his artistic and personal vision for worldly recognition and success. The two latter eventually came because of his incomparable talent and boundaryless creativity, and Wright, already well known during his lifetime, is today seen as the greatest American architect of all time.

Wright designed over 1000 structures, of which more than half have been completed, and include original and innovative examples of many building types such as offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, and museums. Located near Phoenix, Arizona Taliesin West was Frank Lloyd Wright‘s winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959, and now hosts the main campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

In line with Wright‘s organic architecture principles, Taliesin West is strongly connected with the Arizona’s desert, recalling in its low, elongated and sweeping lines the surrounding landscape. Also its primal construction materials, rocks and woods, were found on site, as Wright always favored using the materials readily available rather than transported ones, out of functionality and because they are already in harmony with the landscape.

Exploiting at best desert’s natural light, he designed the roof to hang past the walls preventing harsh sun rays from penetrating but allowing for horizontal and diffused light to pass through, creating a calm sense of peace. Every part of Taliesin West bears Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal touch.

 

by Cecilia Musmeci

photo Francesca Laranga