Rolled east down the 101 loop to Taliesin West today.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s western campus for his school came
about because he went to Arizona
on his doctor’s orders one winter, after suffering a bout of pneumonia. Architecture students (“interns”) at his
school came with him, cleared the land and built an access road and school
buildings, while living in tents and paying him for the privilege.
The school’s buildings are visually underwhelming while
incorporating a number of technical advantages.
Wright of course was an egomaniac who even designed the seats such that
they were inclined at an angle to focus one’s attention on a speaker of 5’ 8”
height; his height. After a lifetime of
working with architects, Paul couldn’t sympathize. Interesting place to visit for the history
and building tech if you’re an architect groupie.
For some reason I have always liked that horizontal style of FLW's..... Very different from anyone else..... Temps up and down here - from minus 5 to minus 20 with a few cm's of snow almost every day this week! Let me tell ya - Arizona is starting to look pretty inviting!!
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