3
Desert Discovery: Exploring Taliesin West
Last December, my wife and I traveled to Arizona to visit our relatives. During our visit, we had a great time exploring the area and going on both planned and spontaneous adventures. One of the major highlights of our trip was visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's summer home, Taliesin West, located in West Arizona. This experience was not only inspiring but also educational as we learned about the history, context, and architectural concepts that make Taliesin West such a special place.
Frank Lloyd Wright acquired several hundred acres of land in the rural foothills of northeast Scottsdale to create a desert utopia. His vision was to construct low-lying buildings that would blend with the expansive desert landscape. Wright preferred to use local materials, and he achieved this by constructing the majority of Taliesin West with 'desert masonry' - local rock set in wooden forms and held together by a blend of cement and desert sand. The idea was to preserve the desert environment by making the structures an integral part of the landscape. The interior spaces of the buildings were designed to be bathed in light, using canvas roofs, while redwood beams provided the red accents that Wright favored. The complex comprises a series of interior spaces, including the Cabaret Theater, the Music Pavilion, the Kiva, Wright's private office, the dramatic Garden Room, private living quarters, and the Drafting Studio. These interior spaces are connected by terraces, gardens, and walkways that offer breathtaking views of the rugged desert and the distant metropolitan Phoenix area.
Frank Lloyd Wright famously described Taliesin West as "a look over the rim of the world." The complex is a striking example of how the ancient and the elemental can converge with the present, ultimately blurring the line between architecture and landscape. The layout of the complex is based on its location and proximity to the mountain range to the north. The plan's orientation is tilted off a direct north-south axis, derived from the extended view of the isolated Black Mountain and Granite Reef Mountain, seen from the west. This allows for sunlight and shade to play throughout all the rooms and vistas throughout the year.
Taliesin West was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a single unit built on concrete terraces, surrounded by massive low masonry walls. Wright told the apprentices that the desert was like a revelation to him: "I was struck by the beauty of the desert, by the dry, clear sun-drenched air, by the stark geometry of the mountains, the entire region was an inspiration in strong contrast to the lush, pastoral landscape of my native Wisconsin. And out of that experience, a revelation is what I guess you might call it, came the design for these buildings. The design sprang out of itself, with no precedent and nothing following it."
The place was an amazing sight, offering an extraordinary experience that allowed visitors to appreciate every detail of its design. What struck us the most was the ability to choose our adventure by selecting a specific path toward the next neighboring structure. Each path was different and unique, with distinct landscapes. One path overlooked the mountains, while another overlooked the vast Arizona desert landscape. Each path offered unique sounds and smells due to the cleverly planted vegetation and water sources.
It was amazing to realize that we were walking and standing where one of America's greatest architects once lived and worked. This feeling became even more vivid once we entered Frank Lloyd Wright's office. The entrance to this structure was far from "standard," when we stepped over the threshold, we walked into a small entryway with an extremely low ceiling, making us feel slightly uncomfortable. However, once we walked through the entryway and entered the office, the ceiling height increased, and the materials changed, making the space feel completely different. Frank Lloyd Wright is widely known for creating an experiential transition. One of his most famous experiential tools is “compression and release.” By creating a deliberately small space through which one must pass before reaching a larger space, he caused a temporary sense of tension, followed by the feeling of freedom.
This visit had a profound impact on my understanding of architecture. At times, the abundance of details and architectural concepts was overwhelming, but it demonstrated the potential of a skilled architect. I recommend visiting this remarkable place if you are in Arizona.
