Archinect - News

Sasaki will design new comprehensive master plan for Taliesin West

2024-03-26T16:54:00-04:00

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has announced its selection of Sasaki Associates to create a new comprehensive master plan for Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Plans for a new campus will guide the development of any new projects on the 620-acre campus (a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site) in line with the Foundation’s Taliesin West Preservation Plan from 2015. Their aim is to re-establish the site as a cultural destination for "future generations."

The site, which Wright settled with his third wife Olgivanna in the 1930s, had included a school that almost shuttered due to financial difficulties before reversing its decision and relocating to two sites in Paradise Valley at the start of the pandemic.

Photo credit: Andrew Pielage

The firm says: "The comprehensive plan for Taliesin West represents a significant step in ensuring the long-term preservation and vitality of this architectural masterpiece. By engaging with the site’s history and ecology, Sasaki’s plan will guid...

New Balance honors Frank Lloyd Wright's Broadacre City concept in latest sneaker collab

2023-04-12T13:26:00-04:00

A new collaboration between New Balance and fashion designer Ronnie Fieg is paying homage Frank Lloyd Wright’s utopian concept for the ‘Broadacre City’ that first appeared in his seminal title The Disappearing City in 1932.

The KITH founder worked with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to design a pair of New Balance 998s (aka the “silhouette”) on the occasion of the sneaker’s 35th anniversary.

Ronnie Fieg x Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation x New Balance 998 “Broadacre City” capsule. Image courtesy Ronnie Fieg via Instagram

The suede designs come in two colorways, both meant to represent the agrarian landscape and buildings seen in the concept’s physical models that were displayed in the entryway of the Hacienda de la Chandler at Taliesin West after 1935.

Ronnie Fieg x Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation x New Balance 998 “Broadacre City” capsule. Image courtesy Ronnie Fieg via Instagram

“Broadacre City isn’t a city at all but a reimagining of how we could organize ourselves outside of dense...

Beverly Willis Architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright foundations among National Endowment for the Humanities grant recipients

2022-08-24T17:18:00-04:00

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced a broad-ranging program of new grants that totaled $31.5 million and were awarded to 226 projects across the United States.

Included in the list are a few architectural organizations and historically significant institutions that were identified by the NEH as helping to “preserve, examine, and share the country’s rich and expansive history and culture.”

One of the biggest winners was the New York-based Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, which received a total of $100,000 outright for their exploratory podcast series titled “New Angle: Voice — Pioneering Women of American Architecture,” wherein the impact of five great women architects are explored by executive director Cynthia Phifer Kracauer in information-rich half-hour segments that garnered some 40,000 listeners by the end of the first season. The series is sponsored by Knoll and SOM and produced by award-winning director Brandi Howell. Their Media Projects ...

Leaders of the School of Architecture at Taliesin and Cosanti share their vision for the future of “organic architecture”

2020-06-15T15:37:00-04:00

In recent weeks the leaders of the School of architecture at Taliesin have begun to make plans for moving the school to Cosanti, some eight miles to the west of the school's current site.

Last week, Archinect spoke with Dan Schweiker, Chair of Governing Board for Taliesin, Chris Lasch, Interim President of Taliesin and former Dean of the school, and Patrick McWhortor, President and CEO of Cosanti, to learn more about the planned transition.

Previously on Archinect: "Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin shutters its doors after 88 years." Photo of Taliesin West, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Maarten Nijman.

Describing the process at hand, Schweiker explains that the school had moved on after unsuccessfully negotiating with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation for approval to continue using the Taliesin West facilities moving forward. In January of this year, the school and foundation announced that the school would shut down at the e...

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation responds to latest Taliesin news

2020-03-06T16:36:00-05:00

Following the latest news that the Board of Directors of the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT) has voted to reconsider a previous decision to close the school, Archinect reached out to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation for comment.

Previously on Archinect: "BREAKING: Taliesin School of Architecture Board votes to rescind planned closure." What will be the fate of Frank Lloyd Wright's Beloved School of Architecture at Taliesin? Image © Christopher Michel (2017)Flickr.

In response, the Foundation, which owns and maintains the buildings at both of the Taliesin locations used by the school, issued a lengthy statement, which has been published in full below. Archinect will continue to publish updates and additional reporting on the developing situation.

Statement from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation:

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation learned through stories the School of Architecture’s lawyers had placed in the media of their change in plans to remain open based on its assessm...

BREAKING: Taliesin School of Architecture Board votes to rescind planned closure

2020-03-05T18:17:00-05:00

Editor's Note: This is a developing story, Archinect will be updating this post as new information comes to light.

Archinect has learned that the Board of Directors for the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT) voted this week to rescind their previous decision to close its facilities.

According to a statement sent to Archinect by Kirkland & Ellis, a law firm that is currently representing the school, the decision was made following significant student outcry over the planned closure and as the school has “secured additional funding” to remain open.

Additionally, the statement adds, “The Board confirmed that its financial situation is such that it has long-term viability, especially in light of new support that has come forward since January of this year.”

The...

Students at the School of Architecture at Taliesin release a statement about the controversial closure

2020-02-04T12:15:00-05:00

Following the shocking news about the impending closure of Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin, and the subsequent conversation we released on our podcast, with individuals closely connected with the school, the student body has broken their silence and shared with us a statement.

Statement of the Student Body School of Architecture at Taliesin

“It is not enough to leave behind you monuments of buildings, you owe it to future generations to leave monuments of human beings” - Olgivanna Lloyd Wright

The imminent closure of the School of Architecture at Taliesin has left its student body stunned and deeply distraught. To discontinue eighty-eight years of an alternative pedagogical model is at least as destructive as the demolition of a physical architectural masterwork. To close this school is to dismantle one of the great visions and traditions of the past century; and to preserve the culture that sustains a built environment such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin...

What happened at The School of Architecture at Taliesin??? A conversation with Benjamin Aranda, Cruz Garcia and Ryan Scavnicky

2020-01-31T18:17:00-05:00

On this special (and very spontaneous) episode of Archinect Sessions we are joined with three members of the Taliesin community to help shed some light on the mysterious and disturbing sudden announcement of the closure of The School of Architecture at Taliesin. With us are Benjamin Aranda, partner at Aranda\Lasch with Chris Lasch, the Dean at The School of Architecture at Taliesin; Cruz Garcia co-director at WAI Architecture Think Tank and a previous visiting teaching fellow at The School of Architecture at Taliesin; and Ryan Scavnicky of Extra Office, and former visiting teaching fellow at The School of Architecture at Taliesin.

Our conversation shares our guest's experiences at the school, with insight into the questionable relationship between the foundation and the school. We talk about what happened this week, how these events conflict with Frank Lloyd Wright's wishes, as outlined in his will, about the direction of the foundation as an institution for learning, and the troub...

Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin shutters its doors after 88 years

2020-01-28T14:27:00-05:00

The School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT), which maintains campuses in Scottsdale, Arizona and Spring Green Wisconsin, is closing down following an 88-year run as the institution tasked with carrying on the intellectual design legacy of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

What happened?

An announcement from the school states: "The School of Architecture at Taliesin will cease operations after this semester, after a gut-wrenching decision by its Governing Board on Saturday. The School of Architecture at Taliesin was not able to reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to keep the school open." The school is currently directed by educator and critic Aaron Betsky.

Can you guess which famous architect designed this newly re-released chair?

2018-12-03T16:31:00-05:00

The iconic designs of famous architects seen in buildings and furniture is visible through out the practice. Design figures like Ray and Charles Eames, Marcel Brueur, and Zaha Hadid are a few of the many architects that have made an impact in chair design. However, the architect infamously known for his characteristically specific design aesthetic is Frank Lloyd Wright. "Origami in wood" is what best describes the 607 Taliesin chair.

607 Taliesen Chair Image © Cassina

The angled components and geometric structure of the chair is a reflection of Wright's organic architecture design aesthetic. Reminiscent of the Japanese art of paper folding, the piece is manufactured from a single piece of folded plywood.

Chairs featured inside Garden Room of Taliesin West Home Image © FrankLloydWright.org

The chair was created in 1949 by Wright for his Taliesin West home-studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. Italian furniture design company, Cassina, who originally manufac...

Experience Frank Lloyd Wright works online through virtual tours

2018-06-21T15:31:00-04:00

Virtual tours of Frank Lloyd Wright's properties will be available online through Leica Geosystems partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. With technology services from Multivista and Matterport, detailed experiences of the architect's iconic works can be explored from exterior grounds to the interior home, including minute detailing, 3D views, and floor plans.

Taliesin West will be the first property available online here. The endeavor is part of a larger scheme by Leica Geosystems to use digital innovation to capture, document, and preserve architectural history.

After a tough couple years, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has a new lease on life—and a new name

2017-04-24T20:41:00-04:00

T he Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has had a rough go of things the last few years. The school, which is located at the historic winter home of Wright, Taliesin West, almost lost its accreditation because it wasn’t financially independent from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Things got so bad that they temporarily suspended new enrollment.

Then, the critic Aaron Betsky took over the deanship and was able to fundraise enough to keep the school accredited. Now, to mark their new, more-removed relationship to the Foundation, the school has been renamed the School of Architecture at Taliesin.

“Adopting this new name, the School of Architecture at Taliesin, helps us to secure our identity as an experimental, forward-looking architecture program that is deeply rooted in the Taliesin Fellowship,” Betsky states. “The process in which we developed our new relationship with the Foundation and our accreditors has been an opportunity to closely examine who we are as a school and ho...

Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture reaches fundraising goal of $2M, working towards independence from foundation

2015-12-23T12:43:00-05:00

The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has issued a statement that it has reached its 2015 fundraising goal of $2 million – a crucial milestone towards establishing the school's independence from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The goal of becoming an independent subsidiary of the foundation became necessary when new accreditation regulations established in 2011 required the school to be financially and administratively independent or risk being stripped of its accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission.

In this latest statement, the school says: "As part of the agreement, the Foundation will continue to support the School financially over the next four years, investing over $1.4 in its operating costs and future growth. In addition, it will donate the extensive use of historic, residential, and classroom facilities at Taliesin and Taliesin West, which cost the Foundation over $1 million in cash a year for the spaces utilized by the School. Combined with the more than...

With $1.5M to go, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture approaches first fundraising milestone towards independence

2015-08-05T12:59:00-04:00

In December of last year, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation announced that it would try to fundraise $2M by the end of 2015, in order to establish The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture as an independent organization. The Foundation set a $1M goal to be reached by the end of August 2015, and is now half way there – but must raise the remaining funds by August 25 in order to continue fundraising as planned.

From a press release issued by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation yesterday, the Chair of the School's Board of Governors, Jacalyn Lynn, asked those who wish to see the school continue operating to donate to the "Campaign for Independence" cause:

“Without significant and immediate support, there will no longer be a stand-alone accredited Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. This campaign is the only opportunity to save the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture as we know it – and to ensure its success and impact for decades to come."

Past news from Taliesin's rocky hi...

Session 14: His bjark is BIGger than his bjite – A chat with Bjarke Ingels at the opening of BIG's "Hot to Cold" exhibition

2015-01-29T15:25:00-05:00

This episode is a doozy. Paul and Amelia left the temperate sunshine of Los Angeles for Washington, DC's frigid monumentality, to interview Bjarke Ingels on the eve of his "Hot to Cold" exhibition at the National Building Museum. The 40-year old architect shared some quick-won wisdom about scaling a business, the Danish condition, and the indispensability of humor and play in architecture.

Donna and Ken joined Paul and Amelia to speak with Lian Chang about her recently published visualizations of the Archinect Salary Poll for the ACSA, in charming emoji-based data sets. The Sessions co-hosts also discuss Aaron Betsky's new appointment as the head of the deeply troubled Taliesin West, and what Thom Mayne's demolition of Ray Bradbury's house means for architecture preservation and sentimentality.

And for another climatological analogy, Paul and Brian Newman, Archinect Sessions's legal correspondent, poke at the tip of the iceberg concerning issues of copyright in architecture.

A remind...

Get Lectured: Taliesin, Spring '15

2015-01-27T15:49:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

The next featured lectured poster comes from Taliesin: The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Their Spring '15 series "Free and Open to the Public" will explore open-source, pro bono, and public space design by some of the world's leading architects and designers.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Lectures take place at 7:00 p.m. at the Pavilion Theatre. Free and open to the public.

Below are upcoming events:

Jan 29
Matt Passmore / MoreLab - Oakland, CA

Feb 12
Emily Pilloton / Project H Design - Berkeley, CA

March 19
Mitch Joachim / Terreform ONE - NYC

For lecture updates, visit ...

Aaron Betsky To Lead Taliesin West

2015-01-25T19:10:00-05:00

“I look forward to continuing the tradition of experimental architecture he did so much to define.”

Betsky seems to be the man of the hour these days, writing popularly discussive articles in defense of architecture and participating in social media. Congratulations and looking forward to seeing what becomes of the heavily branded institution in need of a new life.

Wright Architecture School Sets Fund-raising Goal for Independence

2014-12-15T13:12:00-05:00

The architecture school run by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation will try to raise $2 million before the end of 2015 to ensure its future as an independent organization, the foundation announced on Monday, having approved a possible path toward the school’s incorporation. [...] The foundation’s board had initially decided not to incorporate the school separately, for fear of losing control over its operations. But objections from school supporters prompted the board to reconsider.

Previously: New Plan for Architecture School at Wright Foundation

New Plan for Architecture School at Wright Foundation

2014-10-31T15:00:00-04:00

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has approved a possible path toward independent incorporation of its architecture school – providing fund-raising targets are met, Sean Malone, the foundation’s president and chief executive, said in a note sent Wednesday evening to people involved in the school.

Previously: Spiralling Tensions at Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture School

NIMBYs go to court over "modern" home; Zaha gets an apology; global warming rages on: News Round-Up for August 25, 2014

2014-09-02T20:07:00-04:00

Friday, August 29:

MIT's MindRider helmet draws mental maps as you bike: The prototype is currently being used to create a mental-map and guidebook for NYC, and an upcoming Kickstarter campaign will attempt to fund the project for commercial sale.
In Beirut, a grassroots push for more grass: Lebanon's fifteen-year civil war made much of Beirut's green space inaccessible or dysfunctional. The Beirut Green Project is trying to bring at least a modicum of green space back to the city's residents.

Thursday, August 28:

Norwegian artists plan to open art academy in North Korea: Nothing's final yet, but the school is committed to its disbelief in sanctions or boycotts on art.
Alvar Aalto gets a close look from Google's Cultural Institute: Google's cameras go inside the famous Finnish architects studio, as well as a selection of his works, for a curated photo-exhibition.

Wednesday, August 27:

China considering drastic ban on coal: Chinese news outlets claim that work is underway to ban coal in Bei...

Spiralling Tensions at Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture School

2014-08-27T17:36:00-04:00

The architecture school run by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on Wednesday criticized a decision by the foundation’s board that will result in the school losing its accreditation. Last week, the Higher Learning Commission, a Chicago-based nonprofit that accredits universities and colleges, told the school it would lose its accreditation in 2017.

Previously: Taliesin faces loss of accreditation, suspends fall enrollment

UPDATE: New Plan for Architecture School at Wright Foundation

Taliesin faces loss of accreditation, suspends fall enrollment

2013-09-18T15:26:00-04:00

The education group that accredits the school has threatened to strip the institution of the right to award architecture degrees, spurring the school's leaders to discuss reforms to stay relevant while retaining the school's unique identity and Wright's legacy. As they weigh their options, they have suspended new student enrollments for this fall.