Archinect - News

Taliesin's $1.1 million restored Hillside Theater debuts in Wisconsin

2024-06-13T13:41:00-04:00

Taliesin Preservation’s restoration of the Hillside Theater at Frank Lloyd Wright’s former estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin, has been completed following a five-year and $1.1 million transformation effort for The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Originally designed in 1903 to serve the Hillside Home School that was included in the 800-acre estate in the heavily forested Driftless Area, the space is now once again capable of hosting theatrical productions and will precede its public reopening with a series of film screenings and musical performances throughout the summer.

Photo by Tim Long, courtesy of Taliesin Preservation

Aspects of the restoration work included adding a new HVAC system, repairing subgrade water damage, ADA-compliant accessibility enhancements, adding two new green rooms to the basement, and issuing major repairs to the building's roof and interior/exterior finishes.

Photo by Kyle Dockery, courtesy of Taliesin Preservation

The hand-sewn curtain, gifted to Wright by p...

Stephanie Lin named incoming dean at The School of Architecture

2021-01-29T13:30:00-05:00

The School of Architecture, previously known as the School of Architecture at Taliesin, went through several changes this past year. While the announcement of its closure continued to make headlines since our first piece of coverage back in January 2020, the school's "potential future" seemed hopeful during reports in May.

After many transitions and public announcements, The School of Architecture announces Stephanie Lin's appointment as incoming Dean. Lin's work and background in academia and professional practice make her a refreshing addition to the school's future and leadership. Her work focuses on merging artistic and architectural modes of thinking scale, interiors, and installations. Her collaborative and individual work has been exhibited at Storefront for Art and Architecture, MoMA, and cneai= in Paris, to name a few.

"Gallery of Figures" - Office III were finalists at MoMA PS1 2017. Image courtesy of Office III

She received her B.A. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, follow...

Taking another look at Paolo Soleri's toxic legacy

2020-08-18T15:19:00-04:00

In November 2017, four years after her father’s death, Soleri’s youngest daughter, Daniela, published an essay on medium.com, claiming that her father had sexually abused her and attempted to rape her as a teenager. She had told some of Soleri’s inner circle decades earlier, she wrote, and they had done nothing.

Steve Rose of The Guardian explores the legacy of architect Paolo Soleri, both sordid and visionary.

The in-depth article delves both into the history of Arcosanti and Soleri's heroic status while also highlighting the architect's toxic relationships with various women, including his daughter, Daniela, who he sexually abused. The article, published before the recent announcement that the Taliesin School of Architecture would relocate to Arcosanti from Taliesin, is worth revisiting amid the ongoing reckoning taking place with regards to abuses of power within architecture.

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...

A potential future for the School of Architecture at Taliesin begins to take shape

2020-05-06T18:59:00-04:00

Back in early March, it was announced that the Board of Directors of the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SOAT) had turned back a decision it made in January to shut down following a protracted tenancy dispute with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

In a press release announcing the initial plan to close down, the school wrote: "[SOAT] will cease operations after this semester, after a gut-wrenching decision by its Governing Board [...] The School of Architecture at Taliesin was not able to reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to keep the school open."

Previously on Archinect: "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 © Flickr user Christopher Michel.

The school's initial decision to close down came as SOAT struggled to raise additional funds to keep its operations going, a circumstance that changed following the groundswell of sympa...

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation doubles down on Taliesin closure

2020-03-18T13:39:00-04:00

In the latest turn of events in the ongoing saga over the future of the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT), the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the group that owns and maintains the buildings used by SoAT, has announced that it will "allow its agreement with the School of Architecture to expire at the end of July, 2020," effectively finalizing the plan to shut down the school.

The move follows an announcement made by the Board of Directors of the SoAT on January 25 indicating its plans to close following a disagreement between SoAT and the Foundation over the viability of the school's finances and over the school's continued use of the spaces at Taliesin. The SoAT Board of Directors switched course in early March, when it voted to rescind the January decision to shut down the school following an outpouring of financial support in response to the initial announcement.

Previously on Archinect: "Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin shutters its doors after 88...

Aaron Betsky appointed new director of Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design

2020-03-12T17:03:00-04:00

Acclaimed architecture academic, critic, author, and curator Aaron Betsky has been appointed as the new director of Virginia Tech's School of Architecture + Design in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

In a press announcement published on March 10th, Richard Blythe, the current Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, shares, "Aaron is a proven leader with demonstrated dedication to cross-disciplinary exploration, academic excellence, and educational innovation. His international standing and connections in architecture and design are considerable and will undoubtedly help the college expand its global reach, activities, and influence. Aaron's career path exemplifies the Beyond Boundaries approach of disciplinary interconnectedness and depth, as well as breadth."

Betsky’s move to Virginia Tech follows follows his decision in November 2019 to leave the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT), where Betsky served as the dean from 2015 - 2017 and is current...

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.

David and Gladys Wright House back on the market

2018-09-11T14:17:00-04:00

Phoenix, Arizona–based developer Zach Rawling bought a Frank Lloyd Wright–designed house for $2.3 million in 2012, when its previous owner wanted to demolish the landmark. In 2017, Rawlings donated the David and Gladys Wright House to the Taliesin West School of Architecture, but in June of this year, Rawlings and Aaron Betsky, the architecture school dean, announced in a joint statement that the donation was being revoked due to fundraising concerns.

Image via davidwrighthouse.org.

In their joint statement, Aaron Betsky and Zach Rawling wrote:

The relationship between the School and the House is formally manifested in the David Wright House Collaborative Fund, a supporting organization of the Arizona Community Foundation. The principal focus of the David Wright House Collaborative Fund was to develop a vehicle to raise the $7 million endowment on which the pledge of the House for the benefit of the School was conditioned. Over the past year, we have learned that the fundraising timetables of both parties do not lend themselves to a joint campaign. With the School in its fledgling years, the prevailing thought was that the divergent donor interests would effectively divide its support base rather than enhance it. Uncertainty regarding future capital improvements at the House and the long-term cultural development of the site in Phoenix increased this concern. For this reason, by mutual agreement and out of mutual respect, the Scho...

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...