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Taliesin West ( ) is a studio and home developed by the American architect
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
in
Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...
, United States. Named after Wright's
Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...
studio in
Spring Green, Wisconsin Spring Green is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,566 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Spring Green. It is perhaps best known for the architect Frank Lloyd Wright's estate ...
, Taliesin West was Wright's winter home and studio from 1937 until his death in 1959. The complex is the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, a nonprofit organization, which hosts tours and events there. Taliesin West is designated as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
and a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. Wright and his Taliesin Fellowship (later the School of Architecture) began making wintertime pilgrimages from Wisconsin to Arizona in 1935, and he bought a site in the
McDowell Mountains The McDowell Mountain Range ( Yavapai: Wi:kajasa) is located about twenty miles north-east of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and may be seen from most places throughout the city. The range is composed of miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch ...
two years later. His apprentices set up a temporary camp there, erecting the initial structures between 1938 and 1941. During Wright's lifetime, he oversaw several expansions, and some of the original construction materials were replaced. After Wright's death, the fellowship continued to modify the structures, and Taliesin West gradually gained popularity as a tourist attraction. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation began planning major renovations and a visitor center in the late 20th century. Parts of Taliesin West were gradually renovated and upgraded during the early 21st century. Taliesin West consists of multiple structures, which are arranged on a 45-degree grid and connected by courtyards and walkways. The walls are made of desert masonry, a mixture of local rocks and concrete, which were originally topped by wood-and-canvas roofs. Triangles, hexagons, and natural motifs are used throughout the interiors. The main building includes a drafting room, kitchen, dining room, garden court, and the Wright family residence. The complex also includes spaces such as a
kiva A kiva (also ''estufa'') is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circula ...
room, two performance venues, and a cottage. Over the years, commentators have praised the architecture, particularly the materials and the complex's relation to nature.


Site

Taliesin West is located at 12621 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard within
Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...
in
Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...
, United States; the main entrance is at 12345 North Taliesin Drive. The modern estate covers and has flowers planted along its border. Originally, Taliesin West was reached by an access road measuring about long. There was a masonry gate and a
stanchion A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture. Types In architecture, stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horiz ...
partway along the road. The end of the road, just outside the main buildings, has a landscaped median. An array of 4,000
solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
s is installed on the estate, near the base of a hill. The estate sits about above sea level, in a
gully A gully is a landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given ter ...
at the base of the
McDowell Mountains The McDowell Mountain Range ( Yavapai: Wi:kajasa) is located about twenty miles north-east of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and may be seen from most places throughout the city. The range is composed of miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch ...
. Nearby are the McDowell Mountains' two highest peaks: Thompson Peak and
McDowell Peak McDowell Peak is located in the McDowell Mountains, to the northeast of Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city ...
. The surrounding
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
contains
volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...
that ranges in color from red and umber to blue-gray and purple. The estate overlooks the cities of Tempe and Chandler to the south, the
Phoenix Mountains The Phoenix Mountains are a mountain range located in central Phoenix, Arizona. With the exception of Mummy Mountain, they are part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. They serve as a municipal park and offer hiking, mountain biking and equestria ...
to the southwest. The
Central Arizona Project The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River at the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu n ...
canal passes by the estate as well. Before the American architect
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
acquired the site, the land had never been developed, although several Native American peoples inhabited the surrounding area until the 19th century. Some of the boulders throughout the complex contain Native American
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s, which were created by the
Hohokam Hohokam was a culture in the Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest, North American Southwest in what is now part of south-central Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 CE, with cultural p ...
people. Native American
millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...
s, pits with corn, and
potsherd This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...
s were still ''
in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...
'' when Wright obtained the land. One of the petroglyphs, representing "handshake, friendship, and fellowship", later inspired Taliesin West's official logo.


History

After years of practicing architecture in the U.S. state of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, Frank Lloyd Wright built an architectural studio,
Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...
, in 1911 near
Spring Green, Wisconsin Spring Green is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,566 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Spring Green. It is perhaps best known for the architect Frank Lloyd Wright's estate ...
. Its living quarters were rebuilt twice following fires in 1914 and 1925. Wright formed the Taliesin Fellowship in 1932, inviting young architects to
apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...
under him.


Development

Wright had first visited the state of
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
in 1927 while working as a consultant for the
Arizona Biltmore Hotel The Arizona Biltmore is a historic resort located in Phoenix, Arizona, near 24th Street and Camelback Road. Designed by Albert Chase McArthur, it opened on February 23, 1929, as part of the Biltmore Hotel chain. Actors Clark Gable and Carole ...
. He returned with several draftsmen in 1929 to establish the Ocotillo Desert Camp, a temporary camp in
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, while designing a resort for the developer Alexander J. Chandler. The Ocotillo Camp was built around a plateau, on a grid of 30- and 60-degree angles. Though rising heat prompted Wright's team to leave the camp after only a few months, it was a precursor to the design of Taliesin West. Wright later wrote that he had found the camp's canvas tents to be "enjoyable and sympathetic to the desert", in contrast to the "much too heavy midwestern house", which he found oppressive. Furthermore, Wright was elderly and in declining health, and the original studio was costly to maintain during the winter.


Site acquisition

Wright announced in late 1934 that he would bring his apprentices to the hot Arizona deserts during early 1935. Wright contacted Alexander Chandler, who invited the Taliesin fellows to stay at one of his properties, La Hacienda. The fellows worked at La Hacienda from January to April 1935. Wright also attempted to buy land in Arizona during that trip, visiting a site southeast of Chandler, which was owned by a farmer named Dewey Keith. Following the fellowship's 1935 trip to Arizona, Wright resolved to develop his own studio in the desert. Wright's wife Olgivanna preferred Arizona to the original Taliesin studio, whose landscape she disliked. After catching pneumonia in 1936, Wright went to see a doctor, who advised him to stay in the Arizona desert during the winter. Taliesin fellows returned to Arizona in 1936, staying at La Hacienda.; During that trip, Wright attempted to buy some
federal land Federal lands are lands in the United States owned and managed by the federal government. Pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution ( Article 4, section 3, clause 2), Congress has the power to retain, buy, sell, and regu ...
near the San Tan Mountains, but he needed another parcel from Keith to obtain a site of sufficient size. Ultimately, Wright could not acquire the land from Keith, and the apprentices and Olgivanna opposed that site as too remote. In December 1937, Frank and Olgivanna Wright found a site near
McDowell Peak McDowell Peak is located in the McDowell Mountains, to the northeast of Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city ...
, from Phoenix. Wright obtained about in Paradise Valley, leasing half the land and buying the rest outright. He later recalled, "On the mesa just below McDowell Peak we stopped, turned, and looked around. The top of the world", saying the landscape was unparalleled in "sheer beauty of space and pattern". Wright had paid with a $3,100 check from Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr., for whom Wright was designing the
Johnson Wax Headquarters The Johnson Wax Headquarters is the corporate headquarters of the household goods company S. C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin, United States. The original headquarters includes two buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: the Administ ...
in
Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...
. The site was particularly cheap because it was not known to contain any groundwater. Although a local had warned him that it was a "waste of money" to look for groundwater on the site, Wright paid a digger to excavate a
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
; the digger ultimately discovered water underground. Wright ended up spending $10,000 on the well, more than what he had paid for the land itself. The well was not completed for three years; it was supplied by a
subterranean river A subterranean river (also known as an underground river) is a river or watercourse that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground, one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth. It is distinct from an aquifer, which may flow ...
and remains in use in the 21st century.


Temporary camp and planning

At the end of December 1937, Wright asked his secretary Gene Masselink in Wisconsin to bring housekeeping supplies, construction supplies, drafting boards, and musical instruments for entertainment. When the apprentices arrived at McDowell Peak in early 1938, they found a site that was completely undeveloped;; as apprentice Kay Schneider said, there was "no water, no building, nothing". Apprentices had to carry water from several miles away. Schneider recalled that, before the well was finished, the apprentices obtained water from a local farmer once a week, receiving to wash themselves for the entire week. The fellowship had little money on hand, so they were forced to ration meat and subsist on cottage cheese and grapefruit from a local farm. Another apprentice,
Edgar Tafel Edgar A. Tafel (March 12, 1912 – January 18, 2011)Dunlap, David W''The New York Times'' (January 24, 2011) was an American architect, best known as a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright. Early life and education Tafel was born in New York City t ...
, reflected that there was no phone service, a rudimentary
septic system Onsite sewage facilities (OSSF), also called septic systems, are wastewater systems designed to treat and dispose of effluent on the same property that produces the wastewater, in areas not served by public sewage infrastructure. A septic tank a ...
, and a portable power generator. Yet another apprentice, Larry Lemmon, built an earthen closet in which to store food. Wright decided to construct the camp on a
mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
near McDowell Peak's base, at the southwestern corner of the parcel that he owned. The first apprentices built their own tents using lumber and canvas. They set up sleeping bags, which surrounded the mesa to the south and west. The Wrights initially stayed at a nearby inn. The apprentices designed a temporary accommodation for the Wrights, known as Sun Trap, which was made of wood and canvas. The design of Sun Trap was derived from that of the Ocotillo camp, as well as Wright's unexecuted design for a house in the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
in 1921. It consisted of a courtyard with bedrooms on three sides and a fireplace on the fourth side, surrounded by pieces of wooden
siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...
. There was a bathroom in one corner and a music room in another corner; the other two corners were exposed to the elements. The bedrooms had sleeping boxes placed atop concrete pedestals, which Olgivanna loved despite their rudimentary nature. Wright began drawing up plans for permanent structures soon after erecting the temporary accommodations. To reduce glare, he sketched the initial plans on
butcher paper Butcher paper is a type of kraft paper originally sold to butchers for the purpose of wrapping meat and fish. It is now used for a wide variety of purposes, notably in primary education where it is used for arts and crafts, such as hanging artwor ...
, since all the planning was initially done outdoors. In designing the complex, Wright wanted to blur the distinction between the buildings and the ground, giving the impression that the structures grew from the desert floor. He did not create standard
blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...
s; as one apprentice said, "I think that sometimes what was drawn one day was built the next." The early plans called for a collection of buildings surrounding a courtyard, accessed from the west and rotated 30 degrees clockwise from due south. At the front of the site was the drafting room, the Wrights' residence, and a
pergola A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...
to the courtyard; there were two additional wings behind the courtyard. Wright subsequently revised the plans further, placing the buildings on a 45-degree grid. The final plans called for five spaces—a drafting room, a courtyard, an office, the Wrights' residence, and workshops—arranged around a pergola.


Construction

Wright's apprentices spent initially seven months of the year at Taliesin in Wisconsin and the other five months at Taliesin West. Frank and Olgivanna Wright led "caravans" between the two studios, taking a different route every year. Because the land was so arid, the apprentices had difficulties excavating the foundations. During their first year at Taliesin West, the Taliesin fellows spent much of their time constructing these structures, rather than learning. Tafel recalled that rattlesnakes became more common as the days got warmer, while heavy rain sometimes cascaded down the
arroyos Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (watercourse), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: Places United States * Arroyo, Pennsylvania * Arroyo, Puerto Rico, a municipality * Arroyo, West Virginia Spain * Arroyo (Santillana del Mar), ...
on the site. In a contemporary article for ''
The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...
'', an unidentified fellow said that much of the heavy-duty construction work was performed by "the boys of the fellowship", while the female fellows made the furnishings. During 1938, the apprentices graded many of the paths and created the foundations for the buildings. The fellowship returned to Taliesin West in January 1939. Almost all building materials, except for cement, were extracted from the surrounding area. Wright decided to construct the buildings from a mixture of rock and cement, which was poured into wooden
formwork Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering mold ...
or framing. The roofs were to be constructed of canvas sheets stretched between redwood frames. The interior was to be decorated with pieces of local
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...
, which came in a variety of colors and sometimes weighed several hundred pounds. Because the quartzite was not easy to chisel away, the apprentices had to look for pieces that already had flat surfaces. Wright decided to reposition the
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s so that "when the Indians come back 2,000 years from now to claim their land, they will note we had respect for their orientation". The vault was the first structure to be built. The apprentices built the masonry walls for the vault and kitchen, at either end of the main structure. In late 1938, workers began constructing the drafting room. Apprentices were also constructing the dining room, kitchen, kiva, sleeping quarters, and Wright's office by early 1939. Some of the apprentices stayed behind in mid-1939 to construct the rest of the structure. Many of these initial rooms were finished by 1940. During that year, a canvas covering was placed on the drafting room's roof. The original compound was substantially complete in early 1941, though ''The Arizona Republic'' wrote that "it may be years before it is considered finished". Additional rooms including the garden room, guest desk, apprentices' court, and the Wrights' residence were completed at that time.


Wright usage

The Arizona complex became known as "Taliesin West", contrasting with the original compound in Wisconsin, which became "Taliesin East". The original structure, in turn, had been named for the Welsh bard
Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...
, whose name means "shining brow" or "radiant brow". In contrast to Wright's other projects, Taliesin West had not gained its name until after most of the initial structures were completed. The apprentices had thought of several names for the complex, such as "Aladdin" and "Rockledge". Other alternate names, like "Taliesin in the Desert" and "Desert Camp", also failed to gain popularity. The writer Neil Levine states that Taliesin West "assumed the role of defining Wright's architecture and
persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
to the outside world", supplanting the original studio in some respects, while ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' characterized the structures as a "
countercultural A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
colony". Wright designed numerous structures while at Taliesin West, such as the
Price Tower The Price Tower is a nineteen-story, tower at 510 South Dewey Avenue in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States. One of the few skyscrapers designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Price Tower is derived from a 1929 proposal for apartment buildings ...
,
Monona Terrace Monona Terrace (officially the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center) is a convention center on the shores of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin. Controversy The building was originally designed and proposed by Wisconsin native Frank L ...
,
Gammage Memorial Auditorium ASU Gammage (formerly known as Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium) is a multipurpose performing arts center at 1200 South Forest Avenue at East Apache Boulevard in Tempe, Arizona, within the main campus of Arizona State University (ASU). The aud ...
, and
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...
. Up to 100 Taliesin Fellowship apprentices worked there during the winters, and they performed many tasks there, per Wright's belief that they should learn through experience. For instance, they erected temporary shelters in the desert nearby, which Wright then critiqued. The apprentices adhered to a detailed schedule, starting with a 6:30 a.m. breakfast, though their clocks were deliberately set one hour ahead. The apprentices took turns maintaining the estate and doing tasks such as cooking and gardening. A bell tower in the main building marked when it was time to eat. Apprentices cooked meals in the kitchen, which they then ate in the communal dining room. Wright was reportedly a difficult teacher to work with, though his onetime apprentice Rudolph Schindler said: "Yet I believe that a year in his studio would be worth any sacrifice." On weekends, the estate was open to tourists for $5 each.


1940s

Wright continually made modifications to Taliesin West, directing his students to carry out these changes. Just before World War II, Wright planted native cacti on the grounds. Taliesin West's completion coincided with the onset of World War II, and as such, few changes were made to the buildings during the war, other than basic maintenance. Following the
United States' entry into World War II Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941. The United States military suffered 19 ships damaged or sunk, and 2,40people were killed Its most significant consequence was the entrance of the United States into World War II. The U ...
in 1941, some of Wright's fellows were drafted into the U.S. military, while others were imprisoned after refusing to be conscripted. The remaining apprentices left Taliesin West largely unused until 1945, instead staying in Wisconsin. One apprentice, Kenn Lockhart, offered to repair the complex and protect it from vandalism. Wright also rented out Taliesin West to the U.S. military, and cattle sometimes roamed onto the land. Following World War II, Wright began experimenting with alternate materials, adding glass and replacing some of the canvas and wood in the buildings. Olgivanna asked her husband to install glass in the structures. Pfeiffer states that Olgivanna had made the request after dreaming about seeing a storm from inside the complex. In any case, he added some glass to the garden room and drafting studios. Wright also expanded the dining room into an adjacent
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...
, and he drew up plans to replace a footbridge between the family residence and the kiva. He replaced the original wood frames and fabric roofs because they decayed more quickly during the hot summers, when temperatures reached . The Sun Trap was demolished in 1949 and replaced with the Sun Cottage, a residence for the Wrights' daughter Iovanna. Air-conditioning units were installed, and the rooms were enclosed so the buildings could be occupied during the summer. Also in the 1940s, Wright fought the installation of overhead
power lines Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...
in the area, as he considered them ugly. He contacted U.S. president
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
to complain about the power lines, unsuccessfully requesting that they be buried. After briefly considering relocating, Wright instead relocated the compound's main entrance and the living room. Wright wrote for ''
Arizona Highways ''Arizona Highways'' is a magazine that contains travelogues and artistic photographs related to the U.S. state of Arizona. It is published monthly in Phoenix by a unit of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). Background The ...
'' magazine in 1949 that "we've all learned a helluva lot by practice" while erecting Taliesin West.


1950s

In the early 1950s, the compound's original theater (the kiva) became a library, while the Cabaret Theatre was built behind Wright's office. A report from 2015 notes that the Cabaret Theatre may have been ready for use as early as December 1950, though other sources state that the theater was not finished until 1951 or 1952. After the Cabaret Theatre was finished, the fellows often relaxed in the theater during the weekends, watching movies or live performances there. In addition, Taliesin West was linked to Scottsdale's
electrical grid An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power tran ...
by early 1952. Starting in the early 1950s, Olgivanna hosted gatherings with other followers of the philosopher
George Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff ( – 29 October 1949) was a philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and movements teacher. Born in the Russian Empire, he briefly became a citizen of the First Republic of Armenia after its formation in 1 ...
at Taliesin West during winter weekends. Wright stored his architectural medals in a tower on the estate. Wright decided to relocate his firm's headquarters from the original Wisconsin studio to Taliesin West in 1954, as he did not want to pay taxes on the Wisconsin estate, even though he also paid taxes on the Arizona compound. The same year, work began on a larger theater on the grounds, which was intended to host musical performances.; By then, ''Arizona Highways'' magazine claimed the estate earned hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for the state economy. The music pavilion next to the Cabaret Theatre (originally called the movements pavilion) was completed in 1957. Fellows listened to musical performances after dinner in the music pavilion, and the structure also hosted the Festival of Music and Dance. Olgivanna composed music for the theater, while Iovanna choreographed and directed the dance shows. In 1959, Wright drew up plans for an orchard, and Taliesin West's access road was reconfigured. When Wright died in Wisconsin that April, his associates hosted a memorial service for him at Taliesin West.


After Wright's death

After Wright's death, his son-in-law
William Wesley Peters William Wesley Peters (June 12, 1912 – July 17, 1991) was an American architect and engineer, apprentice to and protégé of his father-in-law Frank Lloyd Wright. Early life Wes, as he was known to friends and associates, was born in Terre Hau ...
formed
Taliesin Associated Architects Taliesin Associated Architects was an architectural firm founded by apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright to carry on his architectural vision after his death in 1959. The firm disbanded in 2003. It was headquartered at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, ...
, which was headquartered at Taliesin West and operated as part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Wright's architectural school continued to operate from the complex as well, enrolling no more than 35 students at a time. Olgivanna Wright took over Taliesin West's operations and management, approving every major change to Taliesin West, including the designs of students' tents. Iovanna still lived in the Sun Cottage and choreographed performances at the music pavilion, inviting apprentices to participate. The nearby Cabaret Theatre hosted formal dinners and film screenings on Saturdays. Apprentices had to attend lectures on Sundays and construction courses during the mornings. They spent the rest of their time maintaining the buildings, working on designs, or constructing structures. Taliesin West's communal lifestyle did not suit everyone: for instance, Peters's second wife
Svetlana Alliluyeva Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva (née Stalina; 28 February 1926 – 22 November 2011), later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. In 1967, she bec ...
left him in part because she disapproved of the lifestyle. Tourism to Taliesin West increased after Wright's death, even though the fellowship never promoted the structures. Tours were initially hosted on weekdays and Sundays, and they included a slideshow and photographs of Wright. Visitors included major figures such as the publisher
Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', '' Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the Amer ...
and his wife
Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce (; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, diplomat, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which had an all-female cast. He ...
; the politicians
Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles ( ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the ea ...
,
Adlai Stevenson II Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 until his death in 1965. He previously served as the 31st governor of Ill ...
,
John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...
, and William Benton; the art collector
Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemianism, bohemian, and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who we ...
; and the actor
Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (; 1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British and American actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play wi ...
.


1960s and 1970s

Wright's apprentices continued to modify Taliesin West after his death, adding steel and glass to the structures. Although Olgivanna wanted to build an eastern wing, several of Wright's apprentices refused to help; one apprentice complained that Olgivanna had transformed her husband's "rugged, masculine, barbaric kind of a creation" into a feminine design. After plans to install power transmission lines next to the complex were announced in the 1960s, Olgivanna Wright wrote letters opposing the project, but the power lines were installed anyway. The original music pavilion was gutted and destroyed during a fire in September 1963. The blaze caused an estimated $150,000 in damage, destroying curtains, sets, and 300 costumes. Taliesin fellows quickly began repairing the pavilion following the fire, rebuilding the structure to one of Wright's old designs. After the fire, smoking was banned at Taliesin West as a precautionary measure. The music pavilion reopened in April 1965 with a performance choreographed by Iovanna Wright. The complex had 1,500 monthly visitors by the mid-1960s. In July 1966, a fire destroyed several dormitories within the eastern section of the apprentices' court. The dormitories were rebuilt with a steel frame, and fiberglass roofs were also added above the garden room, Wright's office, and the drafting room during the 1960s. Many temporary materials, used in the construction of the original structures, were removed as a result. One newspaper writer said in 1967 that "virtually every part of the main building" had been replaced over the preceding five years. During the same decade, apprentices dug another well. By the end of the decade, there were plans to construct a storage vault for Wright's writings. The guest terrace was reconstructed with a steel frame in 1970 after it began to sag. By then, the Scottsdale government was planning to annex the site of Taliesin West, which at the time was located in an unincorporated part of Maricopa County. The complex ultimately became part of Scottsdale in 1972. In addition, Taliesin West employed only people from within Taliesin Associated Architects or the fellowship until the early 1970s, when a small clerical staff was hired. New bedrooms, a clinic and doctor's residence, and the tower room were constructed east of Olgivanna's bedroom during this decade. The Fellowship Pool was built north of the apprentices' court as well, while large palm trees were replaced with smaller shrubs. The Arizona government also allocated some funding for the complex's maintenance.


1980s

By the early 1980s, the complex had about 40,000 to 50,000 annual visitors. Olgivanna continued to host social events at Taliesin West, including afternoon teas, dinners, and performing-arts events. Apprentices built a ticket booth, a bookstore, a reading room, and a dormitory, and they also renovated several of the rooms. When Olgivanna died in 1985, she had been attempting to relocate Frank's remains to Taliesin West. Although Wright was originally interred in Wisconsin, Olgivanna had wanted herself, Wright, and her daughter from her first marriage to all be cremated and buried together at Taliesin West. Against the wishes of other family members and the
Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...
, Frank's remains were relocated to Scottsdale in 1985, where they were later reinterred. In the mid-1980s, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation started digitizing Wright's archives, and it drew up plans for a study center and an archive building. In addition, the foundation received permission to construct a housing development, Taliesin Gates, on an plot adjoining the complex. The development was dedicated in 1986, and the sale of houses there was intended to raise money for the Wright Foundation. Taliesin Gates also provided a buffer between Taliesin West and the expanding Scottsdale suburbs, whose rapid growth had caused Taliesin West to be added to a list of endangered historical sites in 1984. Richard Carney, who led the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, began raising $10–20 million for repairs to both Taliesins. The foundation planned to raise $5 million for an archive building at Taliesin West by selling off some of Wright's original drawings, though these sales were controversial. In 1989, Carney converted Olgivanna's bedroom into an office.


1990s and 2000s

During the early 1990s, the garden room was renovated, and Wright's archives were relocated to a climate-controlled warehouse on the estate. In the early 1990s, the consulting firm Coopers and Lybrand conducted a feasibility study, which predicted that Taliesin West could increase its annual visitation to 250,000 if the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation built a visitor center and a model of a
Usonian house Usonia () is a term that was used by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general (in preference over ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planni ...
. At the time, the complex had 60,000 annual visitors. Subsequently, Scottsdale officials approved a $699,000 complex to help fund the construction of the visitor center, which was planned to cost $3.9 million. However, the construction of the visitor center was delayed. According to Taliesin West's vice president Arnold Roy, the initial design, based on an unexecuted plan for a house in California, "was too institutional". An increase in visitors prompted the Wright Foundation to increase tours of the house in 1996. Annual visitation had increased to 72,000. The foundation established an
endowment fund A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are ...
for Taliesin West in the 1990s, but the endowment was insufficient to finance any long-term projects. In 1998, the roofs of the garden room, office, and drafting room were rebuilt, and the old roof panels were replaced with acrylic panels. The structures east of the Wrights' residence were also converted into offices for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The same year,
Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...
released a documentary on Wright's work, which increased visitation even more, with up to 12,000 monthly visitors during peak times. In addition, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation began giving tours of apprentices' shelters. By the early 2000s, the foundation was planning to construct a visitor center with $1.4 million from the Scottsdale city government. The complex accommodated 120,000 annual visitors, the vast majority of whom came from outside the surrounding area. The foundation estimated that a visitor center would help increase annual visitation to 200,000. Part of the visitor center's cost was to be financed through Wright Foundation fundraisers. Foundation officials requested a further $430,000 from the Scottsdale government in 2002, which would pay for the visitor center's construction, a restoration of the Wrights' living space, and rent for a museum space in downtown Scottsdale. In 2003, the Wright Foundation received a $75,000 grant for restoration through the
Save America's Treasures Save America's Treasures is a United States federal government initiative to preserve and protect historic buildings, arts, and published works. It is a public–private partnership between the U.S. National Park Service and the National Tru ...
program, and the Ottosen family donated another $200,700 for the renovation. The Wright Foundation hired the architect John Eifler, to study the property, which needed $30–60 million in renovations. Eifler and architect Arnold Roy designed a restoration of Wright's bedroom, which began in January 2004 and was completed that November. The bedroom's renovation was funded with more than $500,000 from Scottsdale's government. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation sought to
rezone Yakov Morozov (born 6 August 1985), better known by his stage name Rezone, is a Russian DJ, music producer and sound designer. Musical career Yakov was just 13 years old when he first tried to write electronic music. Since then all his free time ...
part of its campus in 2006 as part of a longer-range preservation plan for the complex. Though the Scottsdale government approved the rezoning, the preservation plan was delayed for several months. The Scottsdale government approved the complex's preservation plan in 2008. Attendance declined following the
late 2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
but recovered in the 2010s.


2010s to present

The Wright Foundation began renovating the living room in the early 2010s. The foundation also began installing
solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
s across the complex in 2012 to reduce energy costs. Several local firms installed the panels, which were completed that May. In February 2014, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation hired the restoration architect Gunny Harboe to create a master plan for Taliesin West; Harboe's firm had previously helped restore the
Robie House The Robie House (also the Frederick C. Robie House) is a historic house museum on the campus of the University of Chicago in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Designed by the architect Frank Llo ...
and other structures designed by Wright. At the time, the estate had 100,000 annual visitors. It cost the foundation millions of dollars to maintain Taliesin West, which needed a new roof, new mechanical systems, and repairs to water-damaged portions of the buildings. After conducting an 18-month study of the estate, Harboe announced a master plan in October 2015, which called for restoring the original buildings and repairing damaged infrastructure. The foundation had raised $2.1 million for emergency repairs and planned to obtain another $4.1 million. The master plan also entailed reserving part of the complex as an educational campus. The Wright Foundation planned to keep Taliesin West open to the public during renovations. To attract local visitors, in the late 2010s, the Wright Foundation expanded its education programs and began hosting performances. The
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
(NEH) announced in 2018 that it would give Taliesin West a $176,706 grant, provided the Wright Foundation raise $500,000. The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust and
American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...
also provided funds for new technology and programs at Taliesin West. The next year, NEH gave Taliesin West a $50,000 grant for upgrades to storage space. Subsequently, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation began renovating parts of Taliesin West. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the complex was closed to the public for much of 2020, reopening that October with strict capacity restrictions. During the closure, multiple spaces were restored, including the dining cove and Sunset Terrace. The School of Architecture also moved out of Taliesin West the same year. Group tours resumed in March 2021, and the garden room was restored to its original appearance the same year. The foundation also began replacing the roof panels, and it also began making accessibility upgrades and replacing outdated sewers and water pipes. The accessibility renovations included upgraded paths and restrooms. In 2024, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation hired
Sasaki Associates Sasaki is a design firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, Civil Engineering, and Place Branding. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, but practices on ...
to design a new master plan for renovating Taliesin West.


Architecture

Taliesin West consists of multiple structures connected by courtyards and walkways, many of which are aligned with landscape features such as Paradise Valley. The complex includes Wright's office, a drafting studio, living space, classrooms, and communal areas. The writer Neil Levine classifies the structures into two types: "pavilions", with masonry columns and wood-and-canvas roofs, and "caverns", which are comparatively more tightly enclosed. The buildings were heavily inspired by the natural forms of the desert, and Wright wanted the structures on the site to be "sharp, clean and savage", similarly to the surroundings. Taliesin West's appearance contrasted with that of the original studio, which had smoother features because it was built into a rolling hill. Wright favored using locally-sourced construction materials, rather than those that had to be transported to the site. In addition to local rocks, Wright used wood from trees in northern Arizona, and he made the fabric out of cotton grown in the state. In Wright's words, "There were simple characteristic silhouettes to go by, tremendous drifts and heaps of sunburned desert rocks were nearby to be used. We got it all together with the landscape…" The design included few vertical lines or right angles, as Wright opted to construct sloped walls and slanted pillars. The complex also has ribbed walls and gently-sloped terraces, reflecting the appearance of the nearby mountains. Wright said of Taliesin West's design: Wright also decorated Taliesin West with art and furnishings, particularly Native American and Asian art. Olgivanna picked out Taliesin West's color palette, which included 57 hues of pink, in addition to shades of yellow and green. Inside, the rooms are painted in shades of red, including Wright's favorite color, a
terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
-tinted
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
red.


Primary structures

Taliesin West consists of three primary structures: the workshop, Wright's office, and the main building. Each structure is arranged around a grid of square
modules Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to: Computer science and engineering * Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components ...
, and the structures themselves contain wings that intersect at 45-degree angles. The workshop is the westernmost building in the complex; also known as the Shops, it connects with a locker room and a student lounge to its north. Southeast of the workshop is the main building. There is an office and studio to the north of the main building, along the same orientation as the workshop building. The Cabaret Theatre, the music pavilion, the planning library, storage room, and further workshops are all adjacent to the office and studio.


Exterior

The structures' walls are made of local desert
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
s stacked within wooden
formwork Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering mold ...
and filled with concrete. The apprentices labeled the rocks based on the manpower required to lift them, e.g. "two-man rocks". The material was referred to by several names, of which the term "desert masonry" was the most popular. The rocks were placed into the formwork, with the flat faces positioned outward, and concrete and smaller rocks were poured between the larger rocks; the excess masonry was then chopped off. To withstand the extreme temperatures, which ranged from , the
foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...
are made of cement. The exteriors also include ramparts that blend into the landscape.The stone walls are mostly slanted inward at 15-degree angles. They are generally tall, and the upper portions of some walls are slanted outward or are vertically oriented. The angled walls, as designed, resembled the shapes of the nearby mountains and cast shadows throughout the day. Though the buildings' frames were originally constructed out of redwood, these were later supplemented with Cherokee-red steel. The walls also include decorations, such as Chinese ceramic panels salvaged from the second Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, as well as
redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...
cubes embedded into the fascia boards. There are also triangular indentations in some of the rocks, which were inspired by the grooves that Wright had seen in the walls of nearby
canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...
s. Wright wanted Taliesin West to function as a camp, and he regarded the buildings as "glorified tents". As such, the roofs were originally made of canvas panels. The roofs are pitched at a 15-degree angle so they would intersect perpendicularly with the redwood columns. The canvas sheets overlapped each other and could be moved to permit natural light to enter the rooms. Air passed under the canvas sheets whenever there was a breeze. The sheets ended up leaking after the building was completed, and the canvas sheets degraded rapidly in the summertime, prompting Wright to put the panels in storage during the summer. Wright, and later the Taliesin Fellowship, continued to modify the panels through the 20th century. Wright first tested out fiberglass or plastic panels, which were replaced with acrylic panels in 1998. There are trusses between the roof panes, which have a reddish-pink hue. Under the trusses are internal gutters, which collect rain from the roof.


Interior

Taliesin West includes about of space. The rooms were oriented to maximize natural light and to prevent them from being permanently hot or cold based on which direction they faced. Triangular and hexagonal shapes are used throughout the rooms, as are natural motifs. The spaces have simple, organically designed furniture. which the Wrights frequently rearranged during their lifetimes. On the main building's northeastern side is a pathway with an open
pergola A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...
, which connects all the rooms. The pergola is sunken about and is partially covered by trellises. Fireplaces are scattered throughout, and the interiors are illuminated by natural light. The drafting room, kitchen, and dining room comprise the core rooms of the complex. The drafting room is at the northwest corner of the triangle, directly southwest of the pergola. The kitchen and dining room are near the center of the triangle, southeast of the drafting room. At the southeast corner of the triangle are the Wrights' apartments, an infirmary, and a garden room; these connect only to the pergola. Originally, each of the main building's rooms was exposed to the elements on at least one side, allowing air to flow in and out.


= Workrooms

= Wright's office is just past the entrance court. The office has a translucent ceiling, which is designed to resemble the canvas roofs that were originally used. It also had sloping walls and a large drafting table. After Wright's death, the office was turned into a reception room. South of the office is the drafting studio, which was constructed from 1938 to 1941 and is rectangular in shape, with space for 60 worktables. It is slightly more than long, spanning about 6.5 modules. The drafting room is an open work space illuminated by natural light, and the tent-like structure allows air to pass through. The drafting studio's ceiling slopes upward from . The northwestern end of the drafting studio abuts the vault, where Wright's architectural drawings were stored. The vault has since been converted into a
computer lab A computer lab is a space where computer services are provided to a defined community. These are typically public libraries and academic institutions. Generally, users must follow a certain user policy to retain access to the computers. This usua ...
. The southeastern wall abuts the kitchen wall and a fireplace, while the southwestern side opens onto Indian Rock Terrace.


= Living areas

= A northeast–southwest loggia separates the living quarters and the drafting studio, connecting the pergola with Sunset Terrace. The loggia was originally used as the entrance to the fellowship dining room and the Wrights' residence, although part of the loggia was later converted to dining space. The dining room itself (now the board room) measures and has a large stone fireplace. Three of the dining room's walls reach only partway to the ceiling, allowing sunlight to illuminate the space, A sculpture of a fire-breathing dragon stands outside the dining room. Immediately above the loggia, kitchen, and dining room is a guest terrace, which has several bedrooms, each with a small closet and bed. There is a bell tower between the dining room/loggia and the drafting studio. Additional bedrooms—for Gene Masselink, William Wesley Peters, and Peters's first wife Svetlana—are located east of the fellowship dining room. The Wrights' former living quarters include a bathroom, a kitchen, three bedrooms, a garden room, and a small dining niche. The living quarters form an L shape; the bedrooms all face east, while the garden room faces south. The garden room, which served as the family's living room, is long and spans 3.5 modules. The garden room has a sloped roof with a low ceiling at its rear. A fireplace and an alcove occupy separate walls, and the rear wall has movable flaps. Within the garden room are a statue of the Chinese goddess
Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...
, a Pueblo pot, and a bust of Wright. The family's personal rooms, occupying a wing measuring , are comparatively small. For instance, there is a sitting room called the Swan Cove, which measures , while Frank Lloyd Wright's bedroom is . The rooms include items such as Japanese art and replicas of Wright's books. The family's private dining niche has a sculpture of
Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...
, the future Buddha, as well as a pot from a New Mexican pueblo.


Other structures

Next to the apprentices' court is a standalone masonry room called the kiva, which was named after a Pueblo Native American
kiva A kiva (also ''estufa'') is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circula ...
and is partially underground. The kiva was initially connected to the Wrights' living quarters by a wooden bridge spanning a hexagonal reflecting pool, which was replaced in the 1940s. The newer bridge is a stone span supported by slanted piers, and there is a water tower next to the bridge. There are
clerestory window A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
s near the top of the kiva, which are slightly above ground level. The kiva has a concrete roof, which was supposed to be topped by an observatory. The kiva has been used for other purposes throughout its history, including as a library, and as a classroom and conference space. Next to Wright's office is a performance space called the Cabaret Theatre, which dates from the early 1950s and was originally called the Stone Gallery. It is a rectangular space recessed into the ground and accessed by a narrow hallway. The Cabaret Theatre has about 100 seats, which are arranged in a tiered-seating layout with counters next to each seat. On the side walls are long benches with cabaret tables, while at the rear is a stone fireplace and a round table for 16 guests. The side benches, ceiling, and walls are made of desert masonry and reinforced concrete. There is also a projection booth, a fireplace, and removable wooden slats leading to a garden. The theater has a bust of
the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
and a wooden carving from southeast Asia. East of the Cabaret Theatre is a music pavilion, which has 135 seats. Unlike the complex's other structures, the music pavilion has a steel frame with plastic panels, which date to a 1964 reconstruction project. The Sun Cottage is just east of the primary structures. The Sun Cottage has an atrium and an eastern wing and is connected to the rest of the complex by a bridge. The Sun Cottage, which replaced the Wrights' original Sun Trap, was built with slanted desert-masonry walls topped by glass
clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
windows, as well as an exposed steel-beam roof. Inside was a living room, kitchenette, bathroom, and bedroom for Iovanna Wright, in addition to a sitting room, bathroom, and two bedrooms for a guest. There are several other outlying buildings. The Pfeiffer House, as well as a hexagonal women's dormitory, are located on the estate. First-year students of the School of Architecture lived nearby in tents measuring , though female students could choose to live in a dormitory instead. In the late 20th century, there were between 70 and 80 such tents at Taliesin West, and a facility manager had to approve the design of each tent. Faculty and upperclassmen could upgrade their shelters or stay in more permanent accommodations. Apprentices had to demolish their tents after they had graduated.


Courts and terraces

The estate includes various plantings, pools, and several sunken gardens. Rocks with petroglyphs were incorporated into the buildings or placed throughout the complex as standalone objects. A parking lot is located southwest of the workshop building and Wright's office. An open courtyard leads southeast from the workshop to the main building. Along the edges of the court is a stone tablet with the name "Taliesin West" and a light tower tilted at a 15-degree angle. A boulder with a petroglyph is placed between the tablet and the light tower. Directly south of the open courtyard, on the western and southern sides of the main building, is a prow-shaped terrace, which is known as Sunset Point or Sunset Terrace. At the terrace's northern tip, the main building's dining and drafting rooms wrap around Indian Rock Terrace. Within Indian Rock Terrace is a stepped pyramid, which is topped by a boulder with petroglyphs. A triangular pool stands in front of Indian Rock Terrace, while the rest of Sunset Terrace consists of a lawn. The pool was intended as a reservoir in case the buildings caught fire, and it is supplied by groundwater from Taliesin West's original well. The apprentices' court is at the southeast corner of the main building and is surrounded by the apprentices' bedrooms. A square protrudes from the eastern corner of the apprentices' court, rotated 45 degrees from the rest of the court. To the northeast of the main building is a garden court with a citrus grove. The apprentices' court consists of a courtyard surrounded by bedrooms. There were 11 men's bedrooms, 3 women's bedrooms, and bathrooms and showers for apprentices of both genders. These bedrooms housed apprentices prior to World War II and have fireplaces and canvas flaps. There is also a sculpture garden with artwork by Heloise Crista, a onetime apprentice to Wright. A citrus grove stands to the northeast of the main building.


Management

The complex is managed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which was established in 1940 to preserve Wright's legacy. The foundation has been designated as a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...
since 1983. Taliesin Associated Architects was part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation until 1985, while the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture was spun off from the foundation in 2017. The foundation holds a trademark on the Taliesin West name. The foundation provides tours of Taliesin West, which vary in duration and scope. There are "insights tours" that traverse the key rooms, in addition to more elaborate tours that provide more details about the buildings. In contrast to typical attractions, visitors are allowed to touch the objects inside. There have also been tours of the apprentices' desert shelters, hosted by architectural students. The foundation provides a virtual tour as well. In addition, Taliesin West has been used for public events such as
day camp Day camps also known as summer camps in some areas, are recreational programs designed to provide children with a fun and enriching experience during the summer or school breaks. Unlike residential or overnight camps, day camps operate during day ...
s, movie nights, and
happy hour Happy hour is a marketing term for a time when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks. Discounted menu items like appetizers are often served during happy hour. This is a way for bars and restaurants to ...
s, and lectures are hosted at Taliesin West. Taliesin West formerly hosted the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's archives, which were inaccessible to the general public and were very difficult for researchers to access. In 1985, the Wright Foundation and the
J. Paul Getty Trust The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, with an estimated endowment of US$7.7 billion in 2020. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has two locations—the Getty Center in the ...
began duplicating about 21,000 documents to make them available to scholars in Los Angeles.; The archive was primarily kept in a closet, and the Wright Foundation hired an archive expert in 2010 to determine how to open the rest of the collection to the public. The archives were moved to the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
and
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in New York City in 2012. At the time, the archive included 23,000 drawings, 44,000 photographs, and 300,000 pieces of mail and other correspondence. Columbia's
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, the world's largest architecture library, is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City. Serving Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning a ...
took over management of the photos and drawings, while the Museum of Modern Art began managing the 3D architectural models; the Wright Foundation retains the archive's intellectual property rights. The Wright School of Architecture also operated at the complex until 2020, when the school moved to the nearby
Cosanti Cosanti is the gallery and studio of Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri, serving as his residence until his death in 2013. Located in Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S., it is open to the public. Cosanti is marked by terraced landscaping, exper ...
studio. From October to May of each year, students at the School of Architecture stayed at Taliesin West, while for the rest of the year, they worked out of the original Taliesin in Wisconsin. The school also operated other programs at Taliesin West, such as
day camp Day camps also known as summer camps in some areas, are recreational programs designed to provide children with a fun and enriching experience during the summer or school breaks. Unlike residential or overnight camps, day camps operate during day ...
s for children. Since 2022, the foundation has operated the Taliesin Institute, which hosts classes at Taliesin West and the original Taliesin.;


Impact


Critical reception

When the first structure was being constructed, the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' described the building as a mixture of Mayan, Egyptian, and Japanese architectural influences. ''
The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...
'' wrote that the complex "cannot be compared accurately to any other building in the United States", while other newspapers noted that it blended in with the landscape. In ''Fortune'' magazine's August 1946 issue, George Nelson wrote that the compound was "barbaric and like a crustacean" because of its organic construction. A ''Chicago Tribune'' writer said in 1949 that the materials, including glass walls and canvas roofs, "bring the outdoors in...with startling and exciting results". In 1964, a writer for ''
The Capital Times ''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a weekly newspaper published Wednesday in Madison, Wisconsin, by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. ...
'' wrote that all structures at Taliesin West were "a unit in the entire design—a great tent", and that the structures' designs were "in completeness with nature". Another writer for ''
The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...
'' said that the complex "operates as if
right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
still were guiding it", while ''The Minneapolis Star'' said the combination of materials "make an eye-appealing setting". A ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' writer stated that the building "is impossible to photograph satisfactorily" because its sharp-edged appearance meant that there were no front or side facades. A writer for ''The Arizona Republic'', in 1981, characterized the structures as "innovative variations on parallelograms and trapezoids", and the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
wrote of the Wrights' living area: "There is an opulence in the long expanse of dining-living room combination." A writer for ''
The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...
'' said that the structures "offer a fascinating contrast between modern forms ..and crude construction techniques", while an ''
Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tucson, Arizona, and owned by Lee Enterprises. It serves Tucson and surrounding districts of Southern Arizona in the United States. History 1877–1925 L. C. Hughes was the ...
'' writer said the buildings had "both strength and subtlety". In 1993, a writer for the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'' said that the buildings showed respect to Wright's style without necessarily serving as a memorial to him. By contrast,
Paul Goldberger Paul Goldberger (born December 4, 1950)Brennan, Elizabeth A.; Clarage, Elizabeth C''Who's who of Pulitzer Prize winners'' Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. Cfp.87on Paul Goldberger
of ''The New York Times'' wrote that Taliesin West "has always had an oddly worshipful, almost cultlike quality to it", citing the fact that apprentices spoke of Wright in a reverent manner and that a massive picture of Wright was hung in the drafting room. A writer for the ''
San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...
'' said in 1998 that Taliesin West was "one of the purest expressions of Frank Lloyd Wright's vision", as it had been built on an undeveloped site, and Wright had not been beholden to any client demands while designing the structures. A ''Los Angeles Times'' reporter called the complex "one part desert camp, one part cave and one part fleet of ships". A writer for ''
The Burlington Free Press ''The Burlington Free Press'' (sometimes referred to as "BFP" or "the Free Press") is a digital and print community news organization based in Burlington, Vermont, and owned by Gannett. It is one of the official "newspapers of record" for the St ...
'' wrote in 2000 that the structures looked like an Asian temple at night. In 2001, an Associated Press writer described the complex as imitating the desert environment, while the ''
Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...
'' wrote that Taliesin West was a monument to Wright and to
organic architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furn ...
. As a ''
Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...
'' reporter described it, the desert "simply flows into the walls, in the rocks and the sand" of the house. The writer Neil Levine described Taliesin West as being "angular ndrough" with crude-looking materials, in contrast to the smooth concrete design of
Fallingwater Fallingwater is a Historic house museum, house museum in Stewart Township, Pennsylvania, Stewart Township in the Laurel Highlands of Greater Pittsburgh, southwestern Pennsylvania, United States. Designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, i ...
, which Wright had designed around the same time. The architect
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
described Taliesin West as "the essence of architecture" but also said that, to people unfamiliar with Wright's work, the structures appeared as "a meaningless group of buildings". ''
Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...
'' magazine wrote that scholars called Taliesin West "one of Wright's masterpieces". Several critics wrote that the buildings' organic, transient nature had become diluted due to modifications such as air conditioning, glass ceilings, and steel beams.


Media and exhibits

Taliesin West was depicted in a 1955 film about modernist U.S. buildings, and the complex was featured in a 1957 special for the TV show '' Wide, Wide World'' and a 1972 television special titled "Taliesin West". The complex has been the subject of several books, including Kathryn Smith's 1997 book ''Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and Taliesin West''. In addition, the complex was depicted in a 1997 children's book and on packs of baseball cards depicting historic sites. A model of the complex was displayed at New York's
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in 1940, and pictures of the structures were shown at the same museum in 1947.


Landmark designations

Taliesin West received the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
'
Twenty-five Year Award The Twenty-five Year Award is an architecture prize awarded each year by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to "a building that has set a precedent for the last 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architec ...
in 1973 and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1974. The complex was further designated as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
(NHL) in 1982; the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
cited the complex as "one of the first major works during the last quarter-century of right'slife". Taliesin West was the 25th National Historic Landmark in Arizona and the first in the state to be designated specifically because of its architecture. A plaque denoting the complex as a NHL was installed in 1986. The Scottsdale Historic Preservation Commission voted in January 2006 to
rezone Yakov Morozov (born 6 August 1985), better known by his stage name Rezone, is a Russian DJ, music producer and sound designer. Musical career Yakov was just 13 years old when he first tried to write electronic music. Since then all his free time ...
of Taliesin West as a historic preservation site. The city government approved a municipal-landmark designation for the tract that April, and the designation went into effect in 2008 after the city approved the complex's preservation plan. In the 1980s, Taliesin and Taliesin West were jointly nominated as a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
, a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
designation for properties with special worldwide significance. The federal government endorsed the nomination, but UNESCO rejected it because the organization wanted to see a larger nomination with more Wright properties. In 2008, the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
submitted ten Frank Lloyd Wright properties, including Taliesin West, to a tentative World Heritage list. Ultimately, Taliesin West and seven other properties were added to the
World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
under the title "
The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright is a UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of eight buildings across the United States designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. These sites demonstrate his philosophy of organic arch ...
" in July 2019.


See also

*
List of Frank Lloyd Wright works Frank Lloyd Wright designed 1,141 houses, commercial buildings and other works throughout his lifetime, including 532 that were eventually built. , there were 409 extant structures designed by Wright. Over one-third of the extant structures are on ...
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Arizona This is a List of National Historic Landmarks in Arizona. There are 47 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Arizona, counting Hoover Dam that spans from Nevada and is listed in Nevada by the National Park Service (NPS), and Yuma Crossing and Ass ...
*
List of World Heritage Sites in the United States The UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural heritage, cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, establi ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Maricopa County, Arizona The following properties and districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, excluding listings in Phoenix. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the ...


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

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Further reading

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External links


Taliesin West
at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation {{Authority control 1937 establishments in Arizona Architecture museums in the United States Architecture schools in the United States Artists' studios in the United States Biographical museums in Arizona Buildings and structures in Scottsdale, Arizona Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Historic American Buildings Survey in Arizona Historic house museums in Arizona Houses completed in 1937 Houses in Maricopa County, Arizona Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Modernist architecture in Arizona Museums in Scottsdale, Arizona National Historic Landmarks in Arizona National Register of Historic Places in Maricopa County, Arizona School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Schools in Arizona 1930s architecture in the United States