Compression and release, a slow revealing of space both inside and out. A master of balance. Who is this person so admired by my tour guide ? The creator of “organic architecture“, Frank Lloyd Wright of course! He is hands down, America's most famous architect, ( when all you have to do is Google Frank L….. and his full name pops up, you know you've made it ! ) When FLW ( as my architect nephew referred to him in a text ) first began building Taliesin West ( Welsh for Shining Brow) in 1937, it was to be his winter home and headquarters for his Fellowship School students. The extensive property is now ringed by North Scottsdale, but back then it was just them and a desert full of cactus and critters. FLW’S Fellowship was learning by doing. There was no degree given, no textbooks or tests. They all stayed in temporary shelters designed by, Himself, ( my British friend, Win refers to her husband as that and I think it so works in this case too ). As our guide was explaining this, my mind was saying, “ I don't care if they were designed by “Himself”. After my Winnebago experience in Tucson, he better have had a plan for keeping rattlesnakes out! During the tour we got to go through many of the main buildings and we could take pictures of whatever we wanted to until we got to one particular building. As we walked by this, no photos zone, we could see students hard at work in a space and on desks designed by FLW ! How cool is that ! The Fellowship School is still active and training the next generation of graduate level architect students. The students live and work on site for the length of the program. The guide showed us pictures of temporary shelters some of the students are still building and living in. Hum… they didn’t look snake proof to me ! FLW’S personal life had its highs and lows, including leaving his wife of 20 years and their six children and the tragic death of his mistress and six others in a fire at his Taliesin home in Spring Green, Wisconsin. In his professional life he was known to be, “notoriously cantankerous”. Tempers and tantrums are words I come across while reading about him. Something I do admire about him is that he was creating, some of his most famous buildings, in his 70’s ! In that respect, I want to be just like... Himself !
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