Starting when I was a little girl–like, eight or nine–I have been sketching houseplans, designing front elevations of buildings, and begging my mother for another pad of graph paper. Preferably the little-grid kind because then you can draw something larger, fancier, more elaborate without taping eight pages together (which, don’t get me wrong, I did as well).
When I was in junior high I received the first year textbooks from the University of Utah’s architectural program as a Christmas gift. I read them several times, as well as dozens of other books on architectural design, architectural style, and architectural icons.
And then I fell in love with Frank Lloyd Wright, the greatest American architect and quite possibly the most influential architect in the world. I love him. I love his work, I love his buildings, I love his style, I love the way he used space and the outdoors and….I could go on and on.
Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked in the Midwest most of the time–his studio and home was in Wisconsin, he called it Taliesin (TALLY-essen)–but in his later years he developed some pulmonary problems and his doctors told him he needed to leave the harsh Midwestern winter for a warmer climate to save his lungs. So, he packed up his family, his students, his drafting supplies, and drove to Arizona and camped in what would later become Scottsdale. Frank and Olga Wright were the first Snowbirds! At any rate, he eventually built a studio and living quarters at Taliesin West and every fall the entire posse drove down to Arizona and every spring they went back to Wisconsin. The architecture students still follow that same routine today. Fascinating.
I won’t geek out about this too much, I have been wanting to go to Taliesin West for years and the whole experience was similar to my excitement at walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, or hanging out on Baker Beach in San Francisco admiring the Golden Gate Bridge, or swooning at the Seattle Space Needle or the Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas. Hrm, apparently it’s no secret that I’m a nerd when it comes to buildings and bridges and the like. Goodness, I’m such a nerd. Moving along. If you’re interested there are about a million sources to find information on Frank Lloyd Wright’s life, his work, his amazing skillz and his general Awesomeness.
Breezeway along the main living area–studio, kitchen, dining room
Inside the Dining Room, which sits about 50 people. The chairs were made on-site based on design from 1914, they are like modernish ice-cream parlor chairs. Sorry for the blur.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s office, he loved the color red and it is everywhere in the house. Swoon!
Living room, the chairs look funky, I know, but they are remarkably comfortable. I don’t love the lime-avocado green carpet with the red floor particularly, but whatever.
When Frank Lloyd Wright purchased the land for Taliesin West, he also purchased the water rights. 500 feet down they found an underground river and besides several water features, the whole campus is remarkably green for being in the middle of the desert–free water will do that.
Inside Frank & Olga’s apartment on-site. Everything is low and modern and in delightful 70′s colors. Sigh…I was so giddy. Still am, I suppose.
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Have you read “Loving Frank”? Gives another view into the interesting life of a brilliant man… just maybe not a view people always want to see.
Comment by betterthanasoap 2009 December 7 @ 10:29 amYou’re not a nerd, you’re cute. Well, OK, maybe you’re both. I’m glad you got to see all this!
Comment by Jess 2009 December 7 @ 12:30 pmOk time for me to fess up I too love buildings I even did tech drawing & design at school as well as going to art school & I worked in constrution for 5 years & I’m even related (although distantly ) to the designer Nichols Grimshaw the Eden project among others I walk past his office every day I wish I had the nerve to go ask for a job there but that’s another matter I love your posts on buildings they make me want to visit these buildings anyway seeya hugya *G* oh yeah graph papper is the bomb LoL
Comment by Grungedandy 2009 December 7 @ 3:17 pmhave you been to oak park in chicago? or seen the robie house in hyde park in chicago? that one’s my favorite. i love wright’s notion of dining tables…in chicago there are these heavy oak tables with very high-backed chairs, so that when everyone’s sitting at the table, they are sort of cradled in, with no distractions from outside, so that all focus is on dinner and the conversation around the table. i’ve always wanted to have chairs like that, i really love that idea. i can see why seeing taliesen west made you giddy. wright was a bit of a bastard, but an amazing architect.
Comment by julochka 2009 December 7 @ 4:28 pmFLW also lived in Oak Park, IL for a while. My in-laws live 3 doors down from his home/studio there. So cool.
Comment by Erin 2009 December 7 @ 5:37 pmBeautiful photos Heidi! Looks like so much fun. I am so jealous… wish we could take a road trip together! I didn’t know you were such a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright! Did you know he has a house in Utah?? In Bountiful… Check it out:
Comment by Vanessa Christensen 2009 December 7 @ 6:11 pmhttp://archutah.com/built/StromquistHouse/index.html
Love ya!
You look LOVELY!
Comment by Janssen 2009 December 7 @ 9:19 pmwhen i read ‘loving frank’ (nancy horan. not a book i recommend if you want something well written, far from. but still interesting. and tragic. and there’s a swedish connection.) i was intrigued by his work. before that i only knew his name. i have to say that it’s not my cup of architectural tea. at all. but i can still appreciate talent. and he must have been so very much before his time. such rare people are fascinating.
Comment by Pia K 2009 December 7 @ 9:23 pmI wish I had a productive passion like architecture, though I imagine I would feel the same in a Jimmy Chou factory.
Comment by thecoconutdiaries 2009 December 8 @ 11:39 am