Taliesin West, ca. 1940. © Pedro E. Guerrero
Taliesin West Studio and Reflecting Pool. Photo by Judith Bromley
The main studio at Taliesin West with its translucent roof
The entry courtyard at Hillside
The spectacular trusswork at Hillside studio, filtering light from northern clerestories
Taliesin, the main residence, in morning mist
Aerial view of Taliesin, showing the residence and the pond.
Students visiting the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives
The "prow" at Taliesin West
Taliesin West, the Garden Room. Photo Donna Yeaw.
View of Taliesin West from Maricopa Hill. The desert preserve is visible against the city boundaries in the distance.
Brittlebush desert shelter by Simon DeAguero
Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, maintains and operates on two campuses:
- Taliesin West, in Scottsdale, Arizona (main campus; spring and fall terms) |map|
- Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin (summer term) |map|
Both campuses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and are National Historic Landmarks. Students are provided the opportunity to experience both campuses while enrolled.
Visits to the school are possible through the Tour Programs at both campuses. If applicants wish to talk to a School representative during an informal visit they must schedule in advance through the Director of Admission, at nikita@taliesin.edu.
The construction of Taliesin West, begun by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1937, was designed by Wright and built over many years by apprentices who were a part of the resident Taliesin Fellowship. Taliesin West is the main campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. The buildings rest on 500 acres of preserved Sonoran Desert open space on the South foothills of the McDowell mountains with spectacular views of Scottsdale, Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun.
The buildings at Taliesin West include drafting studios, which provide workspaces for students and faculty, classrooms, study rooms, the William Wesley Peters Library, and exhibition spaces. Two theaters provide space for theatrical performances, concerts, music and dance rehearsals, as well as space for videos, films, visiting lecturers, special events, and formal dining. Workspace and equipment are available for woodwork, metal work, painting, printing, photography, sculpture, pottery, and model making.
All students and many faculty live on campus. Much of the living space opens directly to the desert. Taliesin West is a complex of buildings and garden courts linked together by walks and terraces. The seamless relationship between the structures and the natural desert encourages students to make full use of the 500 acres surrounding the central campus core to study the complex desert ecology, to deeply understand the poetic power of the landscape, and to discover the lessons available to the architect from the observation of nature. Students at Taliesin West are provided the option of living in experimental desert shelters during all or part of their residency. Alternately, rooms or small apartments are available for students based on availability, including those for students with spouses/partners. Locker room facilities, a lounge, and a study/reading room are available for students.
Most of the students and many of the faculty and staff move to Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, the original site of the School of Architecture, for the summer term. The campus comprises over 600 acres of rolling hills and fertile valleys adjacent to the scenic Wisconsin River.
The main residential complex of Taliesin is augmented by the buildings of the Hillside School, the Midway Barn, the Tan-y-deri residence, and several smaller cottages.
The buildings at Hillside include an ample drafting and design studio; classrooms; meeting spaces; a theater (seating 120) which is used for films, musical performances, dance presentations, and lectures; a carpentry shop; a painting and sculpture studio; and vegetable gardens. Outdoor activities include hiking, biking, swimming, and ball sports.
At Taliesin all students are assigned to rooms in the various building complexes on campus. The room assignments are reviewed each season and changes may occur. As the prairie shelter program develops further, additional student housing will be available in shelters at the Wisconsin campus.
The William Wesley Peters Library at Taliesin West is the official depository for books, periodicals and other media supporting the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and Taliesin Architects. The library serves the research interests of the Taliesin Community and a wider community of architectural and design scholars interested in the special collections of the library. More Library information.
The core of the cataloged monograph portion of the William Wesley Peters Library collection constitutes materials from the personal library of Frank Lloyd Wright's first apprentice, the late William Wesley Peters. Included in this collection are contributions chronicling the history of the Taliesin Fellowship from its inception in 1932. The collection encompasses commentaries, critiques, and photographs providing historical insight into the life and contribution of Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentices to the world of architecture and design.
The library contains over 27,000 cataloged volumes including state and federal documents as well as selected uncataloged maps, sound recordings, videos, and the architectural archives of the firm, Taliesin Architects, comprised of cataloged books and pamphlets, slides, photographs, drawings, collateral materials, correspondence, and other documents. One hundred periodical titles are neither bound nor cataloged but filed alphabetically by title. Download an Excel spreadsheet of main Library Catalog.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, headquartered at Taliesin West, was founded to preserve and perpetuate the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and to educate the public concerning his important and unique contribution to architecture.
The Archives' collection of Frank Lloyd Wright materials includes more than 20,000 original drawings, 190,000 documents of correspondence covering 1887-1959, approximately 600 original manuscripts, a large Oriental art collection, historic photographs of buildings and family, and related materials from books to articles. The Archives also preserves works of Mrs. Wright and of the Taliesin Fellowship. These collections offer a vast reservoir of material for Students at Taliesin and outside researchers.
More information about the Archives may be found at the site of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Over the decades, the name Taliesin came to bear a variety of meanings. 'Taliesin' today refers to the entirety of the endeavors on both campuses; the living idea for the exploration, practice and preservation of architecture in the context of nature, people, culture, and the environment.
"Taliesin was the name of a Welsh poet, a druid-bard who sang to Wales the glories of fine art. Many legends cling to that beloved reverend name in Wales.
Richard Hovey's charming masque, 'Taliesin,' had just made me acquainted with his image of the historic bard. Since all my relatives had Welsh names for their places, why not Taliesin for mine? . . . Literally the Welsh word means 'shining brow.'
This hill on which Taliesin now stands as 'brow' was one of my favorite places when as a boy looking for pasque flowers I went in March sun while snow still streaked the hillsides. When you are on the low hill-crown you are out in mid-air as though swinging in a plane, the Valley and two others dropping away from you leaving the tree-tops standing below all about you."
—Frank Lloyd Wright
