Private architecture school in Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA
The School of Architecture
is a
private
architecture school
in
Paradise Valley, Arizona
. It was founded in 1986 as an accredited school by surviving members of the
Taliesin Fellowship
. The school offers a Master of Architecture program focusing on the
organic architecture
design philosophy of
Frank Lloyd Wright
. The school is the smallest accredited graduate architecture program in the United States and emphasizes hands-on learning, architectural immersion, experimentation, and a design-build program that grew out of the Taliesin Fellowships’ tradition of building shelters in the Arizona desert. The school is not ranked by any ranking publications.
It is located on two historic campuses:
Cosanti
in Paradise Valley and
Arcosanti
near
Mayer, Arizona
. It was located at
Taliesin West
in
Scottsdale, Arizona
and
Taliesin
in
Spring Green, Wisconsin
, but in 2020, announced a move to Cosanti and Arcosanti.
[1]
History
[
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]
Founding of the Taliesin Fellowship
[
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]
In 1931, Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife,
Olgivanna
, circulated a prospectus to an international group of distinguished scholars, artists, and friends, announcing their plan to form a school at Taliesin in Spring Green where students would “Learn by Doing.” Education at Taliesin emphasized painting, sculpture, music, drama, and dance “in their places as divisions of architecture.” Each of these elements of the fine arts, as the Wrights conceived them, would lead to broader learning.
The ambitious plan for an endowed school exceeded the Wrights’ capacity to attract funds in the second full year of the
Great Depression
, so the school was founded as an apprenticeship program in 1932 instead. Wright also expressed his disdain for conventional architecture schools,
[2]
cautioning "Beware of architectural schools except as the exponent of engineering."
[3]
In 1939, Wright advised the Royal Institute of British Architects that "I do not want you to have the idea that Taliesin is a school, or a community. It happens to be our home and where we work, and these young people are my comrade apprentices: no scholars. They come to help, and if they can learn-well, we are very happy."
[4]
During the years of the Taliesin Fellowship, Wright's apprentices worked on important Wright projects including the
Johnson Wax Headquarters
,
Fallingwater
, and the
Guggenheim Museum
in New York. The apprenticeship program continued after the school gained formal accreditation in 1986, and the apprentices would be engaged in the design and operational activities of
Taliesin Associated Architects
on projects like
Monona Terrace
, until the Wright's legacy firm disbanded in 2003.
Accreditation as The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture
[
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]
The apprenticeship program, the Taliesin Fellowship, evolved into the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, which was established in response to changing licensing requirements for architects, particularly the requirement to graduate from an accredited institution prior to sitting for the
Architect Registration Examination
. Rather than allow the school to become obsolete, the school acquired the necessary accreditation to continue although some may question the decision to create an accredited architecture school from Wright's apprenticeship program, given his antipathy for architecture schools--"Beware of architectural schools except as the exponent of engineering."
[3]
Despite this internal discord, the school pressed on, and under the leadership of Dean Tom Casey, became a fully accredited program in 1986.
In 2014, the school's accreditation was challenged by the
Higher Learning Commission
based on new regulations that required it to have independent budgeting and governance from its parent organization, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
[5]
[6]
This was resolved by 2017, when the school separated legally from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and changed its name to The School of Architecture at Taliesin. However, the school remained on its historic campuses of
Taliesin
and
Taliesin West
.
The school maintained its accreditation through 2020 following the closure announcement by establishing itself as an independent entity and moving to a new historic campus.
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
Becoming The School of Architecture
[
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]
Despite an announcement on January 28, 2020, that the school would cease operations on both campuses and close by June 2020,
[11]
[7]
[12]
the school remains open and continues to educate Master of Architecture students. According to this announcement, the school's governing board determined that "the School did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operation as an accredited program."
[13]
This announcement followed the failure of discussions between the board and the
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
about the creation of new, non-accredited educational programs.
[12]
At the time of the announcement, the school indicated they were negotiating an agreement for the 30 currently enrolled students to transfer to The Design School at
ASU
's
Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
.
[12]
[13]
It was reported that prior to the closure announcement, the school and the foundation were in talks to develop alternative educational programming that did not require accreditation.
[12]
According to the foundation, the proposals that emerged from these discussions were not approved by the school's board.
[13]
Six weeks after announcing the pending closure, the school's board of directors reversed course and announced that the school had received new funding and was financially viable.
[14]
[15]
However, the agreement between the Foundation and School expired by its own terms on July 31, 2020.
[16]
As of March 11, 2020, the school board expressed its intention to continue school operations and reopened admissions, despite no resolution with the Foundation being reached at that time.
[17]
[18]
In 2020, the school moved to the historic campuses of
Cosanti
and
Arcosanti
and changed its name to The School of Architecture.
[1]
Academics
[
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]
The school offers a three-year, project-based
Master of Architecture
degree, with a focus on
organic architecture
. The school is accredited by the
National Architectural Accrediting Board
and the
Higher Learning Commission
. The school offers a unique hand-on design build program that encourages design exploration and experimentation. It also offers courses that preserve Wright's legacy of teaching architecture holistically.
Student life
[
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]
Students become part of a community of thinkers and creators, each doing their fair share to guide the School's traditions into the future. In a place that consists of great architecture and infused by all the arts, students are encouraged to engage in the discourse of architecture amongst each other, as well as with the professors who serve as creative mentors throughout the immersive experience. Because most of the members of the community live, eat, and work onsite, students will feel intertwined and involved with their work, their surroundings, and themselves.
The student's body is governed by its own elected student government which is elected on an annual basis by simple majority vote. The students operate their own website, social media, and magazine, known as WASH.
[19]
Awards
[
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]
The school has been awarded numerous grants from the
Graham Foundation
for its student publications.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Exclusive: School of Architecture at Taliesin will change its name, move to Cosanti"
.
The Architects Newspaper
. 2020-06-09
. Retrieved
2020-07-22
.
- ^
Wright, Frank Lloyd (1993).
The Collected Writings of Frank Lloyd Wright v. 3
. New York: Rizzoli. pp. 197?201.
ISBN
0-8478-1699-0
.
- ^
a
b
Wright, Frank Lloyd (1931).
Two Lectures on Architecture
. p. 61.
- ^
Wright, Frank Lloyd (1993).
The Collected Writings of Frank Lloyd Wright v. 3
. New York: Rizzoli. p. 317.
ISBN
0-8478-1699-0
.
- ^
Haller, Sonja (2014-08-21).
"Frank Lloyd Wright School faces accreditation loss"
.
azcentral
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
Haller, Sonja (2014-08-28).
"Tensions mount at Frank Lloyd Wright architecture school"
.
azcentral
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
a
b
Greenberger, Alex (2020-01-28).
"Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin School of Architecture to Close After 88 Years"
.
ARTnews.com
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
Messner, Matthew (2017-03-10).
"Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will keep accreditation"
.
Archpaper.com
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
Messner, Matthew (2017-04-25).
"Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will change its name"
. The Architects Newspaper
. Retrieved
February 2,
2019
.
- ^
Wachs, Audrey (2015-12-28).
"The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is $2 million closer to independent incorporation"
.
Archpaper.com
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
Hsieh, Steven (2020-01-28).
"Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Architecture School Is Shutting Down"
.
Phoenix New Times
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Franklin, Sydney (2020-01-28).
"Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close"
.
Archpaper.com
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
a
b
c
Longhi, Lorraine (2020-01-28).
"Frank Lloyd Wright's school of architecture at Taliesin West in Scottsdale to close after 88 years"
.
azcentral
. Retrieved
2020-01-28
.
- ^
Barr, Greg (March 6, 2020).
"Frank Lloyd Wright architecture school board reverses decision to close down"
. Phoenix Business Journal
. Retrieved
7 March
2020
.
- ^
Hilburg, Jonathan (2020-03-05).
"Taliesin school board reverses vote, won't close the school"
.
The Architect's Newspaper
. Retrieved
2020-03-07
.
- ^
Seltzer, Rick (March 6, 2020).
"Former Frank Lloyd Wright School Will Fight to Stay Open"
. Retrieved
March 6,
2020
.
- ^
Seltzer, Rick (11 March 2020).
"Leaders at the former Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture vow to fight for a future at Taliesin"
.
www.insidehighered.com
. Retrieved
2020-03-12
.
- ^
Karaim, Reed (11 March 2020).
"The Battle to Save the School of Architecture at Taliesin"
.
www.architectmagazine.com
. Retrieved
2020-03-12
.
- ^
"Manifesto ? Wash Magazine"
.
washmagazine.com
. Retrieved
2021-06-30
.
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