2. INTRODUCTION
• Taliesin West was architect Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home
and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at
the age of 91. Today it is the main campus of the Frank Lloyd
Wright School of Architecture and houses the Frank Lloyd
Wright Foundation.
• The complex drew its name from Wright's summer home,
Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
CASE STUDY
TALIESIN WEST
4. FACT FILE
• Climate – dry and arid weather with a strong breeze.
• Temperature : over the course of a year, the temperature typically
varies from 6°c to 40°c and is rarely below 2°cor above 43°c.
• Avg. rainfall is below 100mm.
• Thunderstorms are the most severe precipitation observed during
45% of those days with precipitation.
• Solar power plant started in 2012 of 250 KW which reduce 50% of
electricity bills to generate 500 MWH per year.
• Campus Area : 251 Hectares/620 Acres
• Student strength: 20
• Faculty Strength: 20
• Offers only Masters program of 2-3 years.
CASE STUDY
TALIESIN WEST
5. CONCEPT
From the architect," Arizona needs its own
architecture… Arizona’s long, low, sweeping lines,
uptilting planes. Surface patterned after such
abstraction in line and color as find “realism” in the
patterns of the rattlesnake, the Gila monster, the
chameleon, and the saguaro, cholla or stag horn – or is
it the other way around—are inspiration enough.”
CASE STUDY
TALIESIN WEST
Taliesin West was built to coexist in harmony with its desert environment, using local
materials such as rocks and sand in the design of the structure and substance of the
desert that surrounds the entire complex by its structural diversity are combining into a
single complete.
14. CASE STUDY
TALIESIN WEST
Translucent canvas to act as a roof
later replaced by plastic because of
the intense wear from the Arizona sun
Natural light also played a major part in
the design
Someone sitting in the back row can
hear the lightest whisper from speaker
on stage.
Wright designed all the furniture
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15. MATERIALS
Redwood timber was used for
the ceiling beams and frames.
Rocks , desert sand and concrete
walls
White tarps used to cover the
roof and transformed into diffuse
light source
Steel and glass to make it more
durable construction
CASE STUDY
TALIESIN WEST
16. • THUNDERSTORMS• AREA AVAILABLE
FOR EXPANSION
•COLD AND DRY WEATHER
•VERY DIFFICULT TO
PRESERVE THE ORIGINAL
DESIGN
•NATURAL LIGHT AND
VENTILATION
•MOSTLY USED LOCALLY
FOUND MATERIALS
•FACILITY OF
APARTMENTS FOR BOTH
TEACHERS AND
STUDENTS
STRENGTH WEAKNESS
THREATOPPORTUNITY
