Taliesin West, Original Dining Room, 12621 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS AZ-218-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Taliesin West Original Dining Room, part of Frank Lloyd Wright s initial design for his permanent desert camp facility, is part of Taliesin West s historic core that includes the Drafting Studio, Kitchen, and loggia (current dining room). Wright considered Taliesin West his living laboratory and, upon his fellowship s seasonal return to the desert, often initiated modifications or improvements to his work. Part of the Original Dining Room s significance is that it displays Wright s iterative approach and embodies the types of modifications Wright made to the campus in response to the evolving fellowship and the desert climate. Like the other original structures, the Original Dining Room has significantly changed over time and is currently used as a conference facility.

Description: The Original Dining Room is roughly rectangular in shape and protrudes from the historic core s west elevation into the landscaped patio prow . Like the rest of the campus, the Original Dining Room is constructed out of Wright s desert masonry method that, in keeping with his organic architecture ethos, utilizes stones and boulders gathered from the surrounding desert, and aggregate from the dry washes falling from the adjacent mountains. An open fireplace separating the dining room from the kitchen dominates the east internal elevation, and is flanked on both sides by built-in shelving.

To the left of the fireplace above the shelving is a hand painted abstraction of the Taliesin West campus by Wright s personal secretary, Eugene Masselink, who made similar contributions to other Wright projects, including the ornate gate doors at the Harold Price, Sr. House. The three other sides are constructed of battered desert masonry walls that rise approximately 5 feet to a thin glass clerestory. The clerestory is fit with thin custom wooden panels that can be shut to screen out light. Opposite the fireplace on the west side is a doorway closed by a set of double glass doors, which lead to a set of steps leading down into the landscaped patio. A glazed ceramic Japanese sculptural scene is embedded into the desert masonry wall at the landing where the staircase splits.

TALIESIN WEST, ORIGINAL DINING ROOM (Taliesin West, Boardroom) HABS No. AZ- 218-A (Page 2) The wood constructed roof is supported internally with two desert masonry piers and seemingly floats above the walls. Down the center of the roof following the room s long axis is an elevated section with opaque glass skylights and geometric detailing constructed in wood. The roof exterior is detailed with wooden dentils along the fascia. The west exterior elevation is detailed with two ornamental wooden icicle pendants hanging from the roofline. The pendants are hung on a set of wooden gimbals, which allow them to sway in the wind in four directions.

History: During the late through the end of World War II, Wright s fellowship numbered approximately 23 persons and the campus was designed to accommodate this small group. The dining room was originally open air, entirely enclosed by the desert masonry walls and accessed via the kitchen. The roof structure was based on four primary redwood beams, which spanned the room from the fireplace wall and extended in a cantilever beyond the opposite wall to form an exterior projecting roof. Canvas skylights on the roof moderated the light, and flaps inserted between the roof and masonry walls provided ventilation control. Prior to a small window with canvas flaps had been cut down through the first course of desert masonry in the west wall to create a vista out into the surrounding valley.

A wood shade hung from the cantilevered roof provided relief from the afternoon sun. Later, the window was cut down through the second desert masonry course to create a doorway. A set of bifurcated steps set behind a low desert masonry wall was built from the doorway out into the landscaped patio. Following World War II, the Taliesin Fellowship ballooned with students returning from the war and the loggia south of the kitchen was enlarged to serve as the new dining room. At this time Wright replaced the dining room s original roof with the current intricately detailed wooden roof system. The thin clerestory between the roof and walls was glazed in the late and the previously canvas covered skylights were set with opaque acrylic panels.

Also at this time, internal wooden roof supports were reconstructed in desert masonry. The Original Dining Room later served as the Wright s private dining room where they were able to host guests and entertain.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS AZ-218-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Besinger, C. Working With Mr. Wright. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge: United Kingdom. Futagawa, Y. & Pfeiffer, B. Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin West. EDITA Tokyo Co., Tokyo, Japan. TALIESIN WEST, ORIGINAL DINING ROOM (Taliesin West, Boardroom) HABS No. AZ- 218-A (Page 3)