Taliesin West, Garden Room, 12621 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale

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

The room is in Taliesin West, North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona. The building is located at UTM: Zone 12 Easting: Northing: Latitude Longitude Compass 79 . There is no restriction on its release to the public. Present Owner / Occupant: The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

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

The Garden Room at Taliesin West represents Frank Lloyd Wright s Organic Architectural ideologies and principles. Wright incorporates sustainable elements and features throughout the design in deference to the natural environment, inhabitants, and context. Wright and his apprentices built Taliesin West between a period often referred to as Wright s Second Golden Age. The Taliesin West complex is located within the arid, desert foothills of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona. It became Wright s winter home and the academic campus for his Taliesin Fellowship.1 The Garden Room was a large living room for the Wrights, opening onto an enclosed garden, and used for Fellowship social occasions as well.

The structure incorporates stones from the surrounding desert as exposed features of the concrete. Known as "desert masonry," the approach combined the structural benefits of concrete and the inherent aesthetic of desert materials. Historian Frederick Gutheim has written that "Tuned to nature within and nature without, man and architecture were all of a piece and never more vividly so than his own beloved places in Wisconsin and Arizona."2 The Wrights and the Fellowship inhabited Taliesin West between Thanksgiving and Easter of each year, continuing the construction of the complex through 1 Isabel Howard et al. HABS Taliesin West Cabaret HABS No. AZ-218-C. Library of Congress. July, 2 Frederick Guthiem, In the Cause of Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright, 10.

TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 2) By this time additional buildings had been completed including the Garden Room (in Wrights living quarters, Apprentice Court, and Guest Deck. Conceived as a as a living room for the Wrights, the Garden Room, became a shared space for Fellowship parties, music events, and conversation. The room connects to the Dining Cove through a glass door to the north. The latter space is smaller and more enclosed than the Garden Room, notwithstanding an expansive high ceiling near the large fireplace. It was an intimate dining space for the Wrights and their guests. The walls of the Garden Room and Dining Cove, like the other buildings on campus, were of desert masonry construction.

The floors were originally concrete covered with a rose-colored shag carpet; the current carpet is white. A roof of redwood frames and operable canvas panels similar to that in the Drafting Studio and Office slopes upward. The east side of the room opens onto a terrace and the Wrights private garden. The west wall of the room is lined with built-in benches covered with upholstered seat cushions and pillows. The room s south end originally had an opening that looked out to the valley and Camelback Mountain beyond that has since been enclosed. The grand piano originally located in the Drafting Studio was moved to the south end of the Garden Room and next to it stood Iovanna s harp, which was also later moved.

Throughout the room there are also small wooden hassocks with cushions for additional seating.3 In Wright had glass added to the clerestories on the east side of the Garden Room. In addition to the introduction of glass, the Garden Room was redecorated with new rugs and furnishings and many of the desert plants, such as the staghorn and prickly pear cacti, were removed and replaced with non-native plantings.4 The most recent addition to the displayed art, the Chinese Screen Painting, resides in the Dining Cove. Removed in the late due to its deteriorating condition, this fascinating multi-media, eight-panel screen depicting the birthday celebration of the Taoist immortal Queen Mother of the West was recently beautifully restored and reinstalled.

Many remodeling projects have been undertaken since the Garden Room was constructed in The southern end of the room has been fitted with a massive desert masonry fireplace, fixed glass clerestories offer views of the mountaintops, and the entire room has been enclosed by glass so that it may be mechanically heated and cooled throughout the year. Wright broke with traditional thinking on 3 Gunny Harboe, Preservation Master Plan, 24. 4 Harboe, 32. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 3) home design by introducing open-space concepts at a time when most homes were conceptualized as having spaces with clearly defined walls and purposes. Part of his "desert laboratory," he used the Garden Room as prototype for flexible spaces designed from their inception for multiple purposes.

The space was equally conducive for a formal evening event attended by seventy-five people or a conversation beside the fireplace for a more intimate gathering of two or three. As a complement to the architecture's angularity, origami lounge chairs were added in the early Dinner was served on small triangular tables placed together throughout the room. Concerts took place after dinner at the end of the room where there was a large piano, quartet stand, and harp.5 The massive redwood trusses that support the canvas overhead in the Office, Drafting Room, and Garden Room display the intentional geometric design concepts at work at Taliesin West. They cast shadows along their own lines as well as on the walls of stone and concrete terraces.

Wright avoided linear planning at Taliesin West, favoring slopes and prominent angles that reiterate the slopes and angles of the mountains in the surrounding desert.6 Historians: Crystal Wright, Benjamin J. Lee

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

Documentation of the Garden Room and the Dining Cove at Taliesin West was sponsored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and conducted by students in the School of Architecture + Planning at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Fieldwork was completed during the summer of and by Adam Perez, Arthur Longoria, Ashley Vasquez, Benjamin J. Lee, Crystal E. Wright, Doug P. Long, Erin A. Ramirez, Francisco Loredo, Isaac E. Knott, Jazmyne Knox, Karina D. Rosales, Mark Morin, Megan S. Reed, Samuel J. Alvarez, Taejoo Jeon, and Zhao (Stephanie) Xu. Final Drawings were completed during the summer of by Benjamin J. Lee, Crystal E. Wright, Doug P. Long, Isaac E. Knott, and Samuel J. Alvarez. Documentation was undertaken with Sue Ann Pemberton, FAIA, FAPT, as faculty supervisor.

5 Bruce Brooks Pfeifer, Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin West (Tokyo, Japan: ADA EDITA Tokyo Co. 24. 6 Harboe, 18. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 4) Part 1: Historical Information A. Physical History 1. Date of Primary Construction: Winter 2. Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, on June 8, After completing his first year and a half at The University of Wisconsin at Madison, he left the university to apprentice under the well-renowned Conover and Silsbee firm before becoming chief assistant to architect Louis Sullivan. In Wright left Sullivan to establish his own practice.

From Wright s initial work, defined as The Prairie Style, can be described as display[ing] a wide, low roof over continuous window bands that turned corners, defying the conventional boxlike structure of most houses, [while] the house s main rooms flowed together in an uninterrupted space. 7 After suffering several personal tragedies at Taliesin in Wisconsin, Wright met his third wife, Olgivanna Hinzenberg, in and the couple married in In Wright and Olgivanna established the Taliesin Fellowship, a community of apprentices and their families who lived, worked, and studied with Wright first at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and later at Taliesin West in Arizona.

The program provided a total learning environment integrating all aspects of the apprentices lives, with the intent of educating responsible, creative, and cultured human beings. Then, in after suffering a near-fatal bout with pneumonia, doctors recommended that Wright spend winters in a warmer, drier climate. He remembered his time working in Arizona and decided to look for a location for a home far from the harsh Wisconsin winters. His search led to the discovery of the location in Scottsdale, AZ. In he bought several hundred acres and founded Taliesin West as an experimental desert laboratory for architectural materials. Taliesin West became Wright s winter home, office, studio, and the winter location of the Taliesin Fellowship.

Wright continued to construct and alter buildings at Taliesin West while completing commissions for other architectural designs until his death on April 9, at 91. After his death, Wright s legacy was continued by Olgivanna and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.8 3. Original and subsequent owners, occupants, uses: The Garden Room was built as a living room for the Wrights, but it became a shared space for all the Fellowship, 7 Howard. 8 Howard. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 5) often hosting parties and formal evenings of lively music and stimulating conversation.

The Garden Room connected on the north side to the Wrights private living quarters.9 To the north was the Dining Cove with a large desert masonry fireplace, an intimate dining space for the Wrights and their dinner guests. Today the Garden Room and the Dining Cove are open to the public for tours and guests of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. 4. Builder, contractors, suppliers: Wright designed Taliesin West, with his apprentices completing most of the work. The apprentices acted as builders and contractors and served as suppliers when sand and boulders were collected from desert washes initially using hand tools. When the caliche groundcover proved too hard even for the young and eager apprentices, a bulldozer operator from Phoenix was hired to do the initial excavations.

A later account by apprentice Kamal Amin lists the Phoenix building material company, Entz White, as the primary source for cement, nails, canvas, and wood for casting concrete forms. Every part of Taliesin West bears Frank Lloyd Wright s personal touch. Upon every return after a summer in Wisconsin, Wright would grab a hammer and immediately make his way through the complex. He would walk through each room, make changes, or shout orders to apprentices closely following with wheelbarrows and tools."10 5. Original plans and constructions: The Garden Room was one of the first spaces Wright designed at Taliesin West.

Original plans were drafted out in the open desert on brown butcher paper with drawings that were more like schematic sketches than working construction drawings and provided minimal information for construction. 11 Due to this ad hoc initial design process, not much of the original plans outside of the designation for space of an open loggia is known. Little supporting documentation about the process of enclosing the loggia survives. 6. Alterations and additions: There were eleven years of use for the tiny theater and the small dining room. Following the end of the war, more apprentices began arriving from Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as the United States, increasing the Fellowship's enrollment from thirty-five to sixty.

As a first step toward enlarging the site, Wright intended to expand the existing small theater by digging behind the wall that runs from east to west along the pergola and walkway. The plan was abandoned in however, and Wright instead designed another theater facing north from the office terrace toward the McDowell Mountains. A larger dining room was created by 9 Pfeifer, 28. 10 Howard. 11 Harboe, 18. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 6) enclosing the large open loggia east of the kitchen. In the previous iteration, Mr. and Wright used to entertain clients and friends in a small, private dining cove.6 B. Historical Context The Garden Room is unique to Frank Lloyd Wright s style and Taliesin West; it is unlike any building in the world.

Wright is considered one of the greatest names in modern American architecture; scholars agree that Wright s architectural vision stands apart from all others. Wright differed from contemporary architects such as van der Rohe, Gropius and Le Corbusier by setting aside some of the stark minimalism of the era to develop the idea of Organic Architecture instead. In his mind, any building could be adapted to its site and built using the natural materials available in the area. The detail would come from the texture of the materials themselves, making the minimalism organic to the process. Taliesin West is a masterpiece of Organic Architecture. Each building is appropriately oriented to benefit from breezes, shade, and cross-ventilation.

Desert masonry construction melds colors and textures with the surrounding landscape, and Cherokee- Red paint, Wright s signature color, echoes the color of the desert floor. At Taliesin West, Wright developed a cultural environment for the Taliesin Fellowship that was as unique as the master architect himself. Wright insisted that a well-rounded experience for his students included musical performances in the evenings and on weekends. In addition, Wright expected students to work in the fields, tend the garden, mix the concrete, weave rugs, and cook meals. Each task taught valuable skills deemed relevant to the practice of architecture.1 The community activities set the Taliesin Fellowship apart from other architecture schools.

The Fellowship was a critical part of the design and academic communities intent upon creating a better environment for all inhabitants.12 Designed as a laboratory, workshop, and cultural space, Taliesin West has few parallels in American or international architecture. Wright was keenly aware of the unique desert camp he created. Taliesin West is as original as the Maya, he wrote to a friend in The desert compound continues to fascinate historians and visitors today.13 12 Howard. 13 Howard. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 7) Part II. Architectural Information A. General Statement 1. Architectural Character: Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings are unique in Modern Architecture, and the Garden Room is no exception.

Built as one of the first spaces at Taliesin West, it is a long desert masonry, wood, and steel structure adjoining the Dining Cove. 2. Condition of the fabric: The current state of the Garden Room is impacted by the building s role as a tourist site, its constant use, and the impact of the climate. As a tourist site, the building is included in year-round public tours and therefore receives consistent attention from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation staff. The Garden Room is frequently assessed for potential repairs by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation s preservation department. Gunny Harboe, FAIA, led the team at Harboe Architects, Chicago to create the Preservation Master Plan for Taliesin West in B. Description of Exterior 1.

Overall dimensions: The Garden Room is a one-story area of a one-story structure, measuring approximately 53 -5" x 29 -6" (not including the garden) within a larger building and adjoins the Dining Cove 23 -4" x 15 The overall shape of the building is rectangular with a number of notable protrusions. 2. Foundations: The foundation is concrete on hard caliche. 3. Walls: The poured masonry walls are a mixture of sand, Portland cement, and large, flat stone, often surrounded by small stones that Wright referred to as goose eggs'' collected from the surrounding desert. The combination of stone and concrete is known as desert masonry. 4. Structural system, framing: The structural system consists of load-bearing desert masonry walls and a combination of wood and steel framing. 5. Openings: a.

Doorways and doors: The Garden Room has three exterior doors. A large single pivot door measuring approximately 4 x 6 -3" is located at the main 14 Howard. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 8) entryway on the southeast side of the building. Adjacent to this entry are two 4 x 3 double doors that are kept locked. A trapezoidal exterior door approximately 7 -8" x 6 -3" on the northeast side of the building is built of plywood and was custom-designed to fit the irregularly shaped desert masonry door frame. An identical trapezoidal door opens into the Kitchen on the northwest side of the Dining Room. Besides the irregularly shaped entry, an interior door approximately 2 -8" x 6 opens into a cold storage pantry. b. Windows: There are no conventional windows.

Each wall is unique and has its own set of windows. On the south wall, there are glass panels with sloped mullions following the shading structure above. The west wall has small operable windows opening to a view of the Sunset Terrace. On the north wall there is a custom curtain wall extending from floor to ceiling. The former loggia on the east, looking into the garden, is also enclosed with a curtain wall that consists of ceiling to floor glazing with metal frames. On the east wall, there is also a row of clerestory windows sloping upward to meet a matching set of sloped skylights. In the Dining Cove, there is one curtain wall of glass facing Wright's bedroom.

By the fireplace, there is a raised ceiling that houses three skylights and a row of clerestory windows inset with metal perforated in a distinctive geometric pattern. 6. Roof: a. Shape and covering: The central roof of the Garden Room is sloped in a single direction. The seven structural fins project from and separate the fiberglass panels in a stepped-down manner across the roof. The entrance and the Dining Cove both have flat roofs. The entrance has an elongated pentagon skylight and the roof above the clerestory is elevated to accommodate the windows. The roof above the south end of the Garden Room is separate from the fiberglass roof. This roof slopes towards the south and abuts the main roof along perpendicular lines.

The roof above the enclosed loggia angles in the opposite direction from central roof. b. Eaves/exterior decorative features and trim: The Garden Room, along with other buildings on site, features decorative wooden dentals that cast a pattern of linear shadows from the roofline. C. Description of the Interior 1. Floor Plans: The Garden Room is a single-story open space. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 9) 2. Flooring: The Garden Room has a concrete floor covered by carpet. 3. Wall and Ceiling Finish: The walls are desert masonry (concrete with locally found stones and rubble) and metal framed glazing along the northern and eastern exterior walls.

The ceiling is made of exposed steel beams painted Cherokee red, cloth-covered panels, and acrylic panels over the lighting fixtures with wood trim. 4. Mechanical Equipment: a. Heating, air conditioning, ventilation: The desert masonry materials absorb heat from the sun during the day and radiate heat at night, creating a passive heating and cooling system. Air conditioning was introduced in the mid-1960s when the canvas panels were replaced with fiberglass. The glazed panels on the north side of the corridor open to allow ventilation from prevailing winds. b. Lighting: Lighting includes eight custom box-like ceiling-mounted fixtures by the glazed northeast wall with three more in the mail room. In addition, there are two rows of recessed lighting extended along the long side of the space.

The recessed lights are covered with a white acrylic panel and wood fins. c. Original furniture: Originally, when the area was a loggia, it was set up with looms for weaving, but later long tables with bench seating were added and it became an outdoor dining space. 15 When the loggia became the enclosed dining room, the furniture was changed to different tables with chair seating. D. Site 1. Historic Landscape design: The entire complex of Taliesin West was designed with a precise configuration that Wright meticulously followed as each building was constructed. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer recounts, Taliesin West was [ ] planned [ ] as one opus set on concrete terraces and surrounded by massive low masonry walls.

Wright cared very much that the site and its relation to the mountain range to the north dictated the orientation of the plan. According to Pfeiffer, No building, if Mr. Wright could help it, was ever placed on a direct north-south axis. 16 15 Harboe, 24. 16 Howard. TALIESIN WEST, GARDEN ROOM HABS No. AZ-218-G (Page 10) 2. Outbuildings: There are no original outbuildings. The Dining Room is currently attached to the main Kitchen on its northwest side. Part III. Sources of Information A.

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

Besinger, Curtis. Working With Mr. Wright: What It Was Like. New York: Cambridge University Press, Guthiem, Frederick. In the Cause of Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright. Architectural Record Books, Harboe, Gunny. Preservation Master Plan. Chicago: Harboe Architects, Howard, I., Hillin, G., Lazaro, N., & McCormick, L. HABS Taliesin West Cabaret HABS No. AZ-218-C. Library of Congress, Pfeifer, Bruce Brooks. Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin West. Tokyo, Japan: ADA EDITA Tokyo Co. Stoller, Ezra. Frank Lloyd Wright s Taliesin West. Princeton Architectural Press, 2. Likely Sources Not Yet Investigated: Additional accounts from apprentices could provide relevant information regarding details of construction, building supply information, or more detailed timelines of changes to the Dining Room.

Fellowship member Indira Berndston, Administrator of Historic Studies, Collections and Exhibition, has conducted numerous oral interviews with former apprentices over the last 30 years. Additional research into her files could yield supplemental information.