Frank Lloyd Wright's Winter Home, Taliesen West, where he and apprentices would spend winter months
The focal point of FLWs architecture is in blending with the environment, and he uses as many materials from surroundings as possible.
FLW has an appreciation for asian art and culture--this is an actual ancient chinese artifact--he has four of them scattered throughout the property.
This chimney uses a "cantilever" architectural style
this is the room where FLW would show clients his designs--as you can see, there is plenty of natural light and the table is at a custom height to allow you to look from a birds eye view at the design.
The ceiling to this room used to be canvas. when they closed shop at the end of the winter, they'd simply roll up the canvas and leave the room exposed to the elements...
you can imagine the clean up that would have to be done at the beginning of each winter season
look at the geometry in the grass and pool...it's hard to imagine what it's like until you're there
after a big fire that started in the kitchen during which many designs were lost to the fire, the pool was added as a potential water source for extingishing fires
rocks act as sculptures and tie the property farther into its surroundings
there's another of the chinese tiles...
I think my hat's geometry blends in well.
standing in the shade--it was very hot that day...
The sculptures in the photos are by the resident artist
the saguaro cactus is native to this area and can only be found in Arizona. Despite their appearance--they actually weigh tons and will crush you if an arm falls on you.
here's another of those tiles
mike catching a breeze in the breezeway
the chairs and furniture were designed by FLW or apprentices and are very ergonomically correct
They would give formal concerts in here, hence the extensive seating and piano
lovely knick knacks, which unfortunately you can't see very clearly
more seating area...people would be in formal dress
what a great life.
more knick knacks
the red tile in the picture is a tile which means integrity--PLW will embed them on sites architectural sites which were built according to his plan.
it was really hot outside--you can't tell from these pictures. Doesn't that water look nice?
check out the dragon sculpture on the right--asian influence
the flowers were much more vibrant in person....it seemed as though they were flaming in the sun
performance hall, where the apprentices performed concerts, dance
a supposedly perfectly ergonomic music stand for quartets--designed by FLW, only 8 in existence
perfect acoustics in this smaller theater. during the tour, an audience member was invited to play the piano--you could hear it perfectly through the entire room
mike by some peaceful asian-looking statues
contrast in colors btwn flowers, stone, tree, water was pretty hard to capture with camera
ahhh..the open road. on the way to grand canyon.
we got there, literally just in time for sunset
don't jump!
we got up at the crack of dawn to take a hike down into the canyon
before long, it was fully sunny
didn't want to get too close to the edge!
I was slightly disgruntled because of the abundant manure on the road
thinking about the dive
ok, I'm gonna go for it.
you don't see this in california
majestic view of nature
look, that's mike down there
makes you feel small in the grand scheme of things.
the dry riverbed
i like high places
you can take a ride on a donkey train down there, to stay at the ghost ranch.
the light was better this way, but the scenery not as nice.
it's all about the jlo shades
if you look reeeal closely, you can see the people zig-zagging up the mountain
sideways view
the canyon is humungous
elk!
they are not scared because they have never been hunted in these parks..
view from the fire watchtower - some person's *job* is to hang out up here, watch for smoke, and read books and stuff--lucky!
and more elk!
why did the elk cross the road?
reallly good shot of an elk
even better--look at those horns
one last view of red rock...on the way home!
