Frank Lloyd Wright
Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in the Sonoran Desert
The studio--we weren't allowed in there
Entrance to his conference/office area
He used native stone, formed like concrete. His apprentices built the entire complex.
The ribbed look echoes the red rocks in nature.
Not many right angles. He used canvas shades and no glass at first.
The lawn and pool
The studio--where once there was canvas, now there is plexiglas.
The beams were originally redwood; now they're steel. He liked a very horizontal, low profile, fitting in with the desert.
Turn around and there's the desert behind you. He bought a lot of acres so he wouldn't see any civilization.
Hidden in the desert.
View from the edge.
Inside his living area
Not very comfortable chairs
Different ceiling heights gave the “compression--release” feel he wanted.
Garden outside his living room
Entry way into living room
Clare Booth Luce made this wall hanging for him.
A bedroom
Outside a bedroom
View toward the living room
His bedroom/study
Another bedroom. He and his apprentices slept in tents until they built some quarters.
Breezeway and pool outside his living quarters
His movie theater--he loved movies
Breezeway
He told the apprentices to work with their hands, so some became sculptors.
The dining room
Glass at the corners gave the feel of living out-of-doors.
Sculptures are everywhere
There's cool shade everywhere, in spite of being in a desert.
Flowers bedeck the terraces
Everywhere you look there's beauty
And color!
Great use of cacti and trees
In the Sculpture garden
His students were inspired--he never taught them directly; they just learned from doing.
The tents the students lived (and still live) in.
More sculptures
He got his start playing with Froebel blocks--he knew he wanted to be an architect from childhood.
The auditorium.
A saying for architects to live by.
Scenes from the early days--he loved musical soirees and banquets. He played the grand piano himself.
Cherokee red was his favorite color.
Chinese ceramics are placed throughout--here a dragon.
Inside the cabaret.
A moon gate at the entrance to the cabaret.
Another dragon
Chinese theatres in ceramics are set in the wall throughout.
Zhang Xiang ning hosted me in Phoenix.
She took me to see the cactus gardens at the Phoenician Hotel on Camelback Rd.
What a lovely way to landscape--with only rocks and cactus.
The hotel fits in subtly
Cacti are like sculptures
A seguaro cactus--royaly in the Sonoran Desert
So many kinds of cactus
They fit into the desert, especially in silhouette
I was here
The hotel isn't bad, either.
With Xiang ning at the Phoenician
The lobby
The pools
Sitting on the terrace
Dining al fresco on the terrace
Stroll around the grounds
A swim would be nice
There's a chair for us
The next time I'm in Phoenix, I'll stay here.
