The front of Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo credit Andrew Pielage_copyright Frank Lloyd … [+]
@2016 Andrew Pielage
The School of Architecture at Taliesen has announced that the school, founded by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1932, will close at the end of the spring semester in June.
The announcement follows a period of uncertainly during which the school has struggled with issues of accreditation and financial solvency.
Discussions between leaders of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and School of Architecture at Taliesen, two separate entities, communicated unequivocally to the Foundation that the School did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operation as an accredited program. As a result, leaders of the boards of the two organizations had developed a proposal that would have allowed the school to continue operations on the Foundation’s two campuses in Spring Green, Wisconsin and Scottsdale, Arizona — use of which was donated to SoAT by the Foundation since it became an independent organization — through the end of July, 2021. During that transition period, the organizations would have worked collaboratively to develop alternative programs for which accreditation was not needed.
“The Foundation had reached an agreement with the leaders of the SoAT Board that would have allowed for second- and third-year students to complete their education at Taliesin and Taliesin West, and we are disappointed that it was not approved by the full SoAT Board. We continue to stand ready to assist in making sure that this change occurs in the best interests of the students,” said Stuart Graff, President and CEO of the Foundation.
The acclaimed architecture school, established in 1932 by Frank Lloyd Wright, was integral to his vision. Architecture students from across the world have studied at the school, previously named the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. It was renamed in 2017. Students split their time between Wright’s retreats housed at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona and Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
The School of Architecture at Taliesin has been a pillar both in the architecture world as well as Arizona and Wisconsin where Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife Olgivanna invited architecture students to live and work with them and immerse themselves in ‘organic architecture.’ That immersion evolved into the architecture school whose alumni have worked on important Frank Lloyd Wright designs including Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum.
“In light of the SoAT announcement, the Foundation will maintain and expand its impact on the field of architecture and design by advancing Wright’s legacy through its educational programs, K-12 through adult ongoing education,” the Foundation stated in a press release.
“The Foundation wants to ensure that it has the ability to work with a variety of partners to develop professional education programs for architects, preservation specialists and design professionals that will keep the Taliesin campuses vital places for the development of organic architecture in the future.”