The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin

The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture was founded by Frank Lloyd Wright nearly eighty years ago as an architecture apprenticeship program and has been accredited as a school of architecture since 1985. As one of the oldest and most experimental programs of its kind in the country, the Master of Architecture (M.Arch) program prepares students in advanced design, professional practice, and hands on application while immersing them in the communities Wright designed at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Taliesin West, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The School is at home in the historic sites of Taliesin and Taliesin West. Following the tradition started by Frank Lloyd Wright, students spend time at both locations, learning to build and design in diverse landscapes and architectural settings. Students spend seven months of the year at Taliesin West, located in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona and the remaining five month at Taliesin, in the rural surroundings of Spring Green, Wisconsin. While at Taliesin West, students have the opportunity to share in another tradition; designing and constructing desert shelters in which they live during their time in Arizona. The Wright-designed homes and campuses of Taliesin and Taliesin West, which each attract over 100,000 visitors a year, provide the perfect setting for an education based on Frank Lloyd Wrights buildings, theories, and the traditions in which he worked.

The mission of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is to be a place where students learn how to make a human-made environment that is more sustainable, open and beautiful. The School’s curriculum is based on the notion of learning by doing and experience through experimentation. The School trains the next generation of architect to be designers, thinkers and visionaries, but also fully formed citizens and human beings. The core faculty members are practicing architects, and thus bring to the learning environment not only the principles and methodology of architecture, but also real world experience.

Before new apprentices would arrive, Frank Lloyd Wright would famously tell them to bring four things: a drafting pencil, a hammer, a sleeping bag, and a tuxedo. The logic behind these requirements remains the same today: to learn by drawing, by making, by being there, and by being part of a civilized conversation about the past, present, and future of our culture. Students learn how to embrace and celebrate diverse cultures and customs while also developing the art and methods they need to explain their designs and converse with others. Once a month, students participate in Taliesin Evenings, which fills the campus with music, dance, and dialogue with members of the community. Students thus have the opportunity to meet with faculty and visitors both for formal education and for cultural and social events, participating in everything from making music to doing the dishes. The education at Taliesin is immersive, and offers the opportunity to work side by side with professors and former apprentices, participating in hands-on projects all day and into the evening. The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture also embodies Frank Lloyd Wright’s concepts of organic architecture; to build with the land rather than just upon it. The design process unfolds out of existing cultural and physical condition, materials and landscapes into well-crafted frameworks for human activities.