the america of frank

the hillside school at taliesin

frank lloyd wright was raised in wisconsin, and considered his family farm there home until his death in 1959. his very first building was, in fact, a commission for his aunts, who ran a school on the estate in 1889, if i am remembering correctly. called hillside, fllw rebuilt it several times, sometimes because of fires and sometimes just....because. it eventually passed into fllw's hands and became his school of architecture, and was repurposed to that effect. the school continues to operate to this day, as does the community that fllw built at taliesin. it functions as a self-sufficient community, with the students doing farm work and older architects mentoring and leading the operation, as well as bringing in commissions. it is run by a foundation, and some of the mentors, now in their 80s or as old as 97, knew fllw himself. we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so if you want to see some, find them on the internet. nearby is what is known as the romeo and juliet windmill, which he created in the 1890s as a working windmill to power the school. everyone thought it would blow down because of its strange and unconveniontial design, but it didn't. at least not until the 1990s, when it was torn down and rebuilt. even cypress only lasts so long in the wisconsin weather.

fllw built his own home surrounding the crown of a neighboring hill, almost in the shape of a c. technically the house is taliesin (tah-lee-es-zin), meaning 'shining brow' in welsh, but the name is also used to refer to the entire estate. the picture above is of the entryway, while the one to the left is of the garden leading up to the top of the hill and the wraparound of the building. he worked on this house almost continuously until his death in 1959, often expanding it or making way for such innovations as the automobile. the building also saw such tragedies as the murder of his true love along with her children and seven servants by another servant. the house also was subjected to two fires and was redone more than even hillside was. by the 1950s, he and his students were only living in taliesin in the summer months (i can't imagine trying to heat the thing), and they wintered at taliesin west in arizona.

for those of you who do not know anything about fllw, he was all about creating freedom with his buildings, as well as a connection with nature. he makes extensive use of continuous lines and large windows, which are particularly effective in the beautiful wisconsin landscape. he also employs such techniques as using the same rock floors inside and out, as well as contouring to the landscape--for example, having the roofs match the slant of the hills, or at hillside having the building literally descend with the hill. interestingly, he also does this somewhat strange (but effective) thing where he has a purposefully low ceiling at the entrance into a room (and i mean low--maybe 6 feet; apparently he was short), and then a much higher ceiling in the room proper to create a sense of tension and release. it is also quite effective is she in addition, he makes great use of indirect lighting, glass doors, and creatively placed windows to create great lighting. he wanted his architecture to be a gift to the american people, and i certainly think he succeeded.

while it was quite expensive, we really did enjoy our 2 hour tour. our guide was great--apparently besides being an expert on everything fllw and taliesin, she works on her family farm as well. the only thing which would have improved our experience would have been no rain at all (it rained, thankfully, only while we were inside) or for our host to have a stronger wisconsin accent. in the bookstore and on our tour we got to talking with this group of 4 older women from richmond. they were part of a book club who had read a couple books about fllw, and so had decided to go on a tour centered on him, going from chicago up to taliesin. they were a lot of fun--i was glad that we met them. on our way out of town we passed through spring green, where even the fire department, banks, and churches are all styled after fllw, pictured to the left. talk about an impact. after a couple of hours of driving through land that looked a lot like this (though taken at taliesin), we left wisconsin for minnesota.