Taliesin West

In Phoenix, we got to tour Taliesin West, a complex designed by and built for Frank Lloyd Wright.

The walls were built with local stone. Just build a form, set in the stone so that the flat side faces out, and fill with concrete.



Here is a pathway.



Here is another view of that same pathway.



Here's a very interesting exterior wall.



Here is a view.



Rumor has it that one day Wright saw a light on Camelback Mountain (you can probably guess which one that is) and decided it was time to move. The neighbors were getting too close. But his wife said it's one thing to pull up stakes and start over in your seventies, and quite another in your eighties. And so she talked him into staying, but he closed up all the windows facing this direction. (I don't actually believe this story is true, but it's a fun story.)

Here's where that view is from.



Here's another nice little spot.



Here's a dining room. At that time, metal-framed chairs were rare.



Here is a gift.



Originally this is said to have been designed to spit water. But no self-respecting dragon would ever do such a thing. So it was retrofitted with gas so it could spew fire instead.

Here is an admired petroglyph moved to the site of Taliesin West.



The spiral-looking one was particularly admired. Our tour guide said he thought it looked like two hands clasping. He said this was the inspiration for the Taliesin West symbol, which you can see here.



Here is an entry way.



And the theatre inside, the last building here designed in Wright's lifetime.



And here is a sculpture.



Quote of the Day - One person read from the label on a bottle of fruit punch: "Contains 0% juice." Other person responds, "It's made of nothing but science."