The School of Architecture at Taliesin

The School of Architecture is a private, graduate school of architecture. The school focuses on the organic architecture design philosophy of Frank Lloyd Wright.[1] It was located at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona and Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, but in 2020 announced a move to Cosanti in Arizona.[2]

The School of Architecture
TypePrivate Architecture school
Established2017, 4 years ago
PresidentChris Lasch
Location
Scottsdale
,
Arizona
,
United States

33°34′01.8″N 111°56′31″W
Websitehttps://theschoolofarchitecture.edu/

Prior to the formation of the school as an accredited program in 1986, Wright’s apprentices worked on important Wright projects including the Johnson Wax Headquarters, Fallingwater, and Guggenheim Museum; later they worked on Monona Terrace.

The apprenticeship program evolved into the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, which was established in response to changing licensing requirements for architects, particularly the requirement to graduate from an accredited institution prior to sitting for the Architect Registration Examination. Many questions have been raised about the decision to create an accredited architecture school from Wright's apprenticeship program, given his antipathy for architecture schools--"Beware of architectural schools except as the exponent of engineering."[3] In 2017, the school changed its name to The School of Architecture at Taliesin, and in 2020 changed its name to The School of Architecture.[4]

Academics

The school offers a three-year, project-based Master of Architecture degree, with a focus on organic architecture. The school is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and the Higher Learning Commission.

2020 financial challenges

On January 28, 2020, the school announced that it would cease operations on both campuses and close by June 2020.[5][6][7] According to this announcement, the school's governing board determined that "the School did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operation as an accredited program."[8] This announcement followed the failure of discussions between the board and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation about the creation of new, non-accredited educational programs.[7] At the time of the announcement, the school indicated they were negotiating an agreement for the 30 currently enrolled students to transfer to The Design School at ASU's Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.[7][8]

The planned closure followed a 2014 challenge to the school's accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission on the grounds that the accredited institution was not governed independently of its funding organization, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.[9][10] The school maintained its accreditation through the 2020 closure announcement by establishing itself as an independent entity.[8][11][4][12] Subsequently, students, alumni and staff clashed over proposed partnerships with other institutions and the school suffered financial difficulties.[13] It was reported that prior to the closure announcement, the school and the foundation were in talks to develop alternative educational programming that did not require accreditation.[7] According to the foundation, the proposals that emerged from these discussions were not approved by the school's board.[8]

Six weeks after announcing the pending closure, the school's board of directors reversed course and announced that the school had received new funding and was financially viable.[14][15] However, the agreement between the Foundation and School expired by its own terms on July 31, 2020.[16] As of March 11, 2020, the school board expressed its intention to continue school operations and reopened admissions, despite no resolution with the Foundation being reached at that time.[17][18]

References
  1. https://theschoolofarchitecture.edu/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Exclusive: School of Architecture at Taliesin will change its name, move to Cosanti". The Architects Newspaper. 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  3. Wright, Frank Lloyd (1931). Two Lectures on Architecture. p. 61.
  4. Messner, Matthew (2017-04-25). "Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will change its name". The Architects Newspaper. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  5. Hsieh, Steven (2020-01-28). "Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Architecture School Is Shutting Down". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  6. Greenberger, Alex (2020-01-28). "Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin School of Architecture to Close After 88 Years". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  7. Franklin, Sydney (2020-01-28). "Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close". Archpaper.com. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  8. Longhi, Lorraine (2020-01-28). "Frank Lloyd Wright's school of architecture at Taliesin West in Scottsdale to close after 88 years". azcentral. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  9. Haller, Sonja (2014-08-21). "Frank Lloyd Wright School faces accreditation loss". azcentral. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  10. Haller, Sonja (2014-08-28). "Tensions mount at Frank Lloyd Wright architecture school". azcentral. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  11. Messner, Matthew (2017-03-10). "Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will keep accreditation". Archpaper.com. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  12. Wachs, Audrey (2015-12-28). "The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is $2 million closer to independent incorporation". Archpaper.com. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  13. Haller, Sonja (2015-08-07). "Frank Lloyd Wright school's future in jeopardy". azcentral. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  14. Barr, Greg (March 6, 2020). "Frank Lloyd Wright architecture school board reverses decision to close down". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  15. Hilburg, Jonathan (2020-03-05). "Taliesin school board reverses vote, won't close the school". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  16. Seltzer, Rick (March 6, 2020). "Former Frank Lloyd Wright School Will Fight to Stay Open". Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  17. Seltzer, Rick (11 March 2020). "Leaders at the former Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture vow to fight for a future at Taliesin". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  18. Karaim, Reed (11 March 2020). "The Battle to Save the School of Architecture at Taliesin". www.architectmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
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