Taliesin West, Artist's house and studio in Scottsdale, United States
Taliesin West is a residence and architecture laboratory in Scottsdale, built in the Sonoran Desert at the base of the McDowell Mountains. The complex stretches across several low buildings connected together, housing workspace areas, living quarters, theaters, and communal rooms.
Wright first brought his apprentices to Arizona in 1935 and bought the McDowell Mountains site in 1937, after a doctor advised him to spend winters in the desert. The apprentices erected the first structures between 1938 and 1941, and Wright oversaw expansions during his lifetime. After his death in 1959 the fellowship kept modifying the buildings, and parts were renovated from the early 21st century.
The name Taliesin means "shining brow" in Welsh, and Wright reused it from his Wisconsin studio, where the house sat on a hilltop. Visitors can look for petroglyphs carved by the Hohokam on boulders in the complex; one showing a handshake became the site's logo.
Tours guide visitors through different parts of the compound and show how daylight enters the rooms through skylights and openings. Most areas sit at ground level and are reached by wide, sloping paths that follow the desert terrain.
The ceilings in many rooms are made of red canvas panels stretched between wooden beams, recalling the early tent roofs. Wright replaced these textiles regularly because they faded quickly in the hot sun.
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