Survivalist tiny dorms at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin architecture school
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- Опубликовано: 26 окт 2014
- Since Frank Lloyd Wright began building Taliesin West- his winter home and school in the desert-, students have been living in canvas tents as an alternative dorm. It was direct study of nature and the land, both important elements of Wright’s organic architecture.
Today the Shelter Program has evolved and students can design and build more complicated structures (they’re given a $1000 stipend and encouraged to raise more), but the small shelters continue to be off-grid, unplumbed, and often without walls. This direct contact with the desert helps students confront just what is needed to provide shelter. “To me an architect is a man who,” wrote Wright in his autobiography, “knows the secrets of nature and studies them, is informed by them and comes out stronger with knowledge.”
Stephanie Schull, director of academic affairs at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, gave us a tour of a few of the 60 odd shelters (Note: We appreciate her giving us an impromptu tour and want to make clear that the opinions she gave during the interview were her opinions and not part of any school philosophy).
Taliesin Shelter Program www.taliesin.edu/sheltersmain....
Original story: faircompanies.com/videos/view/... 
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Kirsten, I just want to say you are a great documentary filmmaker. I really appreciate the way you let people tell their stories without nifty editing or cutting people off. It really allows us to feel like we are part of the experience. I've been watching for 1 or 2 years now and have never actually commented. So, thanks for all your hard work.
Just did a full tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin house and I may say absolutely no disappointments!!!.
What amazing architecture !!!.
Such a wonderful tour and a great time we had .
Sipping tea at the little cafe in the warm spring Arizona weather overlooking such a beautiful amazing structures and Landscaping was probably one of the most impressive memories I will ever have .
What a great staff too !!!.
A++++
Thanks for covering this! I took a tour of Taliesin West 20 yrs ago--and many other FLW buildsI didn't get to see the students "quarters". AWESOME! perfect!
THANK YOU!
For each student of architecture this is an experience of a lifetime.
Love the story behind the suspended tent ~ it's sort of the ultimate in passive-aggressive architecture. : )
In my head i am hearing the B52s sing 'Love shack' 😉
Many of the commenters seem angry about what they perceive as the impracticality of the structures. But these buildings are student exercises. The point of living in them is learning from them. And sometimes the seemingly obvious modifications we make distract us from bigger issues. These buildings are intellectual exercises, they encourage THINKING.
My question is, what's with all the concrete? Hello! Adobe! Even the folks at Arcosanti will tell you about the thermal failings of concrete in a desert. (Kirsten, you did go to Arcosanti? If you didn't yet, DO!)
The biggest problem with doing adobe at Taliesin West is that there is very little soil. There is much more sand and rocks, which makes concrete much more practical in this setting because you just have to add in lyme and water. Otherwise, you would have to truck in loads of dirt to make the adobe. Both Cosanti and Arcosanti have much more soil at their sites, which allows them to utilize it as a building material.
RistPhoto I didn't think they did much adobe at Arcosanti, I thought the deal there was concrete.
I don't know much about the logistics of building with concrete. I was thinking about the thermal aspects of the material. I would have thought you'd have to haul in more materials for concrete. Live & learn. Thanks!
Not now. The desert environment is too fragile to have generations of students raiding it for materials.
They could be so much more than 'good intentions' if people started to vote Libertarian. Let property rights prevail, and get rid of old archaic building codes that allow the government and their friends to monopolize.
Ellen Bulger - i don’t need some bullshit explanation again... this broad already covered it.
years ago one of my children were one of these students .I still love listening to her stories out there.
I would have LOVE to attend, Kristen I read today, Talisien was closed, and the school was moved. I thank you so much for having done this piece for eternity. Give it the value it deserves.
I lived 5 miles away. I made friends with a "few rattle snakes". I spent many winter nights sleeping on my porch looking across the valley at Taliesin West. I love the Desert. It takes time to adjust to the nothiness and then you realise the significant eco stystms at work.
LOL, all I could think about while watching this video!!!! Coyotes, lizards, rattlesnakes!!!!. What a freaking nightmare😰
Robin Bradley ha ha ha!
@@robinbradley2229 Nah. What an exciting opportunity to meet other beings with whom we share the planet. I did an 11 day sojourn in the desert in 2018 in Aravaipa Canyon. It was wonderful. Slept in my sleeping bag on the ground partially under a tarp suspended from low lying trees and rocks.
uscgalpha91 I own property nearby as well. The wild horses wander up from the Verde river and graze across my land. Little lizards come right up to me and then do funny little pushups to get my attention. Rattle snakes stretch out straight to sun themselves and I accidentally walk over them thinking they are sticks. In winter, bright red Gogi berries grow on the desert bushes surrounding my property for as far as the eyes can see. The wash runs through my property like a raging river during a monsoon. Yes, it’s magical out there.
D. Mills have you seen snakes hypnotized by the sun?
Huge F.L.W. fan / follower... this was an amazing journey, I did not want the video to end...
I designed my own home 1200 sq ft. Using a lot of FLW styles in northern Arizona. Blending in with the nature and the environment.
We enjoyed a tour of TALIESIN West a couple of years ago but I remember no mention of the student built accommodations. Very cool.
I attended FLLW for nearly 4 years and preferred to live in the desert shelters than the rooms they had available. Until you experience what that's like, you really can't have a valid opinion, just merely a vapid observation. I recognized a lot of the older structures and remember the friends that had worked on them. I never had a problem with scorpions or rattlesnakes.
would really like to see a more detailed tour of the shelters themselves with insights into how they were constructed
Some of these shelters are quite inspiring to see. Thank you for sharing these videos with us!
Absolutely captivating. Thank you for posting. I am richer for having seen your video.
Love the philosophy in this method of teaching: ingrained into the student what is truly needed in a shelter or home.
"our walls can trap things in".
Funny. That's how I feel about my mortgage.
Andrew Krause How are Scorpions like Houdini? Both can get into or out of anything anytime they want. Walls don't stop them.
I love my Arizona home but, after 25 years, I just want out of the mortgage cycle.
That’s how I feel about our country, right now. Even the world, some days. Where can we go to get away from oppression and strife? Poisons and cancers? Huge egos and oligarchs?!
Linda Cianchetti my thoughts the past three years, exactly. I’m always searching for a way off the hamster wheel.
Andrew Krause . I call it debt slavery. I have been living in my minivan while saving for a tiny cheap bit of land. Then save for a tiny cheap house. I love my minivan
This is one of my favorite of your videos Kirsten - many favorites really. I like the pause for what the evening turned into. Would add some of the souls who lived there - but you can always do a sequel.
I just want to thank you for making such a good archive of this work. It's very hard to find in the internet, so thank you.
Thanks you both (Kristen Dirksen for the uploaded vid and also to Stephanie Schull for her time). The place reminds me of the outside of my hometown (there are no much deserts in all Europe, btw). Very interesting vid, as usual. :)
is there any footage of when the students are actually living in the dorms? I would love to here what they have to say and what the think after there stay.
Wonderful, the openness let’s you take a big breath,
Breathe in the sky, it feels endless. Ahaaa
Serenity
Thanks for the look at Frank "Lord" Wright's school dorms. He has been a hero to me because of his genius in Architecture and all parts design. When l was studying him in school, he amazed me with all the work he compleated. In the mid West we have many of his Prairie Houses dotting our cities, Chicago has the most. Thanks for a view at rustic FLW school in the desert.
Enjoyed this. Thanks. Oh Yes, I’ll bet cold and desert poisonous critters are real problem. McDowell mountain range is the scorpion capital of the world. I lived in the other side of them in Fountain Hills and we had everything imaginable in our yard. It sure is pretty there however. Cheers!
Astonished at the negative comments below. Thank you for this video. I will watch it again.
i miss AZ.
the smell of the desert when it rains, the sound of the rocks under my feet........ i do really miss AZ.
the only thing i dont miss is the 120 degree summers !!!
The comment section astounds me here. People aren't getting what the lady said, that the concept of living with less was meant to teach the students about what is needed vs what is wanted in design.
Yeah once I heard her say that's what it was for, I was like "Ohhhh I see now." And really, you learn the most from actual action and experience.
+Anon Y. Mous ha ha ... What isn't a cult these days?
noone needs shit, and everyone shall STOP commenting on this! Getting notified months later is ridiculous stop scrimmaging. Have a good day! whatthe%^&*
So much of a persons opinion is shaped by the bias of his or her own experiences and expectations. It is quite common and effortless to perceive the inefficiencies or waste, the flaws and the shortcomings of others. It is much more difficult and admirable to undertake and complete something of one's own.
I did not know the connection between FLW and Gurdjieff. FLW himself was known to be quite egotistical and abusive. Calling Gurdjieff's school a mind control cult brings up the wrong image. It wasn't that Gurdjieff was trying to control his students' thinking for them, he was trying to get them to wake up and control their own minds. We all get into habituated thought patterns, ruts that lead our minds around in circles. Gurdjieff tried to help his students recognize when they were in such a rut and break out.
I love those structures. This is the best way to teach students about architecture and how it affects the earth and nature around it. I would love to see some designs in use after learning from this school's curriculum.
I would have done anything to go to a school like this!
Awesome
+Papa Mac you still can.
Just wonder into the desert and you are there.
Sophia A. I laughed much harder than I should have at that comment.
Kirsten I very much enjoy your videos and I think for me this was one of the best I've seen. Thank you for what you do, you are enriching the experiences of people all over the internet 😀
Shelter tours are resuming for the winter season on November 1st, 2014 and occur every Saturday until May. The tours are led by students who actually live in these shelters and have personal accounts of their time spent in them.
Thanks so much Kirsten. This was a delight. Your film making style really conveys a sense of place.
Exceptional share of various values for thought, learning, understanding, experiencing.
Appreciate the share.
I'm from this area and the desert is nowhere near as fragile as this lady suggests, one good rain and you'll see an amazing amount of growth within a week, to the point you won't even recognize it. As for these structures, I see this as a architectual concept Proving Ground kind of thing.
Ok sir thanks for letting us know
You have to have a liberal bent to understand how fragile it is and how bad humans are.
@@TheChadWork2001 fragile like every other landscape I guess, but it's not going to all go away if you touch it. I lived near Joshua Tree for 3 years. It's adapted to flash floods, hellacious wind storms, and occasional snow. Humans, obviously, aren't good for the environment. Like hades said, it rained for about 2 days straight, and about a week later, it was the greenest I'd ever seen. It was amazing. Then it got back up to 100F and burned all the humidity out, that was not amazing.
@@TheChadWork2001 Lol 👍
Beautiful way to live. Exactly the way I'd want to at least. I don't want to live in an apartment or house. I want to live in nature.
An amazing a place to visit, well worth the trip. Apparently he didn't have windows in the house until his wife got sick of the critters turning up in the bedroom etc, plus only one bathroom - for him!
That suspended tent doubles as a solar oven during the day.
Currently at the student campus and it’s incredibly insightful to see in person! Thank you for the great content
Wow. Published on October 27th - One day ago and already almost 14k views. I live in Chandler (a little south of Scottsdale) and just said to myself two days ago that I HAVE to make it out there. It's a crime that I haven't been there yet. 'Really enjoyed the video. 'Very interesting to see how people might live under these circumstances. 'Enjoyed the little tidbits of history.
Always have loved FLW's work. Even in furniture! Always bigger than the parts. Intuitive.
Thanks so much x the video. Owesome. im from Paraguay. El sur también existe
This is the the essence of the why of good architecture. Build only the shelter you need and keep the aesthetics. Sight lines, one with the environment, having the structure feel like it belongs there are all great qualities. And this was the laboratory to nurture this kind of thinking. Great story. My cousin attended Taliesin, I think. It was long ago in the 70's. I remember him going out to the desert to go to a type of architecture school. When he came back, he built a passive solar home for my grandparents in Hysperia, CA. It was a very cool house, and I just loved it. I didn't truly appreciate it at the time, it just felt right. Now years later when I have tapped into my own sense of place and being, I appreciate it even more. Love your content. Keep it up. BTW what do you shoot it with and ever consider a monopod or tripod? Just a thought.
Kirsten, I'm so glad you've covered this story! One of the least known incredible design stories ever.
I've watched this 3 times...I could watch it again! Great tour, please do another!
Absolutely outstanding. Love Wright, Taliesin, and the educational thought process required in building and surviving in a desert tiny dorm.
Thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
Thanks for documenting so many amazing places around the planet
In high school I took a Humanities class & was taken out there on a field trip. Of course, I didn't appreciate it like I should have. So it was nice to see this. Very cool!
I love the Structure at 6:00 because it's really reminds me a lot of the Jacob's House and Falling Water combined. By far two of my favorite FLW homes.
Excellent video. I visited here a few years back and loved the environment FLW created. A great architect.
I liked the way you narrated the Art School of Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, it was really AWESOME! It REALLY amazed me how many of the different types of tiny dorms that some of the students made from October til May through the years. Then the school gives the students $1000 plus have to get grant money, asking other people for money or by asking in your community for help that's just that is really interesting. I guess you really have to have a gift, a knack, and the know how. I imagine this is how its done: First, you write for grants. Second, how to ask people for money. Then third, how to ask people in your community for things you need so you can use it advantage, which what your trying to accomplish for your tiny dorm architecture.
Course, I been poor all my life, so I don't know to ask for help when I needed it maybe that's why. Maybe that's why I am strughling now in school and running out of my money and I need to finish and don't know how to write for my scholarships, but when do I write for them I have gotten any responses. I guess there is a special way in getting them. But, I don't know the secret.
Yes, by all means, don't go out and work for the money. Get Uncle Sugar or stand at an intersection with a beggars sign.
i love this! its for corageous people, for those who liberated their minds from material to live and discover their wings! thank u!
HristosIisusEdomnul I'm sorry but I must disagree. You should see some of the crap this guy designed and stuck the taxpayers of Arizona with.
Loved that you talked about broad acre people don't even know he designed a whole city an the little farmhouse designs in the moma
I like the way you described that issue,Stephanie,you are charming,thank you
Used to ride my bike as a teenager 15 miles to Taliesin to hang out there. great memories.
I enjoyed my visit to Taliesin West !! I have been to Scotttsdale 12 or so times..
Very impressed with Ms. Schull's narration and the video. Felt like I was there.
Love this one. Thank you KD.
Thanks for making this video, I remember I saw some photos of some of these shelters and I thought they were the coolest things ever and I wanted to know more about them and why they were made etc. Very interesting and cool.
i LOVE this video -- i only wish *I* had had such materials when *I* had been at Taliesin West when i was a sophomore... THANK YOU!!!
Mind.Blown......that must be an amazing program
Historic Place. Great tour of the student builds !
reminds me of on walden pond and what is needed to shelter the inner warmth and what is superfluous and will on serve to way you down.
Seeing places like this are fascinating to visit. I grew up in Wisconsin where there are a few locations like the school in West Allis. House On The Rock is a sight to see built by Alex Jordan Jr. Both are great Architects!
This video proves to me that there are crazy architects just like how there are crazy artists.
I've followed architecture for a long time and this video changed my thinking about it, great video, thank you!
When I spent a cold winter building my building in 1976 with three feet of snow outside for three months, whenever I went to the diner down the highway, I just had this great appreciation of civilization ! No more of that shit if I can help it ! I SAID TO MYSELF ! George Wu, AIA, ARCHITECT. NCARB 2016-3-27
Living in a Frank Lloyd Wright home as I do you have to understand his thinking he was a genius so much thought went into the home the students are getting the feeling that living in a unspoiled nature
You are probably a rich person?
LOVE it! We showcase one of these in my upcoming book "Micro Shelters"
Read voraciously all I could about FLY and the great video documentaries. My connection is where he started with the Prairie Style and visiting his home in Oak Park in my early 20's. The combination of our life experiences make us who we are. The being part of the earth philosophy appears to be an evolution re: not harming the desert. To me, although the buildings make every effort to be part of the land they do stand in contrast. Intellect, problem solving, and thought integrating who I am with the planet I live on. Thanks for this video which I found accidentally. LOL!
I feel like they could've at least tried a more water resistant tarp
Jochen Walther replied to a comment 4 years ago to say they oiled it sometimes but it doesn't rain enough for it to be much of a problem.
I liked this video. The landscapes, the hanging tent, it would be something different to experience. The desert landscape was just gorgeous.
Is this just a masters program?
I'm an undergrad architecture student at the moment. This is something I'd love.
I really like the philosophy of building to compliment nature.
I am a glazier. Hows school goin?
Just go camping my man
Are they not allowed to oil or wax that canvas? Seems like a fairly simple way to make it waterproof without deterioration of the material.
+Stephanie Hosking yes, we oiled it sometimes, but it really doesn't rain that much in Arizona so it's not much of a problem.
Its a good thing that school is out during the monsoon storms of the summer. You might be surprised at how much water pours out of the sky during the monsoon season in southern Arizona !.
No, not surprised. I have been living in Arizona for 20 years.
Stephanie, that would destroy the flavor.
@@1995Jochen are you an architect?
🤔 Epic statement at 12:35 she said "...students say the scorpions get in and can't find their way out, which is why a lot of students prefer the ones without walls. Our walls can trap things in as opposed to keeping things out..." Sounds a lot like us people too. 🤔 😉
19:28 "we're nomads, right?"
19:59 "the sunrises & sunsets are life confirming". This is exactly why I will size down my 3,000 sq ft sticks & bricks...I've been asleep..but I'm awake now...the world will be my home & yard. 😃🌈☀️
Loving Atlanta, I agree.
Love the plant community there
Wright (and his activities) was actually directly responsible for preserving large portions of the Sonora. He and the school fought for protective legislation. It's pure joy visiting those areas.
What an interesting video, articulately narrarated. Gracias!
The suspended tent designer's girlfriend was all, "You better get me up off the desert floor!" and it was so. Later she was all, "You better not design hosepitals in autocad for $29,000 a year!" And he was all, "Okay I'll design modern custom homes for $1,700 a year until I get a foothold, bitch." And she was all, "Build me my dream home right now!" And he designed a tent that was suspended over a cliff. One that wasn't over-engineered like the one shown here.
@Barb Mulvaney take your meds barb.
LMAO So when are you two getting married and gonna give us some more critters? J/K
Right on!
Inspiring. Like your channel a lot.
Ok I gotta get off at the hanging bed... that is an enormous amount of steel and effort for minimal effect. Pretty much sums up all the pitfalls of such hubris...
I love it! this video is very special, thank you!
That was wonderful, thankyou.
I found this very interesting. Thank you.
Outstanding. Thank you
We know we are trapped by walls, same as any living creature. But the world isnt as nice as it is in our daydreams so blending security, safety and freedom is why I ever studied design. I may never find the answer.
I love your video just BEAUTIFUL 😆 thank you for the Adventures
i would love that! its like building forts but with more dexterity and better materials.
Fantastic. Superb. Wonderful.
Your voice it's great. Perfect for
Journalism.
These are student projects, when you go into a Frank Lloyd Wright structure you get it. Starting out in architecture, I'd love to have been able to work things out in this environment. I traveled to the desert just to see this project.
great video very neat to see...................you should go back when the students are there and see how they live in the shelter and get there perspective on the dorms
.Don Erickson, Richard Erickson and Dennis Stevens were there around the late 1940's. The three started a business in the Chicago area. I visited this area in 1969 and my fathers structure was all but gone. I do have color pics. Yes the small almost translucent scorpions are very venomous.
Obviously I haven't seen them all but they seem to be more like stopping-places than residences with an eye toward permanence. There are some good ideas here and some that had promise but the execution wanted some work. Like the sleeping bench over the fire box. It's been done in Europe for hundreds of years, but you want something with much thicker walls to hold and retain heat. Think sleeping over the oven-chamber where you keep a pot of beans to cook all night. :D Ideas are always useful.
The best two shelters you show, one with a blue area, and the other is shown before that! I can see them but at a distance! You kept walking ahead instead of deturing to show them close up and inside! Please show them all!
How do you get into this program, I have been with doing building for people, I am also a certified jig building for BOEING , I was not able to work for them, because of insurance.I am quite a bit older now & still dreams of building , thank you .The person that started Frank Lloyd Taliesin architecture has been my favorite . THANK YOU AGAIN .
I am so glad other people have the same opinion unpractical must be designed by an architect! !
Martin Engelbrecht ah, but the first rule of design is form fits function/purpose. The purpose was to live minimalistic for a while.
How interesting.... awesome topic!
Thank you.
WOW! great idea wish my school put a little thought into stuff like this ,we dont even have dorms ,but we have alot of homeless students.
7AbuAMIR - where do they sleep? In a van?
Thank you