Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, 1958
Mildred F. Schmertz took these photos of Frank Lloyd Wright and members of the Taliesin Fellowship in February 1958, just fourteen months before the architect's death at age 89. They were included in the article "Frank Lloyd Wright: A Selection of Current Work" (RECORD, May 1958). Schmertz served as associate and senior editor before becoming the first female editor in chief of Architectural Record. View the images as a PDF.
Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, 1958
Photo © Mildred F. Schmertz
Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, 1958
The concept of total design set forth in the architectural theory of Frank Lloyd Wright found practical application in the approach to his Western encampment in Scottsdale, Arizona, begun in 1938. From the first signpost (above, left) the visitor's way long a winding down road is directed by Wright-designed pylons (above, right) that reflect the shapes of the cacti that punctuate the horizon. Arriving at the gatehouse (next slide, top) made from from stone found in the surrounding desert, the spatial climax comes in the dramatic forecourt to the Taliesin West complex (below).
Photo © Mildred F. Schmertz
Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, 1958
Arriving at the gatehouse (top) made from from stone found in the surrounding desert, the spatial climax comes in the dramatic forecourt to the Taliesin West complex (previous slide, bottom). Regardless of the plan of Taliesin West, its true focal point during Wright's lifetime was always in the presence of the Master himself (lower). Seated on his sheepskin under the watchful eye of his long-time associate, the late John Howe, F.L.L.W. works in the drafting room, facing into the bright sunlight of a February afternoon.
Photo © Mildred F. Schmertz
Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, 1958
Surrounded by young members of the Taliesin's Fellowship, Wright puts his finishing touches on a presentation drawing of a project for a motor hotel. Along with seven others, the project was included in Frank Lloyd Wright, A Selection of Current Work in the May 1958 issue of Architectural Record. Record associate editor Mildred F. Schmertz (later senior editor and finally editor in chief) visited Taliesin West in February 1958 to gather material for that article, the last portfolio of Wright's new work to be published in his lifetime. Her photographs of F.L.L.W. taken fourteen months before his death at age 89, are a unique record of the master at work near the end of a career that spanned nearly seventy years.
Photo © Mildred F. Schmertz