Architectoid

If you have ever been to Taliesin West in Scottsdale Arizona , then you may have wondered how Wright constructed the concrete rock walls. After reading on John Geiger website a former apprentice to Wright, I had found the answer. The walls were formed up as though they were poured in place walls but the inside sheathing was 1x6 instead of plywood. The concrete mixture was all local sand with a small amount of cement and water. The work was all done by hand in stages as described in the excerpt below by John Geiger , “We built a double faced wood form of 2x4s and 1x6 sheathing. There were no foundations. We just scooped out 6” or so from the desert floor and built our forms. The forms were retained at the base by discarded stones or what ever we could find, as well as wire ties and 2x4 spreaders that we pulled and discarded as the fill was increased in height. The concrete mix was so dry that you couldn’t pour it. We had to shovel it into place and dry pack it by foot in big

Ever wonder what the first call to join the Taliesin Fellowship may have been like? Luckily it has been well documented. What an exciting time it must have been for the young students to work alongside Wright. In the autumn of 1932 the following text was sent out across the country, with explanation of the architectural education and applications. THE TALIESIN FELLOWSHIP IS AN EXTENSION OF ARCHITECTURE AT TALIEIN TO THE ARCHITECTURE OF MUSIC, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. BY WAY OF AGRICULTURE MANUFACTURE AND BUILDING TO INCLUDE SEVENTY APPRENTICES AND SEVEN …         Frank Lloyd Wright, together with a leader who will be in residence with the apprentices, four resident associates; a technical research man in structural engineering, a sculptor, a painter, and a musician together with a group of seventy qualified apprentices, carefully selected by the fellowship for qualifications of leadership. This group assisted in the workshops by three technical research men, trained e