Taliesin West

Those are the first words in this short film about Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home. The script quotes a letter by Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed Taliesin West; he was, after all, an architect.

As the camera pans about the grounds, among structures that look as if they are already falling into decay, I am reminded that Wright was, in his time, a highly acclaimed architect who rar got commissions. The reasons for this are numerous. However, his insistence on building structures that assumed no one was more than 5'7" -- his height -- might have had something to do with. I recall that New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art had an exhibition of libraries designed by architects. I admired the severe lines of Wright's library. The I saw one designed by Stanford Whit. It made me want to sit down and pull out a book to read.

Mine is not a popular opinion. People who admire Wright's work will admire this. It's well shot. But the subject is not interesting to me.