My daily work is in the architecture field. I’ve worked in this field for twenty years now and studied it for even longer than that. There have been things that have always bothered me about the field of architecture. The two biggest of those things were the lack of communication with the general public about the work of our field and the massive wall of elitism that is so off-putting.

First the attitude. The amount of pure snobbery I have received from architects over the years is staggering. It is so commonly noted that it has become something akin to a meme ~ wearing a black turtle neck and small round glasses or a tweed jacket and a bow tie kind of pervasive. It grates my nerves to deal with people who look down on the rest of the moving parts of their field. The most rare architects I have gotten along well with are those who came up via an old school apprenticeship rather than by way of some ivory tower… and I went to one of those design schools. I don’t understand the attitude. My lack of understanding has likely cost me opportunities over the years because I don’t deal well with those people. I don’t have time for them. If you’ve got a scoffing ivory tower attitude, you can walk because I’m not interested.

Communicating with the public poorly seems to be rooted in this elitism. I have conversations with friends about architecture from time to time about names working in the field past and present who are doing or have done amazing things. These architects have recognizable names within the field but rarely are they known beyond the field (even when they achieve “starchitect” status). Every time I ask people who they know as an architect they invariably answer Frank Lloyd Wright. As if he’s the only architect ever. This has caused me to push back quite a lot against fans of Mr. Wright. I have often proclaimed he was a short egomaniac that made buildings with leaky roofs. This has gotten me in trouble with supporters who were my superiors in the past, but I stood by my stance – there is more to architecture than Falling Water.

That argument is entirely about pushing back and advocating for the study of others. It’s exaggerated to make a point. In my career in the architecture field I have come to learn that there are many reasons to admire what it is that Mr. Wright accomplished. Among the things he accomplished was starting a school of architecture that concentrated on how buildings related to their environment. It’s well known and a very big deal in the architecture world.

Thus the title of this post. It does not bring me joy to see part of the legacy of an immensely famous architect fail. The 88 year old school is shutting down.

For all that I complain and exaggerate my grievances with buildings I can’t stand up straight in (6 foot ceilings do me no favors) the field of architecture is not a zero sum game. There is room for a world spanning variety of opinions and scholarly studies. It is disappointing to hear that the school at Taliesin is closing. I hope that others will continue to carry forward those studies and work toward making our built world mesh more favorably with our natural environment.

Article here: The School of Architecture at Taliesin Closing After 88 Years