UTSA students spend summer studying, archiving Frank Lloyd Wright buildings

Large format photographs of Taliesin West, captured by the UTSA ARC 5233 class. These photographs will be sent to the National Park Service and will then go the the Library of Congress after processing. (Photo Credit: Sue Ann Pemberton, UTSA College of Architecture, Construction and Planning)

By Jesus Chavez
Public Affairs Specialist

(Aug. 5, 2015) -- Graduate architecture student Aaron Jarrett didn’t quite know what to think when he first stepped onto the grounds of Taliesin West, the 620-acre Arizona compound designed and owned by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

“The first thing you notice about the complex is how its surroundings influenced the designs of its buildings,” said Jarrett. “Taliesin West is like this foreign world that you want to explore.”

Built in 1937 just outside Scottsdale, Ariz., Taliesin West served as Wright’s winter home until he died in 1959 and continues to serve as the main campus for his school of architecture. Wright was said to have completed many of his famous designs – such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York City – while residing there.

Jarrett and six other students recently traveled to Arizona to study and survey the historic compound as part of their Architectural Surveys and Measured Drawings class, taught by Sue Ann Pemberton, FAIA, senior lecturer with the UTSA College of Architecture, Construction and Planning. Specifically, they were there so study one specific building: Frank Lloyd Wright’s public office.

As a team, the class spent four weeks, from dawn to dusk, learning everything that they could about the building and Wright’s design and construction process. Using state-of-the-art and primitive equipment, they would measure, model, sketch, photograph, research and dig into historic archives to understand and appreciate how the building came into existence.

“The aim of the class was to teach students the importance of documentation and interpretation in the field of architecture,” said Pemberton. “By learning to document a building, the students can understand the different facets that go into building construction. For example, the importance of the placement of the building, the materials chosen, its texture and so on.”

At the end of the project, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation will receive the students’ documentation files for archival purposes and submission into the Library of Congress. Once accepted, the detailed documentation will be free for the public to view. Pemberton and the students will also submit the documents to the Peterson Prize, a national student competition sponsored by the National Park Service, the American Institute of Architects and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.

“I had a great experience and learned a lot,” said Jarrett. “This class provided me with practical, real world architectural skills that I know I can use in my career. I can’t wait to go back to further study Taliesin West.”

This is the second summer that Pemberton and her architecture students have worked with Taliesin West. Last year, Taliesin West and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation approached Pemberton about a potential collaboration. In summer 2014, as part of the pilot class, UTSA students documented Taliesin West’s original dining hall. The documentation project is an ongoing collaboration between UTSA and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

“ARC 5233 – Architectural Surveys and Measured Drawings” is offered each first summer session by the Department of Architecture.

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