Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and studio Taliesin West is gearing up for a major preservation effort, courtesy of Chicago-based Harboe Architects. The firm was tapped by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to come up with a master plan for the preservation, restoration, and conservation of the 77-year-old Arizona home, which currently serves as the organization's headquarters and still hosts the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture each winter, on top of being one of the most visited Wright-designed houses. Though no specific needs have been identified, Harboe was commissioned to find ways to undo the effects of more than half a century of heavy use and environmental degradation on the place, which stands as an iconic example of Wright incorporating Southwestern vernacular elements into his well established Prairie style, enough-so to inspire a mini-version in California.
Harboe was chosen for its track record completing similar projects on other Wright homes, including the Beth Sholom Synagogue, Chicago's Unity Temple, and the Lego-immortalized Frederick C. Robie House. The Wright foundation raised just over $1M in 2013, a large portion of which is going toward the rehab effort. In a press release, the organization described the effort as "a framework and overarching preservation philosophy to guide all future developments at Taliesin West," which they will commence with "immediately" and expect to take at least a year to complete.
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