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Part III: Life and Learning at Taliesin
The Taliesin Fellowship offered an unconventional approach to architectural education by imparting holistic, hands-on learning. “Mr. Wright felt that everyone should understand all facets of life. We were doing a number of different things: gardening, [and] working on construction,” said apprentice Kelly Oliver.
As a youth, Wright worked summers on his Lloyd Jones uncles’ farm, and this connection to farming continued well into adulthood. While Oliver was at Taliesin, Wright was known to especially enjoy operating the road grader, though, as Oliver recalled, “Mrs. Wright stopped him after he got hurt.”
Wright’s hands-on approach also extended to construction. Oliver noted that Wright, well-versed from his large-scale work with Louis Sullivan, was active on-site, often directing activities with his cane. His design sketches included details covering building plans, elevations, and site location, providing enough direction for skilled apprentices like Wes Peters and Jack Howe to develop Wright’s designs into construction documents.
Practical design experience was a cornerstone of Wright’s mentorship. At both Taliesin in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona, Wright encouraged apprentices to create their own spaces reflective of his teachings. At Taliesin West, apprentices built their own shelters in designated areas around the campus. “We all lived in tents, some quite elaborate, others very basic,” Oliver recalled, adding, “Mr. Wright insisted we use existing sites to avoid disturbing the natural environment. It was an exercise in resourcefulness and respect for the landscape.”
Similarly, at Taliesin in Wisconsin, “Mr. Wright encouraged you to redesign your own room in whatever [way] you wanted, but you always had to submit a drawing to him.” The approach allowed apprentices to receive individual feedback from the revered architect and engage with his principles in even their most modest creations.
Due to the estate’s extensive agricultural needs—reflective of Taliesin’s self-sustaining ethos—each day began with gardening. “Even those in the drafting room, if you’re a fairly new apprentice, you still had to go to Garden Time because we did all the lawns, we had a lot of gardens to care for,” Oliver explained. The estate provided most of their food, including fruits, vegetables, milk, and cheese. “We had a large truck garden where we planted all the corn, vegetables, and melons that we consumed,” Oliver noted. Apprentices also managed the dairy herd and processed the milk and cream, selling the excess. These agricultural tasks not only supported the estate’s sustainability but also provided valuable hands-on experience, which Wright believed was essential for developing well-rounded individuals.
Distant view of Midway, 1949. Photo Courtesy Kelly Oliver.
Whether re-shingling roofs or reframing doors, apprentices from diverse backgrounds gained skills through direct involvement. Even though he arrived at Taliesin with some construction knowledge from building houses at his grandfather’s lumberyard—”when in those days lumberyards built houses”—Oliver explained, “Tasks weren’t assigned based on experience. We all learned by doing things we had never done before.” Oliver adds that even international fellows unfamiliar with specific tools learned on the job, though all received guidance from senior apprentices.
Daily life also included communal responsibilities, such as cleaning, kitchen help and serving, and laundry. Oliver also often rotated as a breakfast cook, preparing meals for 30-50 people during busy periods. His specialties, including preparing eggs in “any style” and baking yeast bread, fostered a greater appreciation for cooking. “You learn a lot of discipline and come to truly value the effort that goes into kitchen work once you do it yourself,” Oliver reflected.
After completing daily tasks, there was some downtime after dinner. Evenings often saw intense activity in the Drafting Studio, where apprentices independently worked on their designs or Foundation projects, sometimes extending well into the night to meet deadlines.
One notable late-night task, said Oliver, were the Box Projects, where apprentices would create drawings, paintings, or poems as a gift for Wright on his birthday and at Christmas. These gifts were then presented to him in a box, especially made for that purpose. While opening his gifts, Wright would kindly critique the works. Oliver recalled,
“It was up to us to decide what to contribute, and it was always a very nice, gentle experience. Most of the projects involved designing houses or other structures. People were really into their work. After lunch or dinner, we’d go back to work on the drawings.”
Regarding his contributions to the Box Projects, Oliver recalled his design for the kitchen at Hillside:
“I didn’t think the kitchen was very well laid out, so I redesigned [it]… We would wash our own dishes every night and put them in a rack and I thought that was sort of inefficient, and I had a better way to do it… [Another] year I made the box, so that was my project.”
Apprentices were encouraged to create original designs through the Box Projects. It was an exercise in design rather than copying. The projects would become more than just a gift. They gave the apprentices an opportunity to share individual ideas with Wright, showcase progress, and contribute to the communal spirit of Taliesin.
Hillside Drafting Studio, 1949. Photo Courtesy Kelly Oliver.
The Drafting Studio
The Drafting Studio was organized by experience rather than rigid hierarchy, and senior draftsmen, with their greater responsibilities, sat closer to Frank Lloyd Wright, while newer apprentices usually started in the back. Yet, Wright was attentive to all, often sitting with apprentices to review their work. “He’d sit down and go over the drawing with you,” Oliver recalled. An assignment to the Drafting Studio could take some time—and in Oliver’s case, two years—but the opportunity to learn from Wright was the Fellowship’s primary draw.
Senior apprentices played a crucial role in mentoring newcomers. “Senior apprentices had the responsibility of producing the construction drawings for Mr. Wright’s projects and also doing a little bit of teaching on the side,” Oliver mentions. One notable mentor was Wes Peters, who Oliver described as “wonderful” and always willing to help.
New draftsmen started with fundamental tasks. Oliver recalled his initiation:
“The first job I had in the drafting room was lettering, transferring specifications to the drawings. In addition to the building details, the drawings included complete printed specifications hand-lettered in ink on the appropriate sheets rather than having a separate Project Manual. This hand lettering was often given to new apprentices to improve their lettering skills. This approach aided workman on the job site who may not have immediate access to the Project Manual.”
Apprentices also traced existing work, gaining experience through replication. Some drawings were archived in the nearby Roberts Room, he noted. Though not always accessible, these archives provided valuable insights and inspiration:
“The project files weren’t open to the apprentices. In the Roberts Room, there was a couple of drawers of work that had been completed, renderings that were no longer used and one of the things we did on a rainy afternoon was go in the Roberts room and pull these drawings out and look at them. Some of them were really, really beautiful drawings… But then we put them all back in the drawer. They’re all collector items now, but at that time it was just something that you could do on a rainy day.”
Through these varied experiences, the Fellowship instilled a deep respect for the discipline of architecture and cultivated the dedication and well-roundedness necessary to excel in the field.
