The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture housed in Wright’s Taliesin West has suspended new student enrollments for this fall, as it might be facing the loss of its accreditation. The school’s leaders are discussing ways in which to reform the school’s current structure and protect the legacy of their famous founder. The latest idea is to offer a Master of Architecture combined with a residential research program for architecture professionals.
Former Wright student and president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation board until 2005, Vernon Swaback, claims that the school desperately needs to introduce serious reforms, otherwise it could “degenerate into nothing but one more tourist attraction.” The new program, which aims to teach students through practical experience, could bring together different generations of architects and Wrightian architectural principles, and reinvent the school, claims Maura Grogan, Board Chair at Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
The details for the new program are still being discussed and will be confirmed at the end of September when the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation board of trustees next convenes. The school, which has been operating at a deficit for a few years, will continue to be overseen by the Foundation.
Wright’s grandson and California architect Eric Lloyd Wright sees the school as part of the same organization as the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and thinks it should continue to educate young architects.
+ Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture
+ The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Via Archinect and USA Today
