taliesin portfolio 1

To the Review Commitee,

I, Pranav Naik, 1st Yr. M.Arch. at The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, present to you my first portfolio representing the first season I have spent at Taliesin West. I hope you enjoy going through the pages. I look forward to meeting with you in the review.

Pranav Naik

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Reflective Essay

I am Pranav Naik, this is my First year in the M.Arch.

program at Taliesin, The Frank Lloyd Wright school of

Architecture. I have a professional B.Arch. Degree and

am a registered Architect in India. I came to Taliesin to

complete what I believe is a circle of Architectural

education for me. It all started at age twelve with a book

on Fallingwater, the house designed by Frank Lloyd

Wright for the Kaufmanns in Bear Run, Pennsylvania.

Ever since, Mr. Wright has been a great teacher to me so

it's only natural for me to be here. The following essay

can be divided into the first two months, from October

until Christmas and the four months of spring -the

former feeling more like four months and the latter like

two: my first season at Taliesin.

The first few days I spent at Taliesin were both exciting

and tormenting, being away from my Parents and fiancé,

the feeling of distance was setting in. I was trying to start

a completely new life in America. Things did settle very

nicely, and getting to spend the rest of the season in the

“Hanging shelter” a steel structure with a cantilevered

tent space out in the desert, seemed like divine

intervention to me, probably more so for the shelter

itself! I found myself wanting to make the space more

and more liveable, until then, I spent my waking hours in

the shelter and sleeping hours in the ModFab, the

award-winning showcase building for the School. I really

enjoyed the ModFab, it was my shelter for the time

being and had everything in it, even a bathroom. I finally

put a tent up in the shelter, and a strong wind brought it

down pretty quickly. That's when I put up a stronger,

better tent and stayed in it for three months. A week of

living in the hanging tent made me feel like I never

wanted to be in the ModFab again. The dynamics of the

structure, being up in the air, the view from the deck all

around, the security of not having any creatures run up

your belly put all the points in for the Hanging shelter.

Classes had then started, with the main focus being the

Advanced Design Studio with Aris Georges; we first

started with some exercises in geometry, with root

rectangles and construction, most of which was easy for

me, having done a lot of construction geometry both in

school and Architecture school. Later on we used the

geometric principles to make geocons, a type of model

based on the theory of root rectangles. My previous

Architecture experience did not let me truly be free with

this model, and all throughout, I was struggling to not

make it Architectural as with each fold I made, and there

was the inevitable folding of planes theory running

through my mind. Life was easier with the tensegrity

models I was truly beginning to enjoy playtime with

models.

The Graphic Design studio, again with Aris Georges; was

a basic course on graphics, how to use the tools of the

trade and its relationship to Architecture. This course

went pretty easy as I have professional Graphic design

experience; of course, I still needed some work on

disconnecting my past experience to try something new.

Exercises in the course culminated in the Graphic design

for the Box presentations, I cannot say I did anything

radically different, but it was definitely very clear. I am

trying to be clearer and then design the graphics based

on that, rather than design something crazy and then try

to make it readable, form and function combined, not

function follows form.

The Last month of 2009 was focussed on the box project,

which I did to the best of my abilities. I had never been

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Reflective Essay

given such a free hand at design before, I tried a variety

of different architectural and structural concepts that

led to what looked like a weird mish-mash of several

different ideas in one. Something I realized too late in

the day. The box presentation went well though; I kept

the audience in a happy mood and went through the

critiques smoothly. The main highlight of the critique for

me was when Michael Johnson, a local Architect and

School Faculty pointed out that I have hidden mistakes

and errors on my part with a nice glossy presentation, I

accepted the statement, it caused me to reflect upon

several times earlier when I have done the same and

gotten away with it, what I needed was someone to call

me on it, that's what Michael did, I am happy this

happened now, and am working towards never covering

up my mistakes again.

I then had the 90 day Initial review with Madalena

Maestri and Aris Georges. We agreed that all was well

and I should continue with studying here for the next

two years or so. I was also informed some faculty feel I

am not open to feedback; it's just that I take time to think

and work about suggestions.

The Spring Season at Taliesin West looked like it did not

have much to keep me busy, but I don't think I have been

so busy in my life. Some weeks were almost out to break

me. It was a test of endurance at Architecture school. I

take full responsibility for that, however, as I thought I

could take every course offered and still be comfortable.

I started out with Anthropology with Dr. Mary Grow, a

class I did not think I would enjoy as much as I did as I am

more a drawing and building kind of person. It also led

me to think about the vernacular architecture in India

that is slowly being replaced for more “western” types of

buildings which are not as suitable. The problem is not so

much about the people that populate these buildings,

but more about the architects and builders who cannot

bridge the gap between the traditional vernacular

values, and the modern aspirations of society.

S Lloyd Natof, a furniture designer and woodworker

from Chicago, along with Aris Georges, started the class

'Analyze, Design, Build' to design and build new desks for

the Hillside studio at Taliesin, Wisconsin. We had an

initial round of designs, none of which were selected

citing that they did not follow the guidelines, which were

based on the shortcomings of the designs, although

mine did, there was not much to be done. We separated

into two camps, the Orthogonal and the Diagonal.

Because I alone wanted to do a diagonal desk, so we all

instead went ahead and started designing The

Orthogonal desk. Maxim Borschevskiy, Lloyd Natof and I

formulated what led to the final desk design that was

built. I enjoyed working in the workshop, albeit small

and inadequate. My skill level and speed with

woodworking improved tremendously working with

Lloyd and I would like to work with him more in the

future.

At this point The Inevitable happened, a hard storm hit,

and my tent blew off, a third time. I did not want to put

the tent up again, so I got down to designing a shell to be

put onto the frame of the Hanging Shelter. I worked with

Victor Sidy initially, and then turned it into an

independent study with S Lloyd Natof as my mentor. We

spent weekends and nights cutting facets into beautiful

redwood pieces nine feet long. It was a struggle at first.

Everything was going on at the time. I would find myself

sitting in class and dreaming about my shelter. Because

of my preoccupation with my shelter, I dropped the

Landscape evaluation phase 2 class this was justified

because I was really only redrawing and redoing work I

had done in phase 1. I feel the class itself did not teach

me much, but all the walks with Chris winters really

taught me a lot. We also had a few work days which were

thoroughly enjoyable.

The sustainability classes were very informative and will

be reflected in my future box projects, the only hurdle I

faced with them were that coming from a hot country, I

tend to see keeping buildings cool more important than

warm. A few sessions working with sustainability

concepts actually made me a very neutral worker in that

regard, as can be seen with my completed shelter, which

is designed to be used mostly during winter, hence can

keep itself warm, as well as be easily ventilated passively.

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Reflective Essay

All of this seasons classes culminated in what I see is a

very enjoyable and comfortable shelter out in the

desert. It is also a personal confirmation that I am

capable of thinking and designing for most problems

that I can see, and be able to build them cohesively too. I

feel it is extremely important to be able to design and

solve problems before starting construction; it also

makes construction quicker and more rewarding. All my

buildings will not be experimental; I will have to be able

to build buildings that perform as predicted. The first

few nights that I have spent in the shelter have been very

comfortable, with me being very excited, looking around

and enjoying the stars at night, and the blue sky in the

day. It has been a real learning-by-doing experience for

me.

I am grateful for the close knit community at Taliesin, the

fellowship, apprentices, and faculty: Everyone is

welcoming and ever willing to do a lot. I am happy that

while I am away from my family I am in another family

here, who take care of each other and live together. It

has been a great experience thus far. It does 'fit like a

glove' to me. I love the community events, and have

cooked an Indian meal for a formal, something I had

never done before; it turned out great, and keeps my

culinary skills up.

All this time, I got several chances to travel the country. I

love travelling. I believe travel broadens horizons; it

makes you wiser; it's a source of inspiration : people,

colours, customs, language, script, art forms and food –

all creates new perspectives in design and helps me see

the “why?” and “how?” rather than “what for?”. I really

look forward to me learning-by-travelling in my time

here. I spent Thanksgiving week with a few days in

Sedona, a hill town north of Scottsdale, the Painted

Desert, and Oak creek canyon. It was a great experience

travelling in the United States, for the first time. We

hiked a lot in Sedona and just took in the varied

landscape, in that part of Arizona. Christmas break was

spent driving from Taliesin West to the Grand Canyon,

Los Angeles and San Francisco. This too was a great trip,

soaking in all the Architecture, taking my whiff of the

sea. Because I come from seaside Mumbai, India, I never

thought I would miss the sea so much, especially since I

love mountains and hilly areas so much! I ended up

taking another trip to San Diego and Los Angeles just to

be near the sea.

The past six months at Taliesin West have been an

insightful journey through many aspects of my

professional and personal life, it has reinforced my love

of nature, taught me to endure and question everything

and then have a solid opinion about matters close to my

heart. It has made me more patient and sweetened my

relationships by distance. I came here to be an architect

of stronger character, and I can see that character

building as time passes.

Pranav Naik

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Reflective Essay

Advanced Design Studio

The Advanced Design Studio for me was a revelation: a short trip into

the unknown and a water-test of the ways and workings of the unique

architectural education at Taliesin. I was pleasantly surprised and felt

well settled when I saw the variety of designs produced by the studio

and the amount I learned both about myself and architectural theory. I

feel there is great merit to the idea of public realm ideas, such as the

first short video from T.E.D. The readings we had were a part of this

studio, and albeit in a small way, did alter my responses to problems in

design, either given to us or self imposed.

The first sessions of geometric construction and working with it as a

tool, has always been part of my understanding of geometry, but having

experienced how it could be used even as a more abstract system

intrigued me. Because every plan has to be organic, its development in

all directions is inevitable. It can lead to a grid/unit system being put in

and that gives logic to the design. I have still not fully developed a way

of working this out, and will continue experimenting with the idea as

well as breaking the rule in a playful way. Geometry is fun!

Geometrical systems as a system or platform to work on are great, but

have always been a part of nature's design, The reading, Evolution of

Designs, by Philip Steadman articulated that and was great reading. It

also made me reminisce on structures that have appealed to me and try

to draw relations in the order of nature, whether it be Antoni Gaudi or

Santiago Calatrava, each of whom have studied nature extensively.

Nature's Architecture in my mind is an informal depiction of a very

formal and well designed structural system, for which the key to

understanding is to figure out that the human senses love the comfort

of informality, but keep looking for a clear regimented system in the

same. Hence the informal is generic in its algorithms of evolution but

specific to the extent to which the algorithm runs.

The readings have been quite unrelenting with architectural theory

that was sometimes out of my range of normal thinking but not out of

my scope of thought. In retrospect, I wish I could further work along the

lines of being able to define the fuzziness of thought and to understand

the workings of the human mind when it comes to visual, physical, or

visceral experience.

Pranav Naik

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Box OneCampus Expansion | Taliesin West New studio + Educational Facilities

Personal objectives

Respect | CoexistRespect the Architecture of Taliesin west, Assimilate and be able to coexist.

Construct | LearnProvide for learning and construction opportunities for students with a variety of techniques, materials and methods.

Design Development + Site plan

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Preliminary views for Mid-point pinups

My design for the New studio for Taliesin west consisted of two new studios, a faculty studio, administrative spaces, kitchen, collaboration room and a chill space.

The design called for a new prow at the east of campus with the whole deck floating above the desert floor, and innovative structural systems to teach apprentices the nuances of advanced building construction.

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Section BB’

Section AA’

New studio + Educational Facilities

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South Elevation

East Elevation

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1. 2" Capstone

2. 9" Concrete wall

3. Steel Plate recessed 1/4"

4. Brass 0.025" Pinhole

5. Steel Plate recessed 1/4"

6. 1x2" Chase

7. Metal reglet

8. 6mm Toughened glass.

9. Foam concrete laid to slope.

10. 3x2" G.I. Gutter

11. 4" Reinforced concrete slab

12. 2x3" Steel C-Section

13. 2.5x9" Steel C-section

14. 2" Rainwater pipe.

15. 1/4" Gypsum board with openings for light fixtures

16. 3x9" Steel tube

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1. Concrete precast Fascia

2. Waterproofing (Hypolon) - Laid to slope

3. Hole for rainwater pipe

4. Tongue and groove joint

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6. Left Precast concrete roof section

7. Right Precast concrete roof section

Glazing

The New prow

Chill room

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architect

12621 N. Frank Lloyd

Wright Blvd.

Scottsdale, AZ. 85259.

480.286.4222

[email protected]

architect


Wright Blvd.


480.286.4222

[email protected]

architect


Wright Blvd.


480.286.4222

[email protected]

architecture

graphic design

photography


Wright Blvd.


480.286.4222

[email protected]

Graphic Design StudioAris Georges, M.Arch.

The Graphic Design Studio was a basic course in presentation design, and use of computer tools. We started with designing a font for our names, and then design a business card. The course culminated in designs for the Box presentations.

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AnthropologyCultural Perspectives of Landscape & HouseMary L. Grow, PhD

The Anthropology course with Dr. Mary Grow introduced us to the ways that anthropologists perceive and interpret the social and cultural aspects of the Landscape and House. It was about stories, memory and identity. The house is not just a shelter but a symbolic and cultural nerve center of a community. We studied how the changes in the world impact houses and the way people live.Later on, the class participated in a charette to design a Bridge between Scottsdale and Taliesin West. This exercise was led by Fred Prozillo, a local architect and alumnus.

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Cultural Perspectives of Landscape and

house

As my first anthropology fieldwork exercise, I

interviewed David Dodge about his home and the land it

stands on, known to us as Poppy field. The interview

took place on the 13th of January, 2010 between 4:30-

5:30 pm in Poppyfields II.

David was sitting and working at his desk in his house

when I dropped by to check if I could have an

appointment from him sometime in the near future, he

was glad to sit and talk at that time itself! He had just got

back from a trip to Europe and was full of energy and

enthusiasm as always. I got around to explaining the

exercise to him and that I felt he was the right candidate

as he had bought the land, and built on it, he has also

been intimately connected with Taliesin for many years,

and has witnessed the change of the seasons and

connected with the land in a way very few have. The

following Paragraph is what he said in reply to my

conjecture.

David: Very true, I really believe that the site and the

habitation, if you had any control over it, you should do

everything you can to be in harmony with the site. In this

case I had very very few obstacles with working against

what I felt working with the site, I had the usual legal

bureaucratic rule about this and that, but for the most

part in this particular case, I was not impeded by

bureaucrats and so I did what I felt was really the best

solution that I was capable to be in harmony with the

site. It's true that this site is a very historical thing, in the

process of excavating and doing things of the we did find

some Indian arrows and traces of civilization prior to our

time here but it was more a discovery of weapons and

battles that had occurred rather than someone living on

the site, that doesn't mean to say that there weren't

tents or temporary kinds of construction here before.

I feel that if we are going to build organically, that is a

building where the life of the building and the life of the

occupants is in real harmony one with another, where

we are trying to do everything we know to live in better

harmony on this earth then of course we have to go

around and do things pretty much what I did. I didn't put

lawns all the way around, I probably shouldn't have put

any lawns, but at the same time when Alexander was a

little boy and he said “Oh Papa! Can we have a lawn like

this?” and he was looking at a lawn outside fountain hills

near the fountain, and they were hills that you could roll

down on, well... I had planned to have a patch on the

back at the house there, as a man controlled area, and I

had to do that anyway, as by then the process of building

had damaged so much of what was growing around

anyway. These new projects where people think that we

can build a building and make no imprint on the earth,

you are kidding yourself! There is no such thing! Even if

you put just one post in the ground and set the whole

building on the one post, it's going to have shadows and

is going to change the way plants grow and survive there

and once you change it, its changed forever! Maybe

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Anthropology

those service plants will come back but if you hadn't

done that, maybe the plants that were there would've

matured and that would have been the last time those

plants were seen on that site, so don't think you're being

so clever, but you can be careful, and I think you need to

be careful.

That's an effort I made all along. So this house sits in the

desert with very little man made areas and it takes quite

an effort to keep it looking something like it does at this

point, thats my attitude to it, certainly that attitude is my

life experiences up to coming to Taliesin but absolutely

reinforced by Mr. Wright's spirit and attitude, setting the

building into its site and making the site and the building

one creature, one can't be without the other.

Why is this place significant to you?

David: I have sort of covered that, any site that

somebody builds on and tends to live there, is significant

to them. If the Architect is really doing his job, if he is not

doing his job, then a big company can come in mow

down all the trees and put their factory here and after a

while decide it should not be here, it should be down in

Mesa where the workforce is, so we just simply pick the

factory up and move it, of course damage to this area is

going to stay there no matter what you do, and Mr.

Wright built Ocotillo as lightly as humanly possible and

yet, when I saw it twenty years ago, I can still see where

the building was. It's not gone! You can see every

footprint.

Let me rephrase this, I want to know, what made you

choose this particular site?

David: I had some choices, but the availability of land

next to Taliesin, this is an adjacent site and is not

Taliesin's property, and was able to get this piece of land

as Herberburger had decided not to buy this piece of

land.

So you had a choice of this and possibly in the general

vicinity of where Ancala is now?

David: I did look at that but, this site clearly was

preferable, because it was less confronted with the

valley or possibility of houses, but even so the houses

came in because the same person who sold me this site

sold that land, I thought I bought enough to keep myself

in a natural circumstance rather than a man made one,

but there is no such thing! If you decide to buy a piece of

land in the middle of nowhere, then the National

government is going to decide to run a highway right

through you, something will happen !

Was there anything else besides being nestled here and

being away from the valley?

David: Yes it was that, but I did not NOT want to see the

valley, and the valley at that time was not as occupied as

it is now. I like the mountains, I like the view and the hill, I

like the orientation, its mostly looking north and my

house opens up that way well, and I didn't cut the

visibility down either, so this house has maximum

visibility out. Without losing its sense of shelter. The

thing about dwelling with nature is, if you can, live with it

as much as possible; let the sun into the house, I don't

feel massive walls are anything I want around me.

I had no intention of building here; it was to build near

the smaller house and to build in the other direction a

house somewhat of this geometry. I didn't want to block

the view!

Do you have any memories of the time between buying

the plot of land and building on it?

David: My wife said why you want to build so far away

from Taliesin? And then she said we should have built

even further away! Because when the neighbouring

houses came in, it disturbed her very much.

When you were situating Poppy fields I what did you

consider?

David: The trees were very important, and the shape of

the land moves and it sort of makes that bowl in the

back, its a very deceptive piece of land, I thought in thirty

feet it would be flat and its far from flat ! the way the

trees grow here, Hide that, and only when we drew

sections did I realize that and was unexpected.

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Anthropology

Poppy fields II avoids that discovery as the geometry of

the structure takes care of the situation. It's not

conforming.

When the rain comes down the mountainside, once it

rained down and came down through the house. The

rain had come down a new trail that day. We had to

adjust the natural slopes to fix that. Water has its own

ways!

Does the site have a name?

David: We call it the poppy field, Mr. Wright named it

Poppy field, as the area to the east because when the

poppies would bloom, and they don't do that every year,

since I have had this property it has bloomed thrice, but

when they do bloom, it is so dense you cannot walk

through the sagebrush. Its just absolutely beautiful. We

have tried to get them with sprinklers, but they do as

they please, my workers have been trying to plant wild

poppy seeds in the desert. Mr. Wright called it that

because groups from Taliesin would come here and have

picnics here. There were no boundaries marked around

here, Mr. Wright did what he wanted here around then.

The rock on the site was unknown at the time, and it

didn't have a name, someone said its “granite” but its

called Taliesin quartzite and is found only on this hill in

the world! It has its own identity. It's like the patterns on

your fingers and no one else has the same!

What is the text of the landscape? – does it have layers?

David: It's not got too many layers it's volcanically forced

mountains and is quite new.

Does it have historic layers? As you had mentioned you

found arrows and other articles on the site.

David: Yes, that, and the stones at Taliesin, with the

writings on them – petroglyphs, nobody including Mr.

Wright would move those stones but they got moved,

someone wrote about them in a book but he studied

them and six months later explained that the markings

meant that there was a battle here, and the stone at

Taliesin commemorates the death of a chieftain's son,

there were two tribes farmers and hunters, they had a

hot springs here (the white cropping on the hill) which

was considered no-man's land, and that led to the battle

between the two. Obviously the arrowheads were from

that, and there were some stones that I have kept for

some use sometime.

The stones here are red on the surface and it turns black

when it is exposed to the elements.

The more we know about things, the smaller we are, and

we take a proportion on the earth similar to a virus on

the skin, it's quite remarkable!

Does the story of this place change over time? We have

spoken about this, but I am looking for a David Dodge

answer.

David: That question is the sort of question that one

should have the intelligence NOT to ask, because,

ofcourse it changes! And even if you think it doesn't

change, it does change in a million years, which is a

question of how you look at it. It's a soul less question.

-Pranav Naik | 1st Yr. M.Arch

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Anthropology

East Elevation

Plan

View from Scottsdale

Design Charette | Proposed Bridge between Scottsdale and Taliesin West.

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Anthropology

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Anthropology

Nature PatternsAris Georges, M.Arch., Effi Casey

Nature Patterns was a course designed to make us aware and respond to the legacy of observing, interpreting and representing natural plants, animals, or even landscapes. We learnt how Gene Masselink made some of his stunning artwork. Aris and Effi, with a few sessions with Tony Putnam put together an extremely enjoyable class in art and graphic design – one that is equally important for architects and designers.

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My reproduction of Gene’s work

Gene Masselink’s interpretation of a rock.

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Nature Patterns

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Final Piece - Water drops on rocks

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Nature Patterns

Perspective DrawingFrank Henry

Frank Henry taught one of the more important classes pertaining to representation in architecture. We learned principles and techniques of drawing one-point, two-point and three-point perspective.

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Hand RenderingFrank Henry, Effi Casey

The rendering class, taught by Frank Henry and Effi Casey, taught us hand rendering using pencils, black and white, color pencils, water colors, and any other medium we would like to use.

Subject: Tourist information center,London, opposite St.Paul’s cathedral

Rendering with watercolors

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Sustainability I & IIDonald Aitken, PhD; Barbara Harwood, LEED ap

Sustainability I was a class meant to teach us the basics of green architecture, with day lighting, passive ventilation, and Air conditioning. I would have liked it if students were taught how air conditioning works, so as to be able to better use it in the field.

Sustainability II was a more advanced class that focussed on indoor air quality, and water issues for residential buildings as the main focus. We were quizzed frequently in both these classes.

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Sustainability I

note: Sections, solar PV, composting toilets, and other design/presentation elements are present in the drawings, hence the instructor changed the grade to P+.

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Sustainability I

Landscape Evaluation Phase I & IIChris Winters, L.A.

Landscape Evaluation was a course designed to analyze the landscape at Taliesin West and design solutions for problems in Phase II. I dropped this class in March as I found myself repeating work I had done in phase I and could not spare time with all the other classes and the work on my shelter.

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Some of the load of the roof and the upper diagonal glass is being taken by the plate glass below, which could result in failure.

Taliesin West as text

Sidney Robinson, ArchD, AIA; Jim EricksonTaliesin West as Text was a class to help us understand the thinking that goes into architecture, based on philosophies, history, and ethics. It was about preservation and how it applies to and is practiced at Taliesin West. At the end of the class we had to present a solution for either the old shower roof or the living room.

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Addition of a steel frame around the roof

Replacing the two-part stanchion with a single steel section.

A steel tie beam to hold the new and old structural system together.

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Taliesin West as Text

Lloyd Natof, Aris Georges, M.Arch.Analyze, Design, Build was a class in furniture design. We began with the analysis of different styles of furniture, m e c h a n i s m s , a n d c o n n e c t i o n s . We t h e n analyzed Frank Lloyd Wright's furniture and then designed our own desks for the Hillside studio, Taliesin, Wisconsin.

Analyze, Design, Build.

Preliminary Desk Design

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Second Desk Design (Orthogonal Group)

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Analyze, Design, Build

Cutting timber to fit in the truck

Finishing with an Oil stain

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Analyze, Design, Build

Independent Study | Additions to the “Hanging Shelter”

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Additions to the Hanging Shelter Lloyd Natof

After being assigned the Hanging Shelter at the start of the season, I put up a tent in it, which blew off twice. I then put a stronger tent in and secured it better. A few storms and lightning strikes later, it gave way too. I then realized why apprentices who lived in this shelter in the past could not stay in it longer than a couple of months: this was not an ideal shelter situation. I took up the challenge of designing and building a roof/wall system that would not be prone to failing under the assault of nature.My solution was four wood frames that would fit within the steel frame of the shelter. These would hold up acrylic panels and a hinged door. I worked with Lloyd initially, then did most of the work under Brian Maxwell's supervision.The biggest problem I faced was at what angle should I cut the wood frames? I ended up with a 35.3˚ angle and its complementary angle, along with a few 45, and 90s.

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Hanging Shelter

The end result, after a lot of hard work, was a seven sided polygonal section. Some of the more complex ones are eleven sides. The acrylic went on with timber wedges under each side to prop it up so as to provide for a ventilation space between each panel. Two sides had to be built into triangular frames and then cut apart to fit them into the structure. I also designed alternating tread stairs to ease entry into the sleeping space. These stairs are fabricated in steel, with plywood treads. I then changed the material of the door to canvas, bought canvas, and helped Nick King sew it. The last step was a canvas carpet to stop articles from falling through into the Brittlebush below and my bed.Lloyd Natof worked with me during the early stages of design and construction, teaching me how to handle long wood. My skill with woodworking increased tremendously working with Lloyd. Brian Maxwell worked with me on later stages, teaching me

welding and providing a tremendous amount of assistance during the final construction of the shelter. I enjoyed working with both Lloyd and Brian and will continue to take part in activities with them in the future.The design of the completed shelter has turned out as I had planned: The vents in the panels keep the structure cool during the day, the cloth door doubles up as a shade device, and I am able to watch the stars as I fall asleep. It has been extremely comfortable for the whole week I have spent there. I look forward to living there in the

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Travel, Field Trips and Community activities

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Looking Ahead

Architecture is an important part of my life. I cannot think of anything else I aspire to so much. Six months of living at Taliesin West has taught me to see architecture in so many other activities and also see so many activities within Architecture. I am at Taliesin West not only to further my educational qualifications but also to strengthen my character as an individual and a professional architect. I plan on taking as many classes as possible here at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright school of Architecture; I wish to enrich my architectural education in every way. I would like to do a few large (area) Box Projects in the coming seasons. I look to intern at an office that is small and challenging, as in my opinion small offices offer the most varied experiences and teach you the most, you are also in direct contact with the principals, who are a wealth of wisdom. I look forward to completing my Taliesin education in two years as my parents have taken care of my education, both here as well as in India and I feel I would be ready to work and learn as an architect in the real world. At that point I will have completed seven years of education - a lot, but just a place-marker of a lifetime of learning.

Pranav Naik

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Bibliography

Basso, Keith A. 1988. “'Stalking With Stories': Names, Places and Moral Narratives among the Western Apache. “Pp 19-55. In Text, Play and Story: The Construction and Reconstruction of Self and Society. Ed. E.M. Brunner. Prospect Heights, II. : Waveland Press Inc.

Smith, Angele. 2003. “Landscape Representations: Place and Identity in 19th Century Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland.” Pp. 71 – 88. In Landscape, Memory and History: Anthropological Perspectives. Eds. P.J. Stewart & A Strathern. London & Sterling, V.A.: Pluto Press.

Branham, Benjamin. 2001. “On 'Evolution': Buffalo Bill & the Confiscation of Culture.” Pp. 1-4. Modern American Poetry Website for Sherman Alexie.

Bronner, Simon J. 2006. “Building Tradition: Control and Authority in vernacular Architecture.” Pp. 23-44. In Vernacular Architecture in the Twenty-First century: Theory, Education and Practice. Eds. L. Asquin and M. Velling. London & New York: Taylor & Francis.

Vellinga, Marcel. 2005. “Anthropology & The Challenges of Sustainable Architecture.” Pp. 3-7. In Anthropology Today, vol. 21, no 3.

Hammer, Joshua. 2007. “Undaunted” (Rory Stewart & traditional architecture in Kabul). In Smithsonian, September, vol. 38, no. 6

Aguar, Charles, and Berdeana Aguar. Wrightscapes : Frank Lloyd Wright's Landscape Designs. 1 ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002.

Balmond, Cecil, and Jannuzzi Smith. "109." In Informal. Fort Worth: Prestel Publishing, 2007. 112-123.Beardsley, John, Caroline Constant, Marc Treib, Galen Cranz, Kenneth Frampton, Paul Groth, John Dixon Hunt, John Jackson, Geoffrey Jellicoe, Stephen Krog, and Leo Marx. Denatured Visions. New York: The Museum Of Modern Art, New York, 2003.

Collins, Peter. "The Biological Analogy." In Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture 1750-1950. 2 ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998. 149-158.

Davis, Howard. "Introduction." In The Culture of Building. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1999. 5-10.

Gans, Deborah, and Zehra Kuz. "Organi-i-city." In The Organic Approach to Architecture. Chichester: Academy Press, 2003. 161-168.

Lee, Mark, Robert Somol, and Andrew Whiteside. "An experiment in Architectural education." In Inchoate. Bregenz: Actar/Eth Zurich, 2004. 24-31.

Lynch, Kevin. Site Planning. Michigan: MIT Press, 1966.Mitchell, William J., Charles W. Moore, and William Turnbull. The Poetics of Gardens. London: The Mit Press, 1993.

Oliver, Paul. "Introduction." In Dwellings: The Vernacular House Worldwide. London: Phaidon Press, 2003. 7-19.

Oliver, Paul. "House and Cosmos." In Dwellings: The Vernacular House Worldwide. London: Phaidon Press, 2003. 168-189.

Phillips, Steven. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert (Arizona Sonora Desert Museum). 1 ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

Rubenstein, Harvey M.. A Guide to Site Planning and Landscape Construction, 4th Edition. 4 ed. New York, NY: Wiley, 1996.

Steadman, Philip. "The organic analogy." In Evolution of Designs (Cambridge Urban and Architectural Studies). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979. 8-20.

The Meaning of Gardens. London: The Mit Press, 1992.

"Introduction ." In The New Architectural Pragmatism: A Harvard Design Magazine Reader (Harvard Design Magazine). Minnesota: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2007. vii-xvii.

Wright, Frank Lloyd. "In the Cause of Architecture i: The Logic of the Plan." In The Essential Frank Lloyd Wright: Critical Writings on Architecture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. 109-114.

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Pranav Naik | [email protected]

taliesin portfolio 1

Documents

architecture school

hanging shelter

hanging tent

taliesin west

page numbers

desired page

better tent

months of spring