Presentation drawing for Pavilion at Belmont Park (1964)
William Wesley Peters, architect
John H. Howe, delineator
In September, 2021, OA+D Archives began the process of physically transferring the records of Taliesin Architects from the vaults of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation into OA+D collection holdings. Over the period of a week OA+D Archives board members, staff, and volunteers worked with Frank Lloyd Wright Archives staff at Taliesin West to prepare drawings, models, project files, and other materials for removal to new environmentally controlled and secure storage facilities in Chandler, Arizona – not far from the statue of Frank Lloyd Wright that emphasizes the long historical connection of this desert town with Mr. Wright and his client, A. J. Chandler.
Preparations preliminary to the actual work of moving the records did not give a full impression of the vast extent of materials that were being acquired. Once on site, it became clear that the storage facilities engaged previous to our arrival would be insufficient to contain this historically important collection. Board members conferred and realized that the acquisition of the Taliesin Architects records would require a more robust approach for both storage and archival processing than had been anticipated.
To that end, board members undertook the lease of a commercial property that constitutes the first freestanding premises of OA+D Archives. Over a very short period of time, the negotiations with the building owner were concluded with agreement being reached for an initial two-year term of occupancy.
New OA+D Archives under construction
Located in downtown Chandler, Arizona, the building had sat empty since the closing of the business formerly housed in the space several years ago. The interior was in need of extensive retrofitting to serve as an archival facility. Further negotiations with the property owner and a local contractor initiated a construction process to remodel the space. This rehabilitation had to be completed within six weeks for a significant reason: the Taliesin Architects collection proved to be so large that OA+D staff would have to return in November for another full week of work to complete moving everything from Taliesin West.
The first stint of work in September successfully transported a great deal of materials, including the contents of numerous architectural flat file drawers, several hundred record center boxes of project files, seven largescale models of projects like the Belmont Park Racetrack project, a commission of William Wesley Peters done in 1964 (illustrated), and a large volume of photographic 35 mm slides documenting hundreds of other Taliesin Architects designs. Some office equipment was also received.
New OA+D Archives under construction
The remodeling work incurred extensive additional costs, again guaranteed by OA+D Archives board members in order to meet the pressing need to proceed quickly. Fortunately, the contractor moved expeditiously and the space will be ready in November to receive the materials that still remain at Taliesin West. Provision has been made to support working areas for the inventory and digitization of archival materials. A process has been put in place to transfer records data to the new public OA+D online catalog.
Pavilion for Belmont Park Racetrack Model (1964)
Some minimal preliminary inventories of the Taliesin Architects collection were provided by the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. The collection contains over 60,000 architectural drawings, tens of thousands of documents, and numerous photographic records. The existing information is being used to develop a full commission list of projects represented in the materials. Once this data structure has been completed, work can begin on description, conservation, and digitization of individual records.
An estimate of the archival supplies necessary to accommodate the preservation of the Taliesin Architects collection has been made. Based on a rule of thumb formula related to volume, approximately $10,000 will be required to purchase archival document and other shelf boxes, acid free folders, and photographic conservation materials. We are looking for a means to fund these essential supplies.
While some archival work can be done by volunteers, some paid professional staff work will also have to be used. By becoming custodians of this collection, and all the others already present in OA+D Archives, we need your continued financial support to defray the formidable expenses of rent for the new facility, inventory costs, and maintenance of the electronic infrastructure that will make this historical record available to researchers and the public.
We appreciate and use carefully the donations received through this Patreon platform. Your monthly gift does make a real difference to the preservation of the legacy of organic architecture. We thank you for your continued support. We will update you at least monthly with additional information and share the many wonderful discoveries that are coming to light.