AN INTERVIEW WITH VICTOR SIDY, DEAN AT TALIESIN
When we first broke the story of the Taliesin School of Architecture's new Mod.Fab™ project, people were naturally excited. With all the challenges in the housing market faced in the last years and the fate of sustainable residential design up in the air, a new way forward from the school that Frank Lloyd Wright built was a breath of fresh air. We decided to speak with the school's dean, Victor Sidy, about the Mod.Fab™ project, how it came to be and what the future holds for this new take on Organic Architecture ideals.
Eric: Can you talk a little bit about the inception of the Mod.Fab™ project and why the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture took it on?
Victor: The project addressed a number of objectives for us. We needed more housing to accommodate the growth of the School, we wanted to engage in a project that would take a stand for issues that are important to us, like living compactly, sustainably, and elegantly. We also felt that it was important to give new life to the "learning by doing" credo so celebrated at Taliesin. At one point we were interested in participating in the Solar Decathlon, but that competition has become a bit unwieldy and quite expensive in recent years. This was an opportunity to participate in the conversation on our own terms.
Eric: What was the initial scope of the project and did that change over the course of its execution?
Victor: Initially, we were looking at a much larger building - 16' x 60'. This project is slightly larger than 12' x 50', which includes the outdoor spaces. As the students and faculty worked on the design, they constantly asked what could be removed and refined without compromising the essential characteristics of the design, resulting in a project that was far more affordable to build and in many ways, more finely tailored.
Eric: What are the projected costs of building other structures like this? Are you looking for someone to make this concept available to the public?
Victor: We expect the Mod.Fab™ to cost in the neighborhood of $75K - $115K depending on materials/add-ons/finish out. We are looking for manufacturing partners who we could license the design to. They would be able to set the price based on their own economics.
Eric: When people see this very modern cottage, they don't associate it with Wright. Is that counter-intuitive for the school he founded?
Victor: One of the strengths of the Mod.Fab™ in my mind is that it aims to "eliminate the insignificant," a discipline that Frank Lloyd Wright would ask his students to consider in their own designs. If viewed from a design perspective, the project takes many of the forms that Wright liked to use, such as the cantilever, distinctly defined planes, covered outdoor areas, and red squares, and emphasizes them in surprising ways. We want to have fun with the Wright legacy, not just dust it off every once in a while. Re-hashing a stodgy Wrightian style would have been contrary to one of Wright's most important principles, that "Architecture is life itself." Life has vigor, and this was important for us to express in the design of the Mod.Fab.
Eric: Would you describe the Mod.Fab™ cottage as a work of Organic Architecture? Why or why not?
Victor: If Organic Architecture, as Wright often said, is architecture that is "appropriate to Time, Place, and Man," than I applaud our project team's interest in addressing the needs of our time, which includes new expectations of how one dwells in our contemporary world. The project is designed by students and faculty born in the mid to late 20th Century. The context in which they are designing is far different than that Wright was familiar with; probably 2/3 of the materials used were not available until recently. As well, sustainability concerns were major design determinate for the projects, particularly with regard to natural ventilation, rainwater harvesting, solar orientation, photovoltaic panels, energy and water consumption, etc. These are strategies that support our core values, first and foremost. Whether or not architectural aficionados attach the "Organic" moniker to the building is of less concern to us.
Eric: Does the school have plans to design and build more of these sorts of projects?
Victor: We'd like to continue to refine our ideas, and use these projects to increase our campus housing stock for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. We may look into building smaller structures like this, but regardless, what is most important is that our students have the opportunity to take an idea and turn it into realizable, built form. pm
::Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture
::More images and info on the Mod.Fab™
::PrairieMod™ Mod.Fab™ coverage
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