Monthly Update
Spring 2023 Journal Available For Pre-Order
Spring is in the air (finally) and that means the next issue (Volume 11 :: Number 1) of our flagship publication, The Journal of Organic Architecture + Design is finishing up production and will soon be printed and ready for mailing. This double-sized issue is a long-overdue monograph on the life and creative work of architect and Taliesin Fellow, Charles Robert Schiffner.
Joining Taliesin in 1968, Schiffner proceeded to contribute to the work underway by the Taliesin Associated Architects on projects throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. This included his celebrated work on "The House of the Future" in Ahwatukee near Chandler, AZ, as well as dozens of other residences and public projects. After leaving Taliesin in 1982, Charles went on to form his own architecture firm, Charles Schiffner & Associates, which produced hundreds of residential, commercial, government, religious, and major transportation projects. The impact of his creative work on Phoenix and the surrounding valley is indelible and now finally illuminated in this publication.
This 100 page journal features an introductory essay by Charles as well as scores of never-before-published photos, drawings, and artwork that feature Charles's firsthand insights into their creation.
Subscribers should automatically receive their copies when the journal is available. If you need to renew your subscription so as not to miss this issue, do so HERE.
Otherwise, you can pre-order the individual issue HERE.
From The Archives
2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's lost masterpiece, the Imperial Hotel. Throughout the year we'll be featuring some of the hundreds of items OA+D is fortunate enough to have in its collections that are connected to the building.
This month we feature an extremely rare multi-page brochure titled "The Jewel of the Orient," published circa early 1923 as part of the public relations and marketing campaign surrounding the opening of the new Imperial Hotel. It's a remarkable and thorough documentation of the Hotel, featuring several photographs of the building inside and out, and just prior to the Great Kanto Earthquake which hit Japan on September 1, 1923. The Hotel famously survived (mostly intact) from the natural disaster, which helped cement Wright's fame across the globe as an architectural genius.
Rare and unique items like this have been gathered over the years in order to aid in long-term study, appreciation, and understanding of this lost architectural masterpiece. We are planning other special ways to mark the centennial of the Hotel — more to be announced soon!
If you happen to have other materials related to the Imperial Hotel (or any other organic architectural or design items) that you're interested in donating to join other materials like these, please let us know by contacting us at info@oadarchives.org.
OA+D NEWS & EVENTS
Lautner Cabins Special Event — You're Invited!
We are pleased to invite you to the closing event for John Lautner’s Pearlman Cabin & Walstrom Residence exhibition at Architekton, a collaboration between The Organic Architecture + Design Archives, The School of Architecture (TSOA), and the John Lautner Foundation.
Please join us at Architekton from 5-7PM for a reception and speaking event. This exhibition, featuring two unique residential works by Lautner, a renowned American architect and early apprentice of the Taliesin Fellowship, first opened to the public at TSOA’s Arcosanti campus in the Fall of 2022, and has been re-located and re-organized by TSOA students at the offices of Architekton in Tempe, Arizona.
The closing event on March 31, 2023, will reflect on the two projects, the two exhibitions, the creative process, and future potentials of future exhibitions as the collection of materials continue to travel and grow.
Closing event speakers will include:
• Christopher Carr, Architect, John Lautner Foundation, OA+D Archives
• A. Louis Wiehle, Architect, Wiehle-Carr Architects
• Stephanie Lin, Dean, The School of Architecture
• Christopher Dela Pole & Romina Frohar, Students, The School of Architecture
• Eddie Jones, Architect, Jones Studio
• John Kane, Architect, Architekton
• Alan Hess, Educator, Historian and Author
Please RSVP HERE We look forward to seeing you there! For more information on the exhibition click here.
This is an exciting and meaningful way in which the materials in the OA+D collections help serve as the basis for educational outreach and engagement with younger and diverse audiences. We need your support to help us produce exhibits like this and foster additional educational opportunities. The Lautner Cabins exhibit in particular needs to see us raise several thousand dollars for costs associated with the event. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help support these exhibition efforts HERE. Be sure to add "EXHIBITION" to the notes to let us know of your support and THANKS!