Taliesin Portfolio 1 by Pranav Naik

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

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.

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 fiancĂŠ, 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 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hanging shelterâ&#x20AC;? 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

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 1

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 â&#x20AC;&#x153;westernâ&#x20AC;? 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. 2

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.

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

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 3

Advanced Design Studio

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

Advanced Design Studio

Box One Campus Expansion | Taliesin West New studio + Educational Facilities Personal objectives Respect | Coexist Respect the Architecture of Taliesin west, Assimilate and be able to coexist.

M ai n

is of t

pr ow

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

Design Development + Site plan 5

Advanced Design Studio

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.

Advanced Design Studio

New studio + Educational Facilities

Section BB’

Section AA’

South Elevation

East Elevation

Advanced Design Studio

5 6 7

1 2 3 4

The New prow

1. Concrete precast Fascia

5. Glazing

2. Waterproofing (Hypolon) - Laid to slope

6. Left Precast concrete roof section

3. Hole for rainwater pipe

7. Right Precast concrete roof section

4. Tongue and groove joint

1. 2" Capstone

Chill room 6 7

2. 9" Concrete wall

3. Steel Plate recessed 1/4" 4. Brass 0.025" Pinhole

8 10

5. Steel Plate recessed 1/4"

6. 1x2" Chase 7. Metal reglet

11 3

8. 6mm Toughened glass.

13 16

9. Foam concrete laid to slope.

10. 3x2" G.I. Gutter 17 4

11. 4" Reinforced concrete slab 12. 2x3" Steel C-Section 13. 2.5x9" Steel C-section

5 19

14. 2" Rainwater pipe. 15. 1/4" Gypsum board with openings for light fixtures 16. 3x9" Steel tube

Graphic Design Studio Aris Georges, M.Arch. 12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. Scottsdale, AZ. 85259. 480.286.4222

architecture graphic

design

photography

pnaik@taliesin.edu

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.

architect architect architect 12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

Scottsdale, AZ. 85259.

480.286.4222

pnaik@taliesin.edu

Anthropology Cultural Perspectives of Landscape & House Mary 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. 13

Anthropology

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 4:305:30 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 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh Papa! Can we have a lawn like this?â&#x20AC;? 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 14

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. 15

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.

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

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 16

Anthropology

East Elevation

Design Charette | Proposed Bridge between Scottsdale and Taliesin West.

View from Scottsdale

Plan 17

Anthropology

Nature Patterns Aris 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 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one that is equally important for architects and designers. 19

Nature Patterns

Gene Masselinkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interpretation of a rock.

My reproduction of Geneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work 20

Pranav Naik | 1st Yr. M.Arch.

Nature Patterns

Final Piece - Water drops on rocks 21

Perspective Drawing Frank 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.

Hand Rendering Frank 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.

Rendering with watercolors

Subject: Tourist information center, London, opposite St.Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cathedral 25

Sustainability I & II Donald 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.

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+.

Landscape Evaluation Phase I & II Chris 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.

Taliesin West as text Sidney Robinson, ArchD, AIA; Jim Erickson Taliesin 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.

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. 36

pranav naik | 1st yr. m.arch

Living room roof | solution

Taliesin West as Text

Addition of a steel frame around the roof

Re p l a c i n g t h e t w o - p a r t stanchion with a single steel section.

A steel tie beam to hold the new and old structural system together. 37

Analyze, Design, Build. 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, mechanisms, and 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.

Preliminary Desk Design 39

Analyze, Design, Build

Second Desk Design (Orthogonal Group)

Analyze, Design, Build

Cutting timber to fit in the truck

Finishing with an Oil stain 41

Independent Study | Additions to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hanging Shelterâ&#x20AC;?

Hanging Shelter

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 35.3Ë&#x161; angle and its complementary angle, along with a few 45, and 90s. 44

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 45

Hanging Shelter

Travel, Field Trips and Community activities

Travel, Field Trips and Community activities 50

Travel, Field Trips and Community activities

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 placemarker of a lifetime of learning. Pranav Naik

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Pranav Naik | naikpranav@gmail.com