Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Ariz.- The Taliesin Mod.Fab, a sustainable residential prototype that employs modular fabrication techniques and is big on modern aesthetics and quality, modestly sized, and flexible enough to operate on or off the utilities grid, is the latest design and construction brainchild of students at the prestigious Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

At just 600-square feet (12 feet by 50 feet) and integrating landscaped outdoor space with a breezeway and a terrace, this desert dwelling is similar in scope to a one-bedroom apartment with a large great room, a bathroom and a galley kitchen comprising the floor plan.

Yet Mod.Fab epitomizes the versatility and efficiency of an artfully conceived and executed free-standing small living space with the added feature of environmental sensitivity. The structure is indeed habitable. It is situated on The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s Taliesin West campus and is currently housing The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture’s visiting faculty, lecturers and architects.

Mod.Fab is also commercially viable. The school is currently in discussions with prospective manufacturing partners. The cost to consumers is expected to fall within the $75,000 to $120,000 range, and would include a licensing fee, architectural plans and a list of on-the-shelf materials. Consumers could outfit Mod.Fab with interior furnishings that run from high-end to a more bare-bones approach depending on their budgets.

“The enterprising graduate and undergraduate students of The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture undertook this groundbreaking project for several reasons: to address important issues facing today’s built environment, including living compactly and sustainably; to bring a fresh perspective to the ‘learning by doing’ credo that is so integral to our educational philosophy; and to create more on-campus lodging to accommodate the growth of the school,” explained Victor Sidy, dean of the professionally accredited Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

The primary materials are structural insulated panels that allow for speed, economy and high insulation, whether assembled on site, as was the case with the prototype, or in a would-be mass production setting within a factory. It uses standard aluminum sliding glass doors and windows. Mod.Fab is appropriately dimensioned and engineered with a steel chassis sized to enable it to be transported via roadway. The structure could easily conform to most building sites, as it rests on the ground at only six points and claims a minimal footprint.

Mod.Fab can either be connected to utilities or run completely “unplugged.” It relies on a combination of passive and active environmental control systems, including low-consumption fixtures, rainwater harvesting, greywater re-use, natural ventilation, solar orientation and photovoltaics to reduce energy and water use.

“From a design perspective, Mod.Fab features many of the forms that the school’s founder, celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright, used, among them the cantilever, distinctly defined planes, covered outdoor areas and red squares, albeit it in fun and surprising ways,” Sidy noted.

“Mod.Fab was built primarily with student labor and with the generous contributions of many leaders in the building industry who are as keen as the school on Mod.Fab’s potential, including Wofl/Subzero for appliances, Brizo for plumbing fixtures, Glaz-Tech Industries for fixed glass, Floorgres/Florim Ceramiche Spa for tile, IKEA for cabinetry, Spellman Hard Woods, Inc., for stone counters, Premier Building Systems for structural insulated panels and Kyko Roofing Systems,” Sidy added.

Michael P. Johnson, faculty lead on the project, said, “The most important learning experience for the students on this project is the refinement of detailing. No matter how small or large the building, the search for perfection is not out of reach.”

Mod.Fab is outgrowth of Taliesin Shelter program

Designing and constructing small, sustainable, personal and livable structures is an ongoing endeavor for the students of The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Mod.Fab takes its cues from the school’s famed Taliesin Shelter program, which one observer described as "the hippest dormitory in the world,” and which exemplifies the school's learning by doing credo pioneered by Wright.

For more than 70 years, students have been building, designing and living in their own one-person, free-standing shelters in the desert at Taliesin West, the school's winter campus in Arizona. First-year students generally construct simple eight-foot-by-eight-foot square tents consisting of a base of concrete and native stone, and topped with canvas stretched over a metal frame. Later, students may chose to fashion more elaborate shelters or enlarge existing ones, resourcefully using such building components as steel, glass, aluminum and acrylic. All shelters respect the fragile desert eco system while being exposed to the vagaries of weather and, often, the unannounced visits by all manner of desert wildlife.

Students have begun to adapt the concept for the hilly terrain at the school's summer campus at Taliesin in Spring Green Wisconsin, calling them prairie shelters. Taliesin and Taliesin West, once Wright’s own homes and studios, continue to serve as the twin campuses for the school. The school’s student body, faculty and staff maintain the practice, initiated by Wright, of migrating across country from one locale to the other according to the seasons, affording the students the well-rounded opportunity to learn architecture within different climates, geography and design standards.

“As designer, client, builder and inhabitant of their personal shelters, students quickly learn if their dwellings are livable and suitable to the nature of the site and the materials – all essential lessons that will inform their future careers as professional architects,” Sidy said. “Living within a simplicity of means, understanding the essence of shelter, and building with sensitivity to the environment are also the top issues facing design professionals today. Mod.Fab elevates the concept of the shelter program and certainly responds to those priorities as well.”


Editor’s note: The student shelter program will be featured at the upcoming exhibition Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, which will be on view at the Guggenheim Museum in New York from May 15 to August 23, 2009. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which owns and operates The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, is loaning some 200 original Wright drawings and many other items from its vast Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, widely regarded as the largest of its kind devoted to the works of a single artist worldwide. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation are co-organizing the exhibition in recognition of the 50th anniversary of both the opening of the Guggenheim Museum and of Wright's death. The shelter exhibition, Learning by Doing, will take place at the Sackler Center for Arts Education at the Guggenheim Museum.

About The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture
The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin is the realization of Wright’s idea that architects should develop their skills through hands-on experience. Students of the School are educated through a program that includes architectural studio work, construction, social and cultural programs and supplementary classes. The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture offers programs leading to two degrees: the pre-professional Bachelor of Architectural Studies and the professional Master of Architecture. The School, including both programs, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The National Architectural Accrediting Board accredits the professional Master of Architecture degree. The School is operated by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Ariz. More information about the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is at www.taliesin.edu.

About The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is emerging as a leading global multi-disciplinary center for education, scholarship, debate and research committed to the place of architecture and the arts in enriching the quality and dignity of life. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s mission is to: educate and engage diverse audiences through programs that encourage innovative thinking about the relationships between architecture and design and the natural environment, and inspire a quest for beauty, balance and harmony in the creation of buildings and spaces that enrich daily life; and preserve the works, ideas and innovative spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright for the benefit of all generations. Wright established the Foundation, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1940 to be the repository of his life’s work. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation owns and operates: Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Taliesin West in Scottsdale (Wright’s own homes and studios); the professionally accredited Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture; and The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, widely regarded as the largest of its kind devoted to the works of a single artist worldwide. Both Taliesin and Taliesin West are National Historic Properties and are on the United States World Heritage Tentative List. More information about The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is at www.franklloydwright.org.