Following the news that Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close this year, first-year student Alex Martinec reflects on how it marks not just the end of a physical institution, but the architect's way of thinking.

On 28 January, we were called to an all-school meeting in the Atrium on the grounds of Taliesin West, our campus, with dean Aaron Betsky. He didn't initially tell us why. This was following both a formal evening, which is a Wright established tradition, on 25 January, and a School of Architecture at Taliesin board of governors meeting that same morning.
With students and faculty present, we heard Aaron Betsky announce that the school is closing following the end of this semester, and arrangements will be made for students to transfer into Arizona State University to complete their degree if desired. The upperclassmen will finish up their degrees at the end of this semester and will be the last architects trained at the Taliesin School of Architecture. I am a first-year student just beginning a form of learning that is unique in itself
The school board seems to be between a rock and a hard place, as they are very passionate about this type of learning. They even explored making a new "Taliesin School of Architecture" at another site. But through this process, the school board found it beyond their means to fulfill this option.
The cause of our closure is due to a financial condition that we are unable to sustain, basically our ...