William Wesley Peters was Frank Lloyd Wright’s apprentice. You can see Wright’s influence in this building, but you might call it “Wright gone wrong.” Wright was undeniably one of the greatest architectural geniuses of all time, his apprentice[s] not so much. Most adherents of Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship achieve more notoriety than fame and for good reason: Genius may be easily imitated but not easily duplicated. Wright’s principles of Organic Architecture and his respect for nature were well ahead of his time. It would behoove other architects to reinterpret those enduring principles without trying to mimic the Master; otherwise, it fails spectacularly. Perhaps Wright’s apprentices were too fearful of the Master’s domineering personality or too unsure of themselves to breakout on their own. Whatever the reason, Wright stands alone.

I might compare Wright to the Beatles who were innovators in music, revolutionary and fearless in the exploration of their art but hardly influential in an enduring way. Sometimes, the greats must be held aloft as a unique aberration, appreciated as a moment in history and a monument to their craft. They remain on their pedestals as perfectly sculpted Greek gods; we mere mortals admiring in awe. But as with the mythical gods of Greece, ultimately receding in the mist of time, forever a memory of what once was, or what once might have been.