Frank Lloyd Wright School to Close After 88 Years

The architecture school founded by Frank Lloyd Wright during the Great Depression will stop operating after 88 years, CNN reported on Wednesday.

The School of Architecture at Taliesin, with campuses in Wisconsin and Arizona, will close in June.

"We are saddened we could not reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to continue operating the architecture school,” Dan Schweiker, chair of the school's board of governors, said in a press release. "Our innovative school and its mission were integral to Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for connecting architecture to our natural world. Wright's legacy was not just building. It was a school to promulgate the lessons for all future generations."

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation appeared to blame the school board for the decision, saying it “did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operations as an accredited program, according to Independent.

Foundation president Stuart Graff said the 30 students currently enrolled would be allowed to transfer credits to a design school at Arizona State University. 

Board of governors member Jacki Lynn said "It breaks my heart that all the parties could not come together to ensure the proper legacy of this great American," CNN reported

Wright is considered as one of the most important architects from the 20th century, the Independent reported, with eight buildings designed by him included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The school and its backers called the decision to close both “gut-wrenching” and “tragic.”

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