Taliesin Armoire

Paying homage to the Taliesin studio of Frank Lloyd Wright.

In 1927, the Taliesin studio of Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to design a series of 12 monthly covers with seasonal themes for the American magazine Liberty. However, his avant-garde designs were thought to be too radical and were never published.

Designed for the March issue, the ‘Balloons’ cover revealed Wright’s fascination with geometric shapes, particularly the circle, and his belief that circles represent completeness – as evidenced by his architectural legacy.

Published from 1924 to 1950, the magazine featured contributions from many luminaries of the day, including F Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw, Franklin D Roosevelt and Robert Benchley, and also illustrations by notable artists.

Oxidised English rippled sycamore, oxidised English lacewood, American black walnut, white mother-of-pearl, hand-blown art glass and hammered white brass

DIMENSIONS: 259 × 66 × 303cm

The 3-metre tall armoire – which features an ingenious mechanism for raising and lowering the coat rail – takes on a totally different guise after dusk, as internal lighting brings its decorative glass orbs to life.

Inspired by Wright’s ‘March Balloons’ artwork pattern and glass designs, the design references circular wood and white mother-of-pearl inlays and spherical glass orbs with a complex cane twist decoration