Russell Mahoney | Midway.Furniture

M I D W A Y . F U R N I T U R E

The Midway FurnitureTM project is part of my studies at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Masters of Architecture degree program. The program allows for the students to occupy, in their first/second years, a shelter designed and built by a predecessor. Then in the second/third years you have the opportunity to design and build your own shelter. The program, in the past, has been limited to Taliesin West (our Winter campus), but recently has been expanded to Taliesin East (our Summer campus). My shelter will be the third completed shelter at Taliesin. The school gives us a modest budget with the hope that by marketing our projects we will be able to subsidise the cost of construction by soliciting donations in the form of material components, labor, and cash contributions.

The Program considerations to create my shelter residence:
*not tamper with any of the historic fabric of this Frank Lloyd Wright one of a kind structure,
*to harness the quality of natural light and beauty that already exists within the milk room,
*and to create a building module/component that could be easily brought in through tight access,
*and assembled/disassembled in one weekend.

The Answer to these programmatic issues is a concept derived from TINKERTOYS™, which have one exhaustively engineered component, and a more modest straight section which act as the girders and uprights; when combined as modules they tend to create a complex composition. This concept would allow me to move all the components into the tower with relative ease and minimal physical exertion, yet be able to create a more compositionally pleasing space that fulfills my living needs.

The structure can be visited on the tourguide-led Taliesin Estate Tour, Monday through Saturday at 10:30 AM, mid-May through mid-October.

MIDWAY.FURNITURE - Presentation (flash required)

MIDWAY - Marketing Pamphlet

MIDWAY.FURNITURE - "Furniture" Installation Part I (PLAYED AT 1200x speed)

MIDWAY.FURNITURE - "Furniture" Installation Part II (PLAYED AT 1200x speed)

Special thanks to project supporters:

- Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture
- Taliesin Preservation Inc.
- Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
- The Taliesin Fellowship
- Emeco (SUPERLIGHT™ CHAIR by Frank Gehry)
- Maryann Langsten (contributor)
- Grinder (fabrication)
- Frances Freymiller (millwork)
- Chip Hay and Sandra Shane Dubois (black locust lumber)

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