Edgar Tafel

Edgar A. Tafel (born 1912) is an American architect who began his career as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin (studio) alongside with William Wesley Peters, John Howe and Abrom Dombar among others. Today, Tafel is considered the "unofficial guardian of the Frank Lloyd Wright School". [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3601/is_40_47/ai_75481495 Renowned architect Edgar Tafel receives honorary degree at Geneseo - Doctor of Fine Arts from State University of New York at Geneseo] ] This is despite the rift that developed between Tafel and his late mentor when Tafel left Taliesin to pursue his own work and family. [ [http://www.gadflyonline.com/02-18-02/comm-fallingwater.html Fallingwater Is Falling Apart] ] Tafel worked on several of Wright's most famous projects including Fallingwater, Wingspread, and the Johnson Wax Headquarters.

Tafel is also recognized for his own work including the First Presbyterian Church Addition on Fifth Avenue in New York City, the 1964 master plan for the campus of SUNY Geneseo and its "design gem" Brodie Hall, and the 1947 Silver House in Racine, Wisconsin. He has also published books about Wright including "Years with Frank Lloyd Wright" (1985) and "About Wright" (1993), and produced a film "The Frank Lloyd Wright Way", which won first prize at the 1995 Houston International Film Festival.

In 2006, Tafel gave $3.2 million to Cornell University's renowned Department of Architecture. [ [http://architecture.cornell.edu Cornell Department of Architecture ] ] to endow the Edgar A. Tafel Professorship in Architecture and the Tafel Architecture Lecture Series. [ [http://cornellsun.com/node/19546 "Guggenheim Architect Speaks: Edgar Tafel, Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice, comes to C.U."] ]

Honors

* Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa - SUNY Geneseo, 2001
* Edgar Tafel Distinguished Chair in the School of Architecture at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign [ [http://www.arch.uiuc.edu/people/faculty/bbognar/TafelChairFinal_2006.pdf Edgar Tafel Chair in American Architecture] ]

References