Symposium co-chairs (Professor Desmond left)

Architecture professor Michael Desmond was a co-chair organizer of the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality 2019 Symposium in May. His gave a keynote lecture entitled “Prairies as Prelude: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Idea of Continuity.” The symposium centered around the topic “continuity in/of architecture, culture, and spirituality.”

“The work of Wright is summed up by the thought of William James as ‘Our minds are not here simply to copy a reality that is already complete’,” Desmond said of his lecture theme. “‘Instead of many things, one thing’ – Frank Lloyd Wright.”

The Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum hosted its 2019 Symposium in Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ, an internationally recognized icon and destination for most architects, landscape architects, and designers. “Illuminated by the visionary and mystical figure of Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, Taliesin West offers participants a place that is naturally and architecturally beautiful and inspiring,” he said.

The three keynote speakers were renowned architect Will Bruder, Frank Lloyd Wright scholar Michael Desmond, and internationally recognized Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa, the recipient of the 2019 ACSF Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Taliesin West “is the perfect context where to meditate, sense, discuss, and even plan how to best harness the continuous interactions between nature, design, and spirituality,” according to the symposium organizers. “It also permits attendees to consider the little-addressed yet important legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright’s spiritual sensibility, belief, and practices vis-à-vis his work. Spending time within and without the remarkable Taliesin West will surely make participants better understand this contribution (60 years after his passing) in light of the mission of ACSF and the huge challenges facing the world today.”

Established in 2007, the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum provides an international forum for scholarship, education, practice, and advocacy regarding the cultural and spiritual significance of the built environment. ACSF believes that the design and experience of the built environment can assist the spiritual development of humanity in service of addressing the world’s most pressing issues.