Photograph showing a sample of typical Arizona desert. The mountains and flat valleys were very important in many of Wright's desert designs because they added a challenge to building a structure that would fit comfortably with its surroundings. Photo taken from Entertainment Magazine On-Line, http://www.emol.org/emol/arizona/photos.html [link is no longer available] The southwestern corner of the United States is unique because it is home to a wide variety of climates. One of the climates present in this part of the country is desert. A recent definition of the word in Webster's Dictionary describes it as "an arid, sandy region capable of supporting only a few, usually specialized life forms". Desert climates represent some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet which dramatically reduce the number of species that can thrive there. This lack of species leads to a very characteristic look for most desert regions, usually sandy terrain sparsely populated with little or no vegetation. It is a very distinct look that influences anything man-made, especially buildings.   The desert is home to many different species of vegetation. Most common types include cacti, which can be seen here in its Prickly Pear form. Photo taken from Entertainment Magazine On-Line, http://www.emol.org/emol/arizona/photos.html [link is no longer available] The Sonoran Desert reaches up into the United States from Mexico and is a typical desert climate, less extreme than some. The climate varies according to the time of year and the latitude. Summer temperatures in southern parts average over 100 degrees with winter temperatures around 75 degrees. Rain levels are very low, only about 3 inches a year in extreme locations, with about 7 inches in the Phoenix area. This limits the species found in these locations, vegetation is limited to citrus, Joshua, paloverde, cottonwood, palm, olive, and many species of cacti. These cacti include saguaro, cholla, barrel, and prickly pear (Encyclopedia Americana, "Arizona"). These species will prove very important in many of Wright's desert designs because they represent much of the nature that enhances most of his architecture. In a discussion of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in his autobiography, Wright states that the pattern of Arizona architecture "is the sahuro. The sahuro itself is a perfect example of 'reinforced' construction. With its interior vertical rods it holds upright the great columnar mass for six centuries or more. A truer skyscraper than the functioneer builds" (An Autobiography, p.331).   Photograph showing The Funeral Mountains of Death Valley in the background, and gravel fans in the foreground which were characteristic of California's desert terrain. Photo taken from Hunt, p. 71. The climate of Death Valley, CA is similar to that of Arizona's deserts. Death Valley is about 140 miles long with widths varying from 4 to 16 miles for a total area of 550 square miles. An area of Death Valley known as Badwater is 282 feet below see level, the lowest land in the western hemisphere. The temperatures here have a tendency to be higher than in Arizona. Death Valley's record high temperature in the shade was 134 degrees, and humidity levels often fall below 1% because there is so little water anywhere. Death Valley has a very complex geology because of certain glacial conditions which prevailed in the ice age. These conditions are reflected in Wright's architecture of the Johnson Desert Compound which carefully includes features for the enjoyment of the beautiful desert landscape. Death Valley is the first desert Wright experienced, and this will become very important in his future desert designs (Encyclopedia Americana, "Death Valley").
site created 4/15/98 by W. Derek Weems wdwee@yahoo.com Last Updated on August 22, 2004 01:25:28 PM