Cornelia Brierly

KevinW · Post by **KevinW** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:16 pm

Early Taliesin Fellow Cornelia Brierly passed away last night.

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:30 pm

The end of an era. My condolences to Indira.

m.perrino · Post by **m.perrino** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:48 pm

I have been advised that a memorial service is scheduled for the future, possibly in October. I may be mistaken, but I believe that Cornelia was the last member of the original Fellowship from 1932.

I feel sad for Indira and her family. Cornelia lived a life many of us can only dream about. Creative. Independent. Productive.

Rood · Post by **Rood** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:02 pm

How tragic. Condolences to Indira and to Anna, too.

Cornelia was my first "boss" at Taliesin in what I soon learned was the usual frantic preparation at TW for guests (in this case Mr. & Mrs. Loveness and their young children), so we go back a long way. Who can forget her good, innate sense of the appropriate, her hearty laugh, and her right-on takeoff of Mae West. Whatever it was Cornelia did, even in the midst of chaos, she was a reliable rock of confident good sense.

SpringGreen · Post by **SpringGreen** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:24 pm

Cornelia entered the Fellowship in 1934. I once heard her tell the story about how she was on a site owned by Edgar Kaufmann, Sr. in SW Pennsylvania with FLW. She remembered that Mr. Wright had said to her that, basically, he wanted to beat the modernists at their own game. That site, of course, was where Fallingwater was constructed.

Wrightgeek · Post by **Wrightgeek** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:54 pm

While it is indeed sad that Ms. Brierly has passed, by all accounts she had a long, full and rich life, filled with many great friends and experiences. We should all be so fortunate. May peace be with her and her family.

And thanks to KevinW for letting us all know this news.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:49 pm

Yes, KevinW, thanks for letting us know.

My wife and I had the pleasure to meet Ms. Brierly just a few months ago when we had the opportunity to stay at Taliesin West. Though in frail health, she was able to sit with us and share some time and some of her thoughts. We both treasured our short visit with her and her daughter.

David

SpringGreen · Post by **SpringGreen** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:35 pm

This statement comes from the facebook page of Taliesin West:

With great sadness we must report that Cornelia Brierly passed away Friday, August 24th, after a brief hospitalization in Arizona at the age of 99. Cornelia joined Frank Lloyd Wrightâ€™s Taliesin Fellowship in 1934, three years before Wright began building Taliesin West.

Among her career highlights in architecture, Cornelia helped present the "Broadacre City" model to the American public and recalled surveying, with Mr. Wright, the site that would become â€œFallingwater.â€� She is the author of Tales of Taliesin.

She is survived by her daughters, Indira Berndtson and Anna Coor. A memorial service is being planned for Taliesin West in late October. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to support the Taliesin Entry Gardens that Cornelia spent so much time and care stewarding.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 6:57 am

Woman believed to be oldest survivor of Taliesin Fellowship dies at 99

David

Rood · Post by **Rood** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 2:56 pm

Cornelia loved to tell stories about the time she was interviewed by the State Board for her Landscape License ...

One question she was asked that the board must have been sure she couldn't answer was if she knew anything about the Kareez, or in Arabic, the Ganat.

Having just returned from Iran, she could only say, "Know anything? I've been in one!" after which she giggled a little.

Ganats are hand-dug canals found in arid countries, canals that are often deeply underground.

http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroas ... /index.htm

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:29 pm

Good Morning Cornelia - [0:35]

David

SpringGreen · Post by **SpringGreen** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 6:35 pm

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcent ... =159418978

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:17 am

Pioneering architect Cornelia Brierly dies at 99

David

rightwaswright · Post by **rightwaswright** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 4:01 pm

DavidC wrote:Woman believed to be oldest survivor of Taliesin Fellowship dies at 99

David

Taliesin "survivor" seems like a strange way to put it. It's not like Taliesin was Pearl Harbor or Bataan.

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 4:52 pm

Taliesin "survivor" seems like a strange way to put it. It's not like Taliesin was Pearl Harbor or Bataan.

To some, time spent with Mrs. Wright or Iovanna may have been considered along those lines.

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