A visitor at Taliesin West was killed last week after a large piece of clear roofing material tore off the roof in strong wind and struck him in the head. Scottsdale police said the man was Rogério Renato Mateucci, a university rector from Brazil who had stopped at the landmark to admire its architecture.
The death has put Taliesin West back under scrutiny because it happened in a place visited for its design, not for danger. Mateucci was in Arizona with a group of Brazilian education leaders, and the fatal blow came on Friday afternoon as wind swept across the site.
Witnesses described a sudden gust that made standing difficult. One said the wind was strong enough that she was almost knocked over, and another recalled a scream moments after the gust passed. When she looked over, she said it was apparent that he had a head injury and that there was blood around his head area.
The fatal strike also sharpened the concern that the landmark may not have been fully protected against loose roof material. A former Taliesin West employee said he had seen two other items break loose from the roof during his six months on the job, including one similar piece of clear paneling he recorded during a July monsoon. He said the elements had clearly affected the structural safety of some of the buildings and added that he did not think enough money was being directed to keep the building safe.
Taliesin West is Frank Lloyd Wright’s former home, a fact that has long made it a destination for people drawn to architecture. On Monday, the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná held a gathering to honor Mateucci, underscoring how quickly a routine stop at a celebrated landmark turned into a death that now raises a hard question: what, if anything, will be done to keep wind from turning more roof material into a weapon?
