THE PROGRESSION OF Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin East from an evolving experiment to a decaying relic provides an example of a discursive space and insight into the concept of ownership. A recently-submitted master plan for Taliesin’s buildings and landscape intends to preserve the architect’s home in the remote bluffs above the Wisconsin River near Spring Green, WI. Its current state refl ects how tensions which underlie the challenge of interpreting design intent can threaten the only thing capable of representing the architect’s work. The presentation will explore this discursive relationship between a cultural landmark and an occupied, living landscape through historic notes, drawings, and photographs. The goal is to question how to interpret the role of design intent in the cultural representation of Taliesin.