Visitor killed at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Arizona

A visitor from Brazil was killed at Taliesin West, the historic winter home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, after a piece of the roof was blown off by high winds. Rogério Renato Mateucci, 55, was struck in the head and died instantly during a tour last Friday, according to Scottsdale police.

The National Weather Service recorded wind gusts of up to 38 mph at the nearby Scottsdale Airport during the incident. The UNESCO World Heritage site, which serves as a desert laboratory and draws up to 100,000 annual visitors, has been closed to the public until further notice by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Mateucci, a rector at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil, was visiting the United States to attend an international program at Arizona State University. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has offered condolences, and while a police investigation is active, authorities stated it does not prevent the site from eventually reopening.