Edgar Tafel

Edgar A. Tafel (March 12, 1912 – January 18, 2011) was an American architect, best known as a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Tafel was born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants, and moved to New Jersey with his dressmaking parents. He was educated at the Ferrer Colony and Ferrer Modern School, the Walden School in Manhattan and New York University.

Tafel began his career as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin along with Wesley Peters, John Howe and Abram Dombar, among others. Tafel was considered the "unofficial guardian of the Frank Lloyd Wright School", despite the rift that had developed between Tafel and his late mentor when Tafel left Taliesin to pursue his own work and family. Tafel worked on several of Wright's most famous projects including Fallingwater, Wingspread, and the Johnson Wax Headquarters.

Tafel served in a photographic analysis unit during World War II, afterwards opening his own architectural office in New York City. One of his best known works as a solo practitioner is the Mellin Macnab Building for the First Presbyterian Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. Tafel's design combined Prairie School influences with the Gothic style of the sanctuary, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission called it "a fine example of contemporary design ... used intelligently, to bring a much needed contemporary building into harmony with a neighborhood." The building received a design award from the Fifth Avenue Association.

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