CHICAGO, IL ( July 8, 2019 ) — The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is proud to announce that the
Frederick C. Robie House ( 1908-1910 ) and Unity Temple ( 1905-08 ), both architectural masterpieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, have been officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Designed in the first decade of the 20th century in his Oak Park Studio, both Unity Temple and the Robie House are landmark buildings and standards of Wright's unique Prairie style, the first consummately American architecture. Unity Temple ( 1905-08 ), strikingly geometric in form, was Wright's first public building to feature exposed concrete, announcing a new era of modern innovation. The Robie House ( 1908-10 ), located in Chicago's Hyde Park on the campus of University of Chicago, is the supreme expression of Wright's Prairie style, unrelentingly horizontal in form and incorporating an interior open plan that would influence modern architectural design for the next century.
The UNESCO designation coincides with the Trust's announcement of a new Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor and Education Center that will deepen its educational impact on residents of the Chicago area and over 150,000 visitors from around the world to the Trust's five Wright sites annually. Trust President & CEO Celeste Adams stated, "This UNESCO designation firmly establishes Wright's place on the international stage of modern architecture. We look forward to sharing his great cultural heritage in the Chicago area with a growing international audience."
The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust perpetuates Wright's philosophy and design legacy to a regional, national, and international audience through multi-lingual public tours, video programming, lectures, seminars, teacher conferences, web-based curriculum resources, publications, and travel offerings to Wright sites worldwide.
Other Frank Lloyd Wright sites added to the list as part of the group nomination: Taliesin ( begun 1911, Spring Green, Wisconsin ); Hollyhock House ( constructed 1918-1921, Los Angeles, California ); Fallingwater ( constructed 1936-1939, Mill Run, Pennsylvania ); the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House ( constructed 1936-1937, Madison, Wisconsin ); Taliesin West ( begun 1938, Scottsdale, Arizona ) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum ( constructed 1956-1959, New York, New York ). The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is co-organizer of the Wright serial nomination with the National Park Service. For more information about Unity Temple and Robie House, visit flwright.org .
Considered the greatest American architect of the 20th century, Wright joins pioneers of modern architecture already inscribed on the prestigious list, including Gerrit Rietveld, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa. There are more than 1,000 World Heritage sites around the world, and the group of Wright sites is now among 24 sites in the U.S.
About the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust's mission is to engage, educate and inspire the public through interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright's design legacy and preservation of his original sites for future generations. Owner of Wright's Home and Studio, the Trust operates public tours and programs at five Chicago area historic sites: Wright's Home and Studio ( 1889/1898 ) and Unity Temple ( 1905-08 ) in Oak Park; the Frederick C. Robie House ( 1908-10 ) located on the campus of University of Chicago in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood; The Rookery Light Court ( 1905 ) in the Chicago Loop; and Emil Bach House ( 1915 ) in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.
About The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to facilitate the preservation and stewardship of the remaining structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright through advocacy, education and technical services.
—From a press release
