Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings

With a trip to Chicago and Wisconsin in October 2024, I was finally able to complete visits to all the UNESCO inscribed Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. I was only able to view the Jacobs house from the streets, but took a tour of Taliesin, a very worthwhile visit.

The highlight of the trip, which included Chicago, the Oak Park neighborhood and viewings of various other Wright sites was the Estate Tour of Taliesin, which ran from 9:15-1:15. This seemed to the be most comprehensive tour being offered at the time. It included the residence, but also the school, his sister’s home, and an opportunity to view many of the other Wright designed out buildings – barns, a windmill, and more.

On the same trip, I visited Madison for a view of the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House and some of the other Wright designed buildings in Madison, including the Unitarian Meeting House (recommended). The Jacobs House is viewable from two sides.

Before leaving the Chicago area, I also revisited a few sites including Wright’s Oak Park Studio and Home and the Robie House. On my prior visit I had not entered Unity Temple, something I made up for this day. 

It was a beautiful autumn day (before the election, Halloween decorations up) and I was able to explore the neighborhood seeing around two dozen Wright designed home from the street in Oak Park and neighboring River Forest. The Oak Park Studio offers a walking self-guided audio …

In 2014, we took a long weekend trip to New York. t was the first time I stayed in New York after two previous short day trips. We found out this city has lots to offer as we saw tons of sights and barely made it of the island or even North of Central Park. One of our trips was to Central park and while there we took some pictures on the outside of the Guggenheim museum, a UNESCO world heritage site. We did not go in however, and visited the museum of Natural history on the other side of the park instead.

This UNESCO site apparently consists out of five buildings of which I have only visited one so far. And that one I have only seen from the outside. Still plenty to explore. This building is famous around the world as well as the museum that is in it. New York is of course very easily accessible from anywhere as long as you can beat the traffic.

I found an opportunity to visit Frederic C. Robie House in Chicago recently, which was my third visited building for this property. True to the inscription, the house exhibits discernible elements of “organic architecture” and a number of techniques and solutions that mark Frank Lloyd Wright as one of the foremost innovators of the 20th century in his field. And yet it is somewhat underwhelming once you step inside. There are lovely partially stained-glass windows throughout, notable built-in features doubling as decorative elements, and examples of impressive masonry echoing the exterior, but the relative emptiness of the house mutes the impression quite a bit.

Enthusiastic students of architecture - especially of its modern history - will certainly get significant value out of visiting Robie House. The guide provides a lot of context, historical nuggets, and rationale behind architectural decisions to make it worthwhile. Visually, Guggenheim and Fallingwater are degrees of magnitude more impressive. Even Kentuck Knob, which is not part of the WH inscription, retains a bigger visual impression in my memory a good decade after my trip there.

Robie House can be reached from the Chicago Loop area in under an hour by public transport – or in about 15 minutes by car. Guided tours run throughout the day, starting every half hour and lasting about 45 minutes. Advanced reservations are required these days.

When it comes to Guggenheim, it is my "hometown" sight - I have visited it many times over the years, most recently …

I loved understanding the mind of this artist. I learned that he was more of an artist than a structural engineer. Truly fascinating.

I visited only one location of this WHS in October 2010. Even though I'm not a fan of modern architecture, I was positively impressed by some of the iconic buildings in New York City. It felt like being in a movie, as many of those buildings featured in many films I had seen.

I remember seeing the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for the first time after an enjoyable NBA match at Madison Square Garden and a stroll in Central Park. Its unique architecture and white colour make it stand out among the regular vertical high rise buildings, without being an eyesore or too much of a contrast, which I personally find is the main problem of most modern architecture (such as for example the other Guggenheim in Bilbao).

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's interior is equally as impressive as its exterior, not for its eccentric art on display but for its architecture. The spiralling ramp in the cylindrical part of the building was my personal highlight and in a way it reminded me of the Musei Vaticani's famous spiral staircase designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932.

I really hope to visit Fallingwater, the waterfall house described as Frank Lloyd Wright's "most beautiful job" to be able to take in this site's OUV on a much smaller scale, especially after the negative experience I recently had in the Tugendhat Villa in Brno, Czechia.

It seems very strange to me that many reviewers have been to the famous Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York but did not write any review on this stunning piece of architecture, since I visited this museum last month on the special day that the museum was very quiet and almost empty by the change of the whole exhibition, allowing a big chance to admire its architecture detail with almost no restriction to take photo. Located on the famous Fifth Avenue next to the beautiful Central Park, the museum exterior was really stunning with unique design that some people said toilet-liked building, but for me, it's pure white color really reminded me a spinning top, a really contrast to its surrounding of luxury apartments.

Inside, the famous spiral atrium was truly amazing, very futuristic and really beautiful piece of art by itself. The natural light in the atrium from the glass roof was quite a genius as not only bright the atrium hall, but also gave the feeling of warm and soft atmosphere to the whole place. I took an elevator to the top floor; the elevator itself was also quite unique with semi-circular or actually half oval shaped. From the top floor I walked on the ramp to the lower floor. Since there was no exhibition, I really questioned how the museum displays the art, especially painting with slope floor and little bend out wall. I continued to other exhibition halls and other small atrium. The small …

I will be among one of the many who will happily cheer when Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings get listed as World Heritage in 2016. I was able to visit two nominated sites in May 2015 - the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and Taliesin West in Arizona.

Taliesin West is indeed a masterpiece; a building that is alive and blends well with its environment. Wright's concept of organic architecture is beautifully manifested in the construction materials (stones with desert varnish). From the inside, the arrangement of windows and passageways naturally "frame" the desert landscape outside. The nearby hill is also enhanced by the house's slanted rooflines. Simply put: architecture as poetry!

Why isn't the Bradley House in Kankakee Illinois (USA) included? It is a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright home that is often forgotten. While in High School I worked there as a hostess for the Yesteryear Restaurant. There is a stream flowing beneath the home and it displays beautiful architecture.

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the great architects of the 20th century, with a far-reaching influence and legacy of design that we encounter frequently in our own homes and communities. In this review, I will attempt to briefly include impressions and relevant information for each building.

Hollyhock House is a real gem in Los Angeles. Barnsdall park is the location of this unique residence. Located in a central location in East Hollywood, this park has wonderful views of Griffith Park and another FLW masterpiece (Google "textile block houses"). Numerous events are held here including wine-tasting, film screenings in the lawn (front of house), and art exhibitions in the adjacent gallery. Robie House, located within the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park is easy to visit, there is plentiful free parking, and several tours are conducted daily. Furnishings are sparse, but there are some authentic FLW designed chairs on display. The story of how Frank Lloyd Wright Right showed up on the street outside Robie House well into his 80's, cane in hand, to save the house from demolition is worth a listen from your tour guide. Taliesin (East) is a product of at least 3 different rebuilding periods and is a property Wright tinkered with for decades. The property is sublimely situated within a hilly landscape (not on), with surrounding 360 degree views. Significant works of Chinese and Japanese art are found throughout the home. Tours go from a 'highlights' visit to an in-depth exploration …

Frank Lloyd Wright was a pioneer of not just "American" architecture, but architecture in general. I have visited Fallingwater (my favorite piece of architecture) and it does not disappoint. I'm not going to waste my time trying to describe it to you... so i suggest you schedule a tour and JUST GO. You'll be glad you did.

One thing that really sets Wright apart from the rest is that he was willing to create more than just a building (a mere shell) to live/work in. Rather, he created a living space that catered to whomever inhabited it. In fact, it seems as though his buildings "nurtured" their inhabitants. His organic architecture compliments our lives AND nature. He was a very, very forward-thinking man and was way beyond his time.

All there is left for me to do is to own a FLW home... (wish me luck)

I will be very surprised if these buildings do not make it onto the World Heritage List as they are exceptional testaments to one of the most important architects of the 20th century.

A few years back I was lucky enough to have a week or so in Chicago and was able to tour the Architectural delights of the city. The buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright were certainly one of the highlights. The western suburb of Oak Park is littered with buildings he designed though only Unity Temple is nominated this is a great place to start getting an understanding of the architects’ work especially if you visit his house and studio.

The effect of the Prairie school that he pioneered can be seen in houses across the wealthier outskirts of the city; however the finest building of his that I saw, the Robie House, is located in the less salubrious South side of Chicago. It is next to the leafy Chicago University campus (worth a visit for the excellent Oriental Institute Museum) and it is an exceptional feat of domestic architecture. The use of space and horizontal lines is incredible and I was surprised by how impressed I was by the building as I had not guessed it would be so good from the pictures I had seen.

A few years later I was able to visit one of his most renowned works, the Guggenheim Museum in New York. This again was a highly impressive and unique building …

I grew up across the street from the Darwin Martin House. When I was little it was wooded; an architect lived there. His daughter had her own skating rink. We played in the perglola. There were three buildings. At present it is almost completely restored. The feeling inside a Frank Lloyd Wright prairie house is both airy and warm - he really liked natural light. Windows through windows, skylighting - in 1904! The room they rebuilt in the Metropolitan Museum in NY has high ceilings but still feels roomy and very cosy at the same time. I wonder what it would be like to cook in a Frank Lloyd Wright kitchen.

There are 8 buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright included in this nomination. One of these, arguably the most prominent one, is Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. I visited it on a bright sunny weekday in April.

Fallingwater is located about half an hour from the highway, amidst forests and green hills. The scenery reminded me of Germany or Slovakia. There are many beautiful traditional wooden houses here. It is so remote that I am beginning to think that perhaps I will be the only visitor to tour the house.

But when I approach the parking lot I find more than 40 cars already there! Now it becomes clear why you must book weeks in advance.

As I'm an hour early for my tour, I first have something to eat at the café and have a look around the museum shop. Both are well-stocked.

With a group of about 15 people, I then am allowed to visit the house. It is only visible when you come very near, you get there via a bridge. From the bridge, there's already a great view of the characteristic terraces, like swimming pool diving boards. They are on one side supported by beams and the rest is suspended.

Fallingwater was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1936 and 1938 as a country house for the Kaufmann family (for a price of 155,000 dollars). Its name comes from the waterfall in the Bear Run river which was incorporated into the design …