Florida Southern's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed campus named National Historic Landmark
The organic design that graces the campus of Florida Southern College is the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, hailed by the American institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time." As the largest collection of Wright architecture on a single site, the campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Child of the Sun, as the collection of Wright buildings are known, attracts more than 30,000 visitors a year. In 2007, the 45-foot Water Dome that Frank Lloyd Wright dreamed of the Florida Southern's campus finally became a reality when technology caught up with Wright's vision. (FLsouthern.edu)
"This architecture represents the laws of harmony and rhythm," Wright said in 1950. "It's organic architecture and we have seen little of it so far. It's like a little green shoot growing in a concrete pavement."
The campus features several buildings by the man known for the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Fallingwater and more than 500 other structures. Many consider him the best architect of the 20th century. The Florida Southern buildings were built between 1939 and 1958, but suffered damage over the years to the point they were named to the World Monument Fund's 100 most endangered sites in 2007.
It's the only college campus Wright designed, and the largest collection of structures by the architect in one single place. Chief among his designs are: the Water Dome, designed to be the campus centerpiece with arcs of water that can go up to 45 feet high; The Fletcher Theatre, the only theater-in-the-round Wright ever built; The Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, the tallest of the Wright buildings on campus. Also signature to the campus are the esplanade walkways.
The college was one of just 13 sites nationwide and one of only two in the Southeast to receive the designation Monday. It joins 42 other sites in Florida previously designated National Historic Landmarks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.