Ask people where to find Frank Lloyd Wright and they say Chicago, or Wisconsin, or Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. The right answer is Lakeland, Florida, a citrus town between Tampa and Orlando, where a Methodist college campus holds the largest concentration of Wright's work anywhere in the world.
How it happened
In 1938 Wright was on the cover of Time magazine and Florida Southern College was a small, cash-poor school with a president, Dr. Ludd Spivey, who had big ideas. Spivey wrote to Wright, then went to see him at Taliesin in Wisconsin and asked him to design a campus. About a month later Wright was in Lakeland. He called the project Child of the Sun, and he worked on it for the next twenty years, from 1938 to 1958.
Wright planned 18 structures. Thirteen were built, most of them during his lifetime, and one, a Usonian house he designed for faculty, was finally constructed in 2013. The college could not afford much, so students helped build the campus in exchange for tuition. The first building, the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, went up in 1938 and is still the centerpiece.
What you will see
- Annie Pfeiffer Chapel (1938): the signature building, a tower of patterned concrete block with colored glass set into the walls so the interior glows.
- The Esplanades: covered walkways that connect the buildings, low and angular, built for Florida heat. They are the thing that makes the campus feel like one idea rather than a collection of buildings.
- The Water Dome: the only water feature Wright ever built, a circular pool with fountains designed to throw a dome of water into the air. It sits between the Watson-Fine and Raulerson buildings.
- The Usonian House (2013): built from Wright's 1939 plans and now the visitor center, so you can walk through a Wright house that was never lived in.
Visiting: The campus is open to the public and listed as a National Historic Landmark. Self-guided tour brochures and guided tours are available from the visitor center in the Usonian House. Lakeland is about 35 miles east of Tampa on I-4.
Why it matters
Child of the Sun is Wright's only campus and his largest single project. It is also unmistakably Florida: the buildings are low, shaded and open to the air, built from concrete block cast with patterns so that light comes through the walls. Nothing else he designed looks quite like it, and it is sitting in a town most visitors drive past on the way to Disney.
Pair it with a day on the water
Lakeland is 40 minutes from Tampa, so the natural plan is a Wright morning and a Tampa Bay sandbar afternoon, or the reverse. Tampa's Riverwalk, Ybor City and the bay are all close, and sunset cruises leave from downtown and St. Pete. If you are staying on the Gulf side, Sarasota and the Ringling Museum make a second architecture-and-art day, with Sarasota Bay sandbars in between.
Questions people ask
Where is the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings?
Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, about 35 miles east of Tampa. Wright designed 18 structures for the campus and 13 were built.
When did Frank Lloyd Wright design Florida Southern College?
Wright worked on the campus, which he called Child of the Sun, from 1938 to 1958. The Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, the first building, dates to 1938.
Can you visit Florida Southern College's Wright buildings?
Yes. The campus is open to the public and is a National Historic Landmark. Self-guided brochures and guided tours are available through the visitor center in the Usonian House.
What is the Water Dome at Florida Southern?
A circular pool with fountains designed to create a dome of water. It is the only water feature Frank Lloyd Wright ever built.
How far is Lakeland from Tampa?
About 35 miles, roughly 40 minutes east on I-4.