// ON THE TRAIL
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ’ S CHICAGO
The genius of America ’ s most famous architect can be admired on a trail around the city where he lived and worked , finds Christopher Beanland
ROBIE HOUSE
Visitors come from far and wide to the Robie House , which launched the famous Prairie style for which Lloyd Wright became internationally famous . The rooflines are simple and almost sinister in dark shades . The brick house is one of a kind : it was built for Frederick C . Robie and family between 1909 and 1910 but is now on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park , on the South Side .
Frank Lloyd Wright was a home-grown talent who gave the young America a style and panache it could be proud of , as it evolved into an industrial superpower . Born in rural Wisconsin in 1867 , he moved to Chicago as an adult and lived through an extraordinary period of expansion in the city . Skyscrapers were rising and the entire city was rebuilt off the back of huge profits in meatpacking , railroads , retail , agriculture and industry . The new barons of the capitalist age could afford to splash their cash on the most sumptuous homes to reflect their status and the architect they chose was Lloyd Wright . He opened his own practice in 1893 and then his own studio in 1898 , next to his house . His business flourished and for the next 20 years he didn ’ t stop building in Illinois . Today , visitors can follow the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail between his numerous buildings , with many open to visitors .
UNITY TEMPLE
The Unity Temple is something different from Lloyd Wright ’ s predominantly domestic architecture — he was known as a house builder for good reason , But here , at this Chicago temple , he created a space that is welcoming but at the same time grandiose , as befits a temple where hundreds would come and make their voices heard . The temple in Oak Park dates from 1909 . Wright himself was a member and devout Unitarian who worshipped there .
18 // pos t c a rds