A Taste of the Wright Stuff

As a Floridian who has an interest in historic architecture, I'm embarrassed to say that until recently, I'd never seen the amazing collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. Mrs. Ephemera and I stopped by for a brief visit on a cloudy afternoon for what I hope will be a prelude to a longer, extended visit when the weather is better. Even on a gloomy day I could see how spectacular these spaces were and how much they need attention.

The story goes that after a trip to Europe, Florida Southern President Dr. Ludd Spivey was inspired to build a campus in the orange groves of Lakeland and he sought out Frank Lloyd Wright at Tallesin. Upon visiting the site at age 67, the master architect famously said that the buildings on the campus would rise "out of the ground, and into the light, a child of the sun." They broke ground on the first building, the Annie Pfieffer Chapel in 1938 and completed the last building, the Polk County Science Building in 1958. Today Florida Southern College is the largest collection of Wright designed buildings located on a single site, anywhere in the world.

Top: Frank Lloyd Wright on the Florida Southern Campus. Bottom: Wright and associate Nils Schweizer, who later opened an architecture practice in Central Florida. State Archives of Florida

On the day we were exploring the campus, we were fortunate enough to gain entry into the Pfeiffer Chapel, as I was told you couldn't properly appreciate the buildings without seeing them from the inside. Built with student labor, "Wright used colored pieces of glass to break the monotony of the blocks allowing natural light to enter," according to the college's website. Considered to be an excellent example of Wright's work, the space is expansive and intimate at the same time. The geometric details are fascinating, but it is the light coming through the colored glass block that is the most remarkable, turning any wall into a work of art.

Wright's work is notorious for being difficult to maintain, perhaps because his vision exceeded the engineering expertise of the time. And being exposed to the sub-tropical elements of Central Florida hasn't helped and it is apparent, even in our brief tour, that many of the buildings need considerable renovation. Fortunately work is underway, and the architecture, once named to the World Monument Fund's Most Endangered list, is slowly being restored. I look forward to more extensive explorations of the campus, when more of the buildings' original luster have been renewed and the sun is shining on Frank Lloyd Wright's "Child of the Sun.

Central Florida Modern right under my nose

Central Florida is fortunate enough to have at least two former proteges of Frank Lloyd Wright practice architecture in the area, Isabel Roberts and Nils Schweizer. Most of Roberts' surviving commercial structures, created with her partner Ida Ryan, are in St. Cloud. Schweizer's legacy however, stretches into the twenty-first century with notable structures all over Central Florida and an organization called the Nils M. Schweizer Fellows. The Fellows is behind the Central Florida Modern group and have created this great online resource documenting some of our more distinctive pieces of modern architecture.

The site was a valuable resource as I photographed some of Schweizer's work for the Reflections journal. In addition to a home a couple blocks from me, I found familiar buildings I'd never stopped to notice before, had been designed by Schweizer. For instance, the Orlando Chamber of Commerce stands out like an island between I-4, Lake Ivanhoe and Orange Avenue. I taught myself how to rollerblade in the parking lot on weekends, years ago, yet never really took time to observe the building. The first floor space is basically a glass cube that invites the outside in. The details of the building, perpendicular steps and vertical lines, are very reminiscent of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, at least in my novice opinion, and as I skated by I'd never stopped to notice them before.

Another building I had taken for granted was the Schweizer building right on Park Avenue. Directly across from the Briarpatch Restaurant, this modernist structure is partially hidden by trees now. Having walked by this place dozens of times, I'd never stopped to really look at it before. It's really quite visually interesting.

Other building Schweizer worked on include the expansion of the public library downtown and many churches including Episcopal churches in Maitland and Azalea Park. He is probably best known for the work he did with Frank Lloyd Wright at Florida Southern College. He also did master planning for the Springs subdivision (formerly Sanlando Springs) and Loch Haven Park.


While I admit I still have a lot to learn about architecture, I love discovering that the same buildings I'd taken for granted for years, have hidden beauty I've overlooked due simply to my lack of awareness of them.