FLORIDA IS HOME TO THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF BUILDINGS ON A SINGLE SITE DESIGNED BY REKNOWNED ARCHITECT, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. LUDD M. SPIVEY, THEN-PRESIDENT OF FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE, CONTACTED WRIGHT IN 1938 TO CREATE A PLAN FOR THE PRIVATE SCHOOL IN LAKELAND. WRIGHT ENVISIONED A CAMPUS INTEGRATED INTO THE LANDSCAPE, DESCRIBING IT AS GROWING “OUT OF THE GROUND INTO THE LIGHT – A CHILD OF THE SUN.”

WRIGHT’S ORIGINAL PLAN CONSISTED OF EIGHTEEN BUILDINGS ARRANGED AROUND A FOUNTAIN CALLED THE “WATERDOME” AND CONNECTED BY A NETWORK OF COVERED WALKWAYS CALLED ESPLANADES. SEVEN BUILDINGS WERE COMPLETED DURING HIS LIFETIME. THE FOUNTAIN, DESIGNED TO CREATE A DOME OF WATER, NEVER WORKED AS WRIGHT INTENDED UNTIL ITS RESTORATION IN 2007, WHEN IMPROVED HYDRAULIC TECHNOLOGY MADE HIS VISION POSSIBLE.

FOR THE CHILD OF THE SUN CAMPUS, WRIGHT COMBINED STEEL, SAND AND GLASS TO CREATE STRUCTURES THAT UNIFIED FORM AND FUNCTION - A CONCEPT HE CALLED “ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE.” IN 1975, WRIGHT’S BUILDINGS WERE RECOGNIZED AS AN THE ARCHITECTURAL DISTRICT, AND PLACED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

Courtesy of the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources