The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright

The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright is a UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of eight buildings across the United States designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. These sites demonstrate his philosophy of organic architecture, designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment. Wright's work had an international influence on the development of architecture in the 20th century.
The architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was raised in rural Wisconsin and studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin. He then apprenticed with noted architects in the Chicago school of architecture, particularly Louis Sullivan. Wright opened his own practice in Chicago in 1893, and developed a home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois. In the 20th century, he became a world-renowned architect.
Through efforts led by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, a nonprofit organization, Taliesin and Taliesin West were jointly nominated as a World Heritage Site in the late 1980s. The U.S. federal government endorsed the nomination, but UNESCO rejected it because the organization wanted to see a larger nomination with more Wright properties. In 2008, the National Park Service submitted ten Frank Lloyd Wright properties to a tentative World Heritage list. It grew to 11 structures across seven U.S. states in July 2011, out of more than 400 buildings reviewed by Wright experts. The nominated buildings included two of Wright's studios; two office buildings; four private residences; and one museum, church, and government building each. The buildings were selected because they were all also designated as U.S. National Historic Landmarks and because there were preservation plans in place for each building.
The S. C. Johnson & Son Inc. Administration Building and Research Tower in Racine, Wisconsin, was removed from the nomination at the request of its owner. In March 2015, the United States Department of the Interior again nominated ten Wright–designed structures for inclusion on the World Heritage List. UNESCO declined to designate Wright's buildings in July 2016, referring the nomination back to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy for revision. The Conservancy–led Frank Lloyd Wright World Heritage Council collaborated with the National Park Service and UNESCO to modify the nomination. Eight of Wright's buildings were re-nominated to the World Heritage List in December 2018; the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, were excluded from the proposal. The International Council on Monuments and Sites recommended the nomination's approval in June 2019, and the site was inscribed on the World Heritage list on July 7, 2019. It was the 24th World Heritage listing in the United States to be designated, and it was the first time that modern American architecture had been recognized by UNESCO.
The eight Wright buildings in the World Heritage Site are located in six U.S. states and were designed over a 50-year period. The first building included, Unity Temple, was completed in 1908. The last, the Guggenheim Museum, was completed in 1959, although its design began in the 1940s. All eight buildings are also listed as U.S. National Historic Landmarks. These structures were nominated because, out of all of Wright's buildings, they were deemed "his masterpieces with the highest levels of integrity".