Well, I’m glad you asked!

Last Saturday, Florida Southern College celebrated the future home of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Tourism and Education Center, which will be located at the northeast corner of Johnson Avenue and McDonald Street. The Tourism and Education Center will be built using plans for a Usonian house that Mr. Wright designed as part of the campus master plan. Wright designed 18 structures for the campus, 12 of which were built over two decades from 1939 to 1958.

The Tourism and Education Center will provide a dedicated space for an introductory film on the history of  Wright’s career and 20-year relationship with Florida Southern College; a gift shop with a full inventory of Frank Lloyd Wright-related books, apparel, and souvenirs; a tourism kiosk with information on other Polk County attractions; exhibitions and conferences; and self-guided and docent-led walking tours.

Among Wright’s plans left on the drawing board was a Usonian house design meant to serve as economical faculty housing. Designed to control costs, Mr. Wright’s Usonian houses – which he intended to be built in a distinctly American style that was affordable for the middle class – had no attics, no basements, and little ornamentation. “Usonian” is an acronym for United States of North America. Keep checking back here and we will keep you updated on the progress of the building and when it will be ready to start welcoming visitors to the largest one-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.