Jeweled sunlight streamed through thousands of tiny, colored glass cubes embedded in the chapel walls. Above me, massive vaulted skylights opened to the heavens. Sitting in the last pew, I basked in the glowing light. A sense of peace and serenity settled my mind and lifted my spirits. I’d never thought of architect Frank Lloyd Wright as a spiritual man, but this lovely chapel suggests he was.
Located at Florida Southern College (FSC) in Lakeland, Florida, the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel with its iconic, 65-foot-tall bell tower is the heart of the campus. Wright actually designed the entire campus. His thirteen buildings at FSC represent the largest collection in the world by America’s most renowned architect. To honor Wright, the campus was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
On a bright autumn morning, I toured the Florida Southern campus. Led by a knowledgeable guide, a small group of us left from the Education Center — a Wright-inspired building with introductory exhibits about Wright and commemorative products for purchase. Over several hours, we strolled the campus and explored the interiors of many buildings.
Set on a rolling hillside, the campus ambles across green fields. When Wright first arrived at FSC in 1938, he walked the mostly undeveloped grounds and looked in awe at the citrus groves that covered the landscape. With a fervent belief that architecture should be organic and meld with the natural environment, Wright envisioned the campus growing “out of the ground and into the light – a Child of the Sun.”
Founded in 1852 as a Methodist seminary, Florida Southern is the oldest private college in the state. In 1930 the school’s director, Dr. Ludd Spivey, wanted to transform FSC from a small, obscure college into an institution of national importance by creating a “campus of tomorrow.” He reached out to Wright, the nation’s foremost and most controversial architect, to design a “great education temple” that would embrace new technologies and modern artistic sensibilities. Despite Wright’s distaste for higher education (believing it a waste of time), he could not resist Spivey’s flattery and the challenge he offered.
Walking across the campus, I found that the off-white buildings and meandering walkways created a peaceful, unified presence. True to his commitment to using native materials, Wright constructed the buildings and connective walkways with blocks made of mixed concrete, native sands, and crushed shells. He embedded colored glass in the blocks to capture Florida’s sub-tropical sunshine. Unfortunately, Florida’s hot, rainy climate has expanded and cracked the blocks over time, making restoration an ongoing expense for the college.
While Wright created the master plan for the campus in 1938, the college lacked the funds to build everything at once. Construction began immediately on the Pfeiffer Chapel and three seminar buildings, which were all completed by 1941. During World War II, the project faced material and labor shortages. To move forward, Spivey relied on student labor — almost entirely women, since young men were off fighting the war.
The first building that the students completed, the E.T. Roux Library, contains a round reading room with aisles leading out from it. Clerestory windows once encircled the room, but were glazed over to block out light and protect the books. The guide whispered to me an oft-repeated rumor – to oxidize the copper used in the building, students peed on it. Some of them also stole pieces of the glass cubes for souvenirs. The Library’s book collection long ago outgrew the building, which is now used for offices and meeting rooms. Nils Schweizer, a student of Wright’s, designed a new library for the campus in 1965.
In the post-War period, the campus’s most important facilities opened. The Emile E. Watson and Benjamin Fine Administration Buildings (1948) contain the college’s major office spaces, including the President’s Office. The Lucius Pond Ordway Industrial Arts Building (1952) became home to the college’s courses in carpentry, metalworking, auto mechanics, and home economics. Wright’s only theater-in-the-round is the centerpiece of the building. Today, the college’s Social Sciences Department resides in the Ordway Building.
Near the administration buildings, Wright constructed the Water Dome, a marvel of imagination. While he designed it as a circular fountain with jet streams that soared to the heavens, engineering limitations of the time prevented the Water Dome from being fully realized. For most of its existence, the fountain was simply a reflecting pool. In 2007, Wright’s vision was finally realized. Now the 75 jets positioned around the perimeter can shoot arched jets of water 45 feet into the air. Our guide confessed that the Water Dome at full power wastes so much water that the school runs it full strength only once a year — during graduation when seniors jump in and frolic in the fountain.
The William Danforth chapel, a small chapel for weddings and meditation, opened in 1955. A dramatic, floor-to-ceiling stained glass window, designed to resemble an open book, welcomes the sun in all of its glory. The chapel’s window represents the culmination of Wright’s career-long fascination with stained glass. This was his last and largest piece.
The last building completed during Wright’s lifetime was the Polk County Science Building (1958). The largest building on campus, it boasts Wright’s only constructed Planetarium. In his design for the science building, Wright added aluminum panels to the building’s columns — an element he rarely used — to symbolize science and technology. An extensive ductwork system had to be added to the top of the building after its opening to handle the toxic fumes generated by the laboratories. A major fundraising effort is currently underway to restore the Polk County Science Building and the Planetarium to their original luster.
Winding its way through the campus and connecting all of the classrooms and administrative buildings is a covered walkway, called the Esplanade. Impressed by the citrus groves he saw on his first trip to Lakeland, Wright designed a system of poured concrete pillars intended to evoke abstract citrus trees. Stamped copper sheets with geometric patterns line the edges of the columns.
The final stop on the tour was to a building erected posthumously, a Usonian-style house constructed in 2013. As part of his masterplan, Wright intended to build 20 single-family homes for faculty housing. Instead, Spivey bought existing houses in the neighborhoods surrounding the college, which proved much cheaper and more expedient. When FSC opened its new Education Center, the school decided to build one Usonian home as an example of Wright’s vision for affordable, middle-class housing.
Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to tour some of the homes that Wright designed for his wealthy clients. The small home at FSC is truly as beautiful as any owned by the elite. Jewels of light shine through the walls, illuminating the warm, well-planned interior. As in all his homes, Wright designed the furniture himself. He used warm woods, splashes of Cherokee Red (his favorite color) in cushions and floors, and colorful skylights to create a sense of a much more expansive space. This is a house where I could happily make myself at home.
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For tours and more information about the campus, visit https://www.flsouthern.edu/frank-lloyd-wright/tours.aspx
I attended Florida Southern College from 1961 – 1965. It was a unique and beautiful campus FLW designed , but some of our tallest basketball players had issues with the height of the Esplanade.
I can see where that would be an issue. Wright was short – as am I – and obviously didn’t consider the comfort of those taller than himself.
This is one of FLW’s creations that I was not aware of. Thanks for the information. It’s awesome!