8 Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings Were Just Named UNESCO World Heritage Sites

updated Jul 7, 2019

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Credit: Tom Rossiter, courtesy of Harboe Architects

Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois.

No one has had a bigger influence on modern architecture in America than Frank Lloyd Wright. And now, his impact is being recognized on the biggest scale possible. Eight of Wright’s most famous buildings were just added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list, ensuring his legacy will live on and continue to inspire architecture and design around the world for years to come.

There are over 1,000 World Heritage sites around the globe, and of those, only 24—including these eight new sites—are located in the U.S. In fact, this represents the first modern architecture designation in the country to make the list.

The buildings named to the list include Unity Temple (constructed 1906-1909 in Oak Park, Illinois), the Frederick C. Robie House (constructed 1910 in Chicago, Illinois), Taliesin (begun 1911 in Spring Green, Wisconsin), Hollyhock House (constructed 1918-1921 in Los Angeles, California), Fallingwater (constructed 1936-1939 in Mill Run, Pennsylvania), the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House (constructed 1936-1937 in Madison, Wisconsin), Taliesin West (begun 1938 in Scottsdale, Arizona), and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (constructed 1956-1959 in New York, New York).

“It is an immense honor to have Frank Lloyd Wright’s work recognized on the world stage among the most vital and important cultural sites on Earth like Taj Mahal in India, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and the Statue of Liberty in New York,” says Stuart Graff, president and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, in a press release. “To have this unique American legacy placed alongside these precious few sites around the globe is meaningful because it recognizes the profound influence of this American architect and his impact on the whole world.”

Being named to the UNESCO World Heritage list is widely considered the highest honor a site or landmark can receive. We’re glad that Wright’s legacy will be preserved and that this honor will increase traffic not only to these eight sites but to all of Wright’s beautiful buildings.

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