Frank Lloyd Wright, Architecture, & Environment

Frank Lloyd Wright’s towering designs—and ideas—are imprinted all over the United States, including the Robie House in Chicago and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. His ambition, however, was far larger than the creation of beautiful and functional buildings. Like other modernist masters, he saw architecture as a way to transform individuals and society through the built environment. In this program, architect Jeanne Gang and Barry Bergdoll, chief curator of architecture and design at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, embark on a discussion of Wright’s legacy. Their conversation, moderated by University of Illinois architectural historian Dianne Harris, is informed by (and showcases) the newly available Wright archive, recently acquired by MoMA and Columbia University’s Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. The archive is enormous and rich: 23,000 architectural drawings, 44,000 historical photographs, large-scale presentation models, manuscripts, and extensive correspondence offer unparal