Child of the Sun
Florida Southern College
College president Ludd Spivey hired Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938, and over two decades Wright drew 18 designs for the campus. Money was always short, so many of the buildings went up with student labor, and the result is the largest collection of Wright buildings at a single site.
- 8Buildings
- 2Traditions
- 1941Oldest · Annie Pfeiffer Chapel
- 2013Newest · Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center
Campus map and Look Around
Tap a numbered pin to see that building from the street with Apple Look Around.
Planning the visit
- Fly intoTampa International Airport (TPA)
Lakeland sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando, and Tampa International to the west is the usual way in. Lakeland Linder International Airport is in the city itself.
- Getting aroundWalking / Esplanades
Wright's covered esplanades, built between 1940 and 1958, link every one of his campus buildings except Danforth Chapel, which sits right beside Pfeiffer Chapel. Their low canopies are spaced like the orange trees that once grew here.
- Colors and teams
The campus nickname comes from Wright himself, who said his buildings would rise 'out of the ground and into the light, a child of the sun'.
8 buildings to stamp
-
Annie Pfeiffer Chapel
111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland, FL 33801
Wright's first religious building since Unity Temple, a hexagonal chapel clad in about 6,000 textile blocks set with some 50,000 glass cubes. Its steel-braced tower, nicknamed "God's bicycle rack" by students, was rebuilt after a 1944 hurricane.
- Built
- 1941
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Height
- 20 m (66 ft)
- Stories
- 2
- Today
- Chapel
-
William H. Danforth Chapel
Johnson Avenue, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33801
A small chapel beside Pfeiffer Chapel with a pointed roof that juts out like a ship's prow over a wall of leaded stained glass, the only leaded glass on campus. Its original cypress doors, Wright-designed benches and fireplace are still in place.
- Built
- 1955
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Today
- Chapel
-
Thad Buckner Building
Johnson Avenue, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33801
Built as the first Roux Library, it pairs a circular reading room with a hexagonal stack wing, Wright's first circular floor plan. Clerestory windows light the reading room's stepped terraces, which now hold exhibits and a visitor center.
- Built
- 1948
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Today
- Offices and exhibit space
-
Watson and Fine Administration Buildings
Johnson Avenue, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33801
Two connected textile-block buildings flanking the widest arm of the esplanade, with cantilevered roofs and diamond-shaped piers. They still hold the college's offices, from the president and deans to the registrar.
- Built
- 1948
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Stories
- 2
- Today
- College administration
-
Water Dome
Johnson Avenue, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33801
Wright meant this 160-foot pool to sit under a dome of water from ringed fountain jets, but 1940s technology couldn't do it. Rebuilt in 2007, the J. Edgar Wall Water Dome now sends up dozens of jets several times a day.
- Built
- 1948
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Today
- Fountain
-
L. A. Raulerson Building
Frank Lloyd Wright Way, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33803
Wright's three seminar buildings, opened in 1941 as separate 36-foot textile-block squares, lit mostly by glass cubes set into the walls. Their courtyards were enclosed in 1958 and 1959, joining them into one building.
- Built
- 1941
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Today
- Classrooms and offices
-
Ordway Industrial Arts Building
Frank Lloyd Wright Way, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33803
Wright considered this U-shaped arts building his finest design, "strong and adapted to its purpose." Its roof slopes inward at 30 degrees to light the classrooms, and a central wing ends in a small domed theater now used as a black box.
- Built
- 1952
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Organic architecture
- Stories
- 1
- Today
- Classrooms, offices and black box theater
-
Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center
Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL
A Usonian faculty house Wright designed in 1939, finally built in 2013 as the campus visitor center. The 1,700-square-foot house uses textile blocks with colored glass inserts and is furnished with Wright designs.
- Built
- 2013
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Usonian
- Today
- Visitor center and museum house
2 traditions to check off
Stamped! keeps these as a checklist, so you can tick each one off on the visit.
Annie Pfeiffer Chapel
The college calls Frank Lloyd Wright's chapel the soaring heart of the campus; it is crowned by a bell tower of concrete and colored glass. Visitors can see it on a guided Wright tour that starts at the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center.
Water Dome Fountains
Wright's largest water feature was finally built to his full design in 2007, and its fountains run at set times during the day. Visitors can view it at any time from the surrounding esplanades.
Know Florida Southern College well?
Students and alumni know the traditions best. Suggest one we're missing, a building worth a stamp, or a fix. Every suggestion is checked against a source before it goes into the app.
Stamp all 8 on your visit.
Tour Florida Southern College in 3D before you go, add it to a college road trip and earn a passport stamp at every building. Free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on theApp Store