Illinois/Wisconsin
Architectural Masterworks of Frank Lloyd Wright
Program No. 22976RJ
Celebrate legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright as you visit his greatest works in Wisconsin and Illinois, from his home and studio to the S.C. Johnson building.
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7 days
6 nights
15 meals
6B 4L 5D
2
Architecture Study Cruise, Robie House
Chicago, IL
3
Home & Studio Oak Park, Unity Temple
Chicago, IL
4
SC Johnson, Racine
Racine, WI
5
Frank Lloyd Wright in Milwaukee & Madison
Middleton, WI
6
Frank Lloyd Wright in Madison, Taliesin Estate
Middleton, WI
7
Program Concludes
Middleton, WI
At a Glance
Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized architecture, opening up new realms for designers and creating new challenges for builders and engineers. Of the 532 Frank Lloyd Wright structures in the U.S., over 150 of them were built in Illinois and Wisconsin. Celebrate the work of this legendary architect as you visit some of his greatest works in the Midwest. Through discussions and field trips with Wright experts, learn how his work continues to impact modern architecture, and discover some of that modern architecture on city explorations of Madison, Racine, Milwaukee, Oak Park and Chicago with local experts.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to three miles and standing for up to three hours.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- In historic Oak Park, Illinois, discover Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio, designed by Wright and considered by many scholars to be the world’s first example of true modern architecture.
- Experience the work of Frank Lloyd Wright in Racine through an exploration of the S.C. Johnson Wax Administration Building and Research Tower, considered one of the 25 most important buildings of the 20th century.
- Learn about the rich history and culture of architecture in Chicago on an architectural study of the city from the Chicago River.
General Notes
For the convenience of participants who wish to fly in and out of Chicago, or drive and park their cars for the entirety of the program, the motor coach will depart the hotel in Wisconsin at 9:00 am and return to the Club Quarters in Chicago in the early afternoon.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Mark Hertzberg
Mark Hertzberg is the author and photographer of four books about Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in southeastern Wisconsin: “Wright in Racine” (2004), “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hardy House” (2006), “Frank Lloyd Wright’s SC Johnson Research Tower” (2010), and “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Penwern: A Summer Estate” (2019). A native of New York City, Mark received a B.A. in international relations from Lake Forest College in 1972. Mark has been inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Mark Hertzberg
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Mark Hertzberg is the author and photographer of four books about Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in southeastern Wisconsin: “Wright in Racine” (2004), “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hardy House” (2006), “Frank Lloyd Wright’s SC Johnson Research Tower” (2010), and “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Penwern: A Summer Estate” (2019). A native of New York City, Mark received a B.A. in international relations from Lake Forest College in 1972. Mark has been inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Gayle Felix
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Gayle Felix has been a Road Scholar group leader since 2015. She grew up and raised her family outside of Boston and now resides in Hingham, Massachusetts. With a history/American studies degree from Boston University, she enjoys sharing the history of Boston and surrounding areas. Gayle has led programs in New England focusing on Cape Cod, Coastal Maine, and The Berkshires. In addition, she has led programs in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and elsewhere in the United States. Gayle enjoys biking, golfing, hiking, and kayaking.
Adam Selzer
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Adam Selzer, an author and historian, has spent over a decade running hundreds of travel programs in Chicago, often showcasing the humor that he used in his acclaimed novels including 'Just Kill Me,' 'Play Me Backwards,' and the cult favorite 'I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It.' His nonfiction titles include as 'Ghosts of Chicago,' 'Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the US Film Industry,' 'The Smart Aleck’s Guide to American History,' 'Mysterious Chicago,' and 'H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil.'
Suggested Reading List
(18 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Architectural Masterworks of Frank Lloyd Wright
Program Number: 22976
Masterpieces of Chicago Architecture
"Chicago is universally recognized as the cradle of modern architecture. It is known worldwide for the development, beginning in the late 1800s, of the renowned ""Chicago School"" of commercial building. In the early 1900s, Chicago saw the birth of Wright's ""Prairie School"" of residential design, which gave rise to the modern, open-plan house we know today. Other world-renowned architects were also based in Chicago, such as Louis Sullivan, who designed the Chicago Stock Exchange, and Daniel Burnham, architect of the famous Rookery Building of the 1890s.
The 1940s were to see the completion of Mies van der Rohe's revolutionary Illinois Institute of Technology and his astonishing Lake Shore Drive apartment buildings. Skidmore Owings & Merrill's landmark Inland Steel Building was finished in 1954, their John Hancock Center in 1970, and their Sears Tower in 1974. Philip Johnson and John Burgee's 190 South LaSalle Street office tower went up in 1987.
The 200 illustrations in this volume all come from The Art Institute of Chicago's repository of 150,000 architectural drawings, vintage photographs, models, and building fragments, which comprise one of the most important such archives. These illustrations reveal interiors and details that give us a greater appreciation of Chicago in particular and architecture in general. With its definitive text, the book is a striking record of Chicago's great buildings and will be an important reference on the subject for years to come."
Chicago: A Brief History
"Chicago: A Brief History" presents a comprehensive look at the city’s transformation from a fur trade outpost to America’s Second City. This compact digital compendium helps you track the diverse forces that shaped the city as we know it. You’ll explore the exciting history behind the city’s cultural, economic, and architectural mainstays.
You’ll also gain valuable insight into groundbreaking Chicago events and major figures
down through history, including:
The Birth of a Major Trade City
The Great Fire of 1871
Construction of the Sears Tower
Chicago’s “Public Enemies”
The University of Chicago
...and more.
Years with Frank Lloyd Wright: Apprentice to Genius
Tafel was one of the original Taliesin Fellowship apprentices (1932-1941) and supervised construction of the SC Johnson Administration Building and of Wingspread, both in Racine, while in his mid-twenties. The book is filled with Tafel’s delightful anecdotes about Wright and Taliesin.
Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography
Wright’s own story, albeit with some embellishment. An important book to gain an understanding of the architect and the context for his work.
Wright in Racine
This book covers Wright’s built and unbuilt work in Racine. The dozen commissions represent almost every aspect of his work after 1900.
Frank Lloyd Wright: An American Architecture
A collection of Wright’s writings about architecture.
A View from the River: The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise
"To see what's up in Chicago, come down to the river. Float along the Main Branch for views of Lake Point Tower and Marina City, up the North Branch to the condo-converted Montgomery Ward Catalog House, then down the South Branch to take in the soaring Sears Tower. This book, a companion to the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise, is your guide to the buildings that make downtown Chicago world famous for architecture and infrastructure.
During the past two hundred years, engineers and architects designed twin engineering marvels, the Chicago skyline and the Chicago River. Dredged, straightened, its direction reversed, the river flowed a varied course through the city's history, as Chicagoans built factories, civic structures, waterside homes and parks, and the world's tallest steel-and-glass monuments to big business.
The story of Chicago is the story of its river. A View from the River spotlights over fifty buildings, recounting an urban tale that continues to unfold."
Frank Lloyd Wright on Architecture, Nature, and the Human Spirit, - A collection of quotations
A slim volume of Wright quotations.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Madison: Eight Decades of Artistic and Social Interaction
We will be spending two nights in Madison. This book, which was the companion to a museum exhibition, is a scholarly look at his work in Madison.
At Taliesin: Newspaper Columns by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Friendship, 1934 - 1937
Wright and his apprentices wrote weekly newspaper columns about life at Taliesin.
Chicago Architecture: 1885 to Today
Universally recognized as an architectural center, Chicago contains some of the world’s finest buildings by the most renowned architects of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe, and many more left their stamp on the city’s skyline and, as a result, influenced the practice of architecture across the globe. This book, published in association with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, features an in-depth analysis of forty-two seminal works of Chicago architecture. This accessible and engaging volume is the latest addition to the successful Universe Architecture Series. Both a guide for those visiting the city and a valuable reference for architecture enthusiasts, Chicago Architecture includes residential icons such as Mies van der Rohe’s 860–880 Lake Shore Drive, skyscraper prototypes such as Sullivan’s Schlesinger and Mayer Store (Carson Pirie Scott & Co.), and engineering masterpieces such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Sears Tower.
Travel Guides: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Frank Lloyd Wright Field Guide
There are two particularly popular books, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright by William Allin Storrer and the Frank Lloyd Wright Field Guide by Tom Heinz. Storrer’s book has more complete information, albeit with some inaccuracies, but is hard to follow because he groups Wright’s work through his unique “S” numbering system (by types of buildings). Heinz’ book is very easy to use on a trip because he groups the buildings geographically. Participants on this trip can thus easily follow a thread from northern Illinois through southeastern Wisconsin, into Madison.
Frank Lloyd Wright - A Life
This is considered one of the best and most accurate of the many Wright biographies.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s SC Johnson Research Tower
The Research Tower fascinated visitors to the adjoining landmark SC Johnson Administration Building because the Tower was not open for tours until a couple of years ago. Hertzberg was given rare access to the company archives for this richly illustrated history of the tower, which includes recollections from chemists who worked in the building before it closed 35 years ago.
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax Buildings, by Jonathan Lipman
Lipman extensively researched company archives for the first in-depth history and
appraisal of the SC Johnson Administration Building, SC Johnson Research Tower, and Wingspread, concurrent with a national traveling museum exhibition.
Loving Frank
Fact and fiction blend in a historical novel that chronicles the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, from their meeting in Oak Park, when they were each married to another, to the clandestine affair that shocked Chicago society.
Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home of Love and Loss
Much has been written about, and made of, Wright’s love for Mamah Borthwick (Cheney) and their work in Europe in 1909-1910. This meticulously-researched book is the best read about their life together and of the building of Taliesin. It supersedes other accounts, including one popular non-fiction account of the fire at Taliesin which has notable errors.
Hometown Architect: The Complete Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park And River Forest, Illinois
The book is a complete guide to the many homes Wright designed in his hometown of Oak Park and in the adjoining suburb of River Forest.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace: The Enduring Power of a Civic Vision
The struggle to realize Wright’s Monona Terrace is the story of artistic vision being stymied by local civic and political opposition. Wright’s concept was finally recast as a convention and meeting center 60 years later.