The Magnificent Eight: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Works Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Designation

In December 2018, it was announced that eight of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpieces are on the nominee list to be considered for a UNESCO World Heritage designation.

Wright, one of the most respected and admired architects worldwide, expresses the uniqueness of America and its various regions through the presentation of his buildings of the 20th century.

In December 2018, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy submitted eight sites for nomination in 2019. The committee nominated them as a collection of buildings that span 50 years of the architect’s career from the early 19th century to the late 1950s. The buildings were carefully chosen to highlight Wright’s architectural through-lines and show how his designs fundamentally shaped the landscape of American architecture.

The eight collective buildings nominated are listed as follows with their respective location and building date:

1. Taliesin (Spring Green, Wisconsin; 1911)
2. Unity Temple (Oak Park, Illinois; 1905-1908)
3. Frederick C. Robie House (Chicago; 1908-1910)
4. Fallingwater (Mill Run, Pennsylvania; 1936-1938)
5. The Hollyhock House (Los Angeles; 1919-1921)
6. Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House (Madison, Wisconsin; 1936-1937)
7. Taliesin West (Scottsdale, Arizona’ 1938)
8. The Guggenheim Museum (New York City; 1956-1959)

If these buildings are accepted for the UNESCO designation, they will be the first group of buildings of modern American architecture to receive this recognition.

Additionally, in April 2017, it was announced that the U.S., along with Israel, chose to withdraw membership from UNESCO. The withdrawal went into effect January 2019.

Despite the US deciding to withdraw from UNESCO and revert to an observing member (the second time in U.S. history for this to occur, the first being 1983), the responsibility of the country caring for their UNESCO World Heritage sites still remains intact and the efforts of those organizations who advocate for the importance of UNESCO World Heritage sites now play a more important role than ever.

For more information about the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings nominated for UNESCO World Heritage designation, check out the links below:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5249/

https://www.planetizen.com/news/2018/12/102156-8-frank-lloyd-wright-buildings-nominated-unesco-world-heritage-sites

Article written by Kyle Purchase on behalf of Global Philadelphia Association.
Photo credit: Fallingwater, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy