Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright at Florida Southern College

As small Florida Southern College embarked upon an ambitious building program in the 1930s the serendipitous arrival of Frank Lloyd Wright transformed the future of the school. Pres. Ludd Myrl Spivey was a leader with limitless imagination and he realized the virtue in bringing an architect of Wrights renown to Lakeland. Wrights first visit to the lakeside campus was in 1938. He envisioned a grand 18-unit Child of the Sun campus where buildings would grow from the Florida sand into the light. The buildings are especially suited to the landscape and are connected thematically by a series of covered walkways Wright called the Esplanade. Over the next 20 years 12 of these unique structures were constructed at Florida Southern and today they comprise the worlds largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wrights work. The campus attracts thousands of visitors annually and preservation and restoration projects are ongoing. The Florida Southern College Architectural District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.