Unity Temple

Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1908 Unity Temple in Oak Park, IL, is considered an icon of modern architecture. Unity Temple was commissioned by the Unitarian congregation in Oak Park, Illinois in 1905. Wright not only lived just a few blocks from the church; his mother was a member of the congregation at the time.

The original Gothic style church for the congregation was destroyed by fire. So Wright's proposal for a fireproof building, was appealing.  The 8,000 S.F. structure is significant because it is one of the first poured-in-place concrete buildings. Up to this point, concrete had primarily only been used for commercial buildings.

There is an architectural model of the facility on display inside.

These tall art glass windows punctuate the front of the building and traditional church construction can be seen in the reflection of the church across the street.

The ornamentation on the front of the structure is a stylized hollyhock plant.  This motif is used throughout the building on the art glass too.  The church received a multi-million dollar restoration starting in 2013.

This view shows the path to the entrance as approached from the front of the building.

There is a small courtyard or terrace at the entrance to the facility.

This rendering shows the sanctuary on the left, the entrance in the middle and the Unity House on the right.

This is a scan of the brochure that we were given on our self guided tour of the facility.

Here is a view of the stylized hollyhock motif on the doors and windows around the entrance hall.

The entrance hall is fairly plain with furniture and light fixtures designed by Wright.

The Unity House was a space where the congregation could gather for community events and can be accessed directly from the entrance hall.

The interior plaster walls are painted in earth tones and decorated with stained pieces of oak.  The area is naturally lit with a beautiful skylight during the day, and custom light fixtures to use as the sun goes down.  Our guide said that Wright had designed furniture for this space and wanted a large mural above the fireplace, but the project went over budget during construction.

This space houses the restrooms and some classroom spaces.

Here is the view from the fireplace back towards the entrance lobby.

There is a children's classroom upstairs.

I liked the light fixture that has been added to help light up the space.

While the entrance to the Unity House was right off the entrance hall, the entrance to the sanctuary was through low ceiling dark passages along each side.

I came across this 1905 rendering of the interior.  It is similar, but shows wall mounted lights.

As you leave the low passages or cloisters, you enter into the brightly lit sanctuary.

There are clerestory windows surrounding the space as well as a ceiling of art glass skylights and custom light fixtures suspended from the ceiling.

Here is a close-up of the custom light fixtures that are suspended from the ceiling.  Note the Edison style light bulbs.

The rostrum of the sanctuary is on a raised platform with the organ in the center behind.  Note the stair handrails going down and the plain gray colored doors.  This is the path that congregation uses to exit the space after the church service.  These "secret" panels open directly into the entrance hall and allow the parishioners to walk by and fellowship with the reverend.

Here are some views of the organ and custom light fixtures.

The sanctuary organ.

Narrow art glass windows light the paths on the way to the sanctuary and the stairwells.

Note the art glass light and its pull chain.

The church used off-the-shelf pews in lieu of custom ones.

This photo shows a good view of the clerestory windows.

Each side of the sanctuary appear to be symmetrical

I came across this cross section of the sanctuary to help illustrate the entry cloisters and different levels of the space.

The congregation’s board of trustees issued a statement thanking Mr. Wright at the completion of the project:

“We extend to the architect, Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright, our most hearty congratulations upon the wonderful achievement embodied in the new edifice and further extend to him our most sincere thanks for the great service which, through the building, he has rendered to the parish and to the community. We believe the building will long endure as a monument to his artistic genius and that, so long as it endures, it will stand forth as a masterpiece of art and architecture.”