Frank Lloyd Wright attended the Unitarian Church in Oak Park, Chicago, so they were lucky to have him design a new Unity temple down the street from his house. It was completed in 1908. Wright was given a budget of only $40,000, so he looked to a cheap and workable material, concrete, that could also insulate from the sound of the busy street.
He arranged the long, slender site into a linear movement of spaces, with the entrance between them. One enters a light foyer (loggia) and can proceed to the worship space to the left or the administrative and event space to the right. This arrangement of religious space has been copied long after. The entrance space is cramped and dark like a cave, but opens out into a bright, grand worship space.
Stain glass clerestories and skylights illuminate the congregation, with its formal symmetrical four side arrangement. I particularly liked the long slender windows at the stairs approach which give a preview to the long slender opening into the congregation seating.
The custom lighting and furniture makes for a very grand use of space that derives of course from Sullivan, but shows Wright’s fascination with Japanese and Native Central American architecture. While the building was extremely cheap to build, the upkeep and repairs have been hard to bear.
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