Unity Temple

The Unity Temple is a church community of faith of Unitarian Universalism in Oak Park, Illinois, in the United States. The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

History

After the previous building had been destroyed by fire, the church commissioned the living in Oak Park architect Frank Lloyd Wright with the new building. The Unity Temple was built in the years between 1905 and 1908. What was needed was both a place of worship as well as a multipurpose room for events. The available corner lot was long but narrow. In addition, on one side leads along a main road, which was then also used by trams. And last but not least, the budget of the parish was for the new U.S. dollar was at $ 40,000 limited. Is still one of the original church ( at the time: " Universalist " now " Unitarian Universalist ") of the Unity Temple, and she uses it for their community. The tasks of building maintenance are transferred to a secular institution, the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation.

Building

Frank Lloyd Wright sparked the structural limitations by ordering three elements of worship, a low foyer and the auditorium after the other. Here he realized for the first time his concept to share a building task in two different-sized units and put together by a lower, unifying element. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City is another example of this. The main structures of the Unity Temple consist exclusively of reinforced concrete. To reduce external noise intruding, Wright gave up window on the ground floor. The lighting performance exclusively through stained glass windows on the upper floor and the roof area. These were kept in green, yellow and brown, which is quite close to the effect of natural light. The worship space on the ground floor has two different height levels. There are also two stacked balconies. This made it possible to reach the number of seats required for the community, without any place further than 12 meters from the pulpit. This excellent use of limited space is emphasized by decorative elements that Wright also designed. The acoustics of the room is excellent. The building was inaugurated on 26 September 1909.

Importance

The Unity Temple is today a cultural monument of national importance and listed as a " National Historic Landmark " since 1971. He is regarded as one of the outstanding works of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and one of the earliest evidence of modernism. He has influenced in the wake of other architects such as Mies van der Rohe to Frank Gehry.

In 2008, the building was put together with nine other buildings from the hand of Frank Lloyd Wright on the registration list of the UNESCO World Heritage of the United States.

The Unity Temple has now, however, to a significant need for remediation. He was ranked on a list of the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the 11 most endangered properties in April 2009, of national importance.