Child of the Sun

{{About||the Mayte Garcia album|Child of the Sun (album)|other uses| Child of the Sun (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Florida Southern College
Architectural District

| nrhp_type = nhld

| nocat = yes

| image = Lakeland FSC Pfeiffer Chapel01.jpg

| caption = Pfeiffer Chapel, 2009

| location = Lakeland, Florida, United States

| coordinates = {{coord|28|1|50|N|81|56|54|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Florida#USA

| area = {{convert|100|acre|km2}}

| built = 1941–1958

| architect = Frank Lloyd Wright

| architecture =

| added = 11 June 1975

| refnum = 75000568

| designated_nrhp_type = 2 March 2012

| visitation_num =

| visitation_year =

}}

Child of the Sun is a collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on the campus of the Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. The twelve original buildings were constructed between 1941 and 1958. Another of Wright's designs, a Usonian house originally intended for faculty housing, was completed in 2013, and is now part of the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center. On March 2, 2012, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and together form the largest collection of buildings by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Design

Frank Lloyd Wright was retained by Florida Southern President Ludd M. Spivey in 1938 to develop a master plan for the expansion and growth of the college's campus. Wright was given the opportunity to plan the campus using ideas about organic integration with the environment that the architect had been developing for some years. As basic design blocks for the campus, Wright adopted a plan based on the idea of orange groves, which have evenly spaced trees forming a grid. For construction, Wright used of textile blocks, which he had developed formally a decade before in his "Textile Block"{{Broken anchor|date=2025-06-08|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Storer House (Los Angeles)#Wright's textile-block houses|reason= The anchor (Wright's textile-block houses) has been deleted.|diff_id=1294489771}} houses in California. The buildings on the Florida Southern campus could be made of concrete blocks of standard size, whose use simplified design and construction of the buildings. Some of these blocks were formed by the college's students using local materials. The basic plan for the campus was based on ideas Wright had conceived as part of his Broadacre City idea of urban planning.

Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center

Opened in 2013, the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center features a Wright-designed Usonian house and the GEICO Gift Shop. The center offers self-guided, docent-led, and group tours of this collection of the architect's work that Wright himself proclaimed to be among his best. It is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Buildings

The buildings within the district include:

Annie Pfeiffer Chapel{{Snd}} first completed Frank Lloyd Wright structure on the campus, dedicated 1941
Seminars (now the Financial Aid and Business Office){{Snd}} completed 1941
Buckner Building (original Roux Library){{Snd}} completed 1946
Watson/Fine Building (Administration Building){{Snd}} completed 1949
Water Dome{{Snd}} partially completed 1949, completed and restored in 2007 to Wright's original plans
Danforth Chapel{{Snd}} completed 1955
Ordway Building (originally called the Industrial Arts Building){{Snd}} completed 1952
Polk County Science Building (called Polk Science by faculty and students){{Snd}} completed 1958
The Esplanades{{Snd}} various completion times, currently undergoing restoration

Gallery

File:Lakeland FSC Buckner Bldg pano01.jpg|Buckner Building

File:Lakeland FSC Danforth Chapel pano01.jpg|Danforth Chapel

File:COTSDanforthchapel1.jpg|Danforth Chapel

File:COTSDanforthchapel2.jpg|Danforth Chapel

File:COTSDanforthchapel3.jpg|Danforth Chapel (original FLW designed pew)

File:Lakeland FSC esplanade01.jpg|Esplanade (walkway)

File:FSC Esplanade HABS.jpg|Esplanade (walkway)

File:COTSEsplanade.jpg|Esplanade (walkway) night

File:COTSEsplanadepillar.jpg|Esplanade (walkway) pillar

File:Lakeland FSC Ordway Bldg01.jpg|Ordway Building

File:COTSOrdwaybuilding1.jpg|Ordway Building

File:COTSOrdwaybuilding2.jpg|Ordway Building (interior courtyard)

File:COTSOrdwaybuiding3.jpg|Ordway Building

File:Pfeiffer Chapel HABS, FLA,53-LAKE,1A-14.jpg|Pfeiffer Chapel, 1941

File:COTSPfeifferchapel1.jpg|Pfeiffer Chapel

File:COTSPfeifferchapel2.jpg|Pfeiffer Chapel

File:Polkbuilding3.jpg|Polk Science Building (only FLW designed planetarium)

File:COTSPolkbuilding2.jpg|Polk Science Building

File:Lakeland FSC Seminar Building pano01.jpg|Seminar Building

File:Waterdome.jpg|Water Dome (fountain on)

File:Lakeland FSC Water Dome pool pano01.jpg|Water Dome pool

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{NRISref|2010a| refnum = 75000568| name = Florida Southern College Architectural District|dateform=dmy}}

{{cite web |url= https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2012-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf |title= Weekly List Of Actions Taken On Properties: 3/12/12 through 3/16/12 |publisher=National Park Service}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nhl/news/LC/spring2011/FloridaSouthern.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212142138/https://www.nps.gov/NHL/news/LC/spring2011/FloridaSouthern.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 12, 2017|title=NHL nomination for Florida State College Historic District|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=13 Jan 2018}}

}}

External links

{{Commons category-inline|Child of the Sun}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323 |id=fl0188 |title=Florida Southern College, McDonald & Johnson Avenues, Lakeland, Polk County, FL |photos=53 |data=22 |cap=4}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-A |id=fl0189 |title=Florida Southern College, Annie Pfeiffer Chapel |photos=11 |color=5 |cap=2 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-B |id=fl0190 |title=Florida Southern College, William H. Danforth Chapel |photos=3 |color=1 |cap=2 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-C |id=fl0191 |title=Florida Southern College, Emile E. Watson Administration Building |photos=9 |color=1 |cap=2 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-D |id=fl0192 |title=Florida Southern College, E. T. Roux Library |photos=6 |color=1 |cap=2 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-E |id=fl0193 |title=Florida Southern College, Esplanade (Walkway) |photos=4 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-F |id=fl0194 |title=Florida Southern College, Polk Science Building |photos=10 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-G |id=fl0195 |title=Florida Southern College, Lucius Ordway Arts Building |photos=7 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=FL-323-H |id=fl0196 |title=Florida Southern College, Auditorium-Music Building |photos=4 |cap=1 |link=no}}
[http://www.critiquethis.us/2010/03/26/the-child-of-the-sun-florida-southern-college-designed-by-frank-lloyd-wright/ Critique of the Child of the Sun]
[http://www.flsouthern.edu/fllwctr/index.htm Child of the Sun Visitor Center]