--- ---  # See 15 Iconic Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jun 8, 2016 12:30 PM UTC  Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, Chicago, Ill. Built circa 1909-1910. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, Chicago, Ill. Built circa 1909-1910.Hedrich Blessing Collection/Chicago History Museum—Getty Images by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jun 8, 2016 12:30 PM UTC Renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright would have turned 149 on Wednesday. The monumental figure designed 1,114 architectural works — 532 of which were completed— before his death in 1959. In honor of his birthday, the above photos represent 15 of his best-known ones, from the Guggenheim museum in New York City, which he wanted to feel like “a curving wave that never breaks” ([_LIFE_, Nov. 2, 1959](http://time.com/3878201/frank-lloyd-wright-photos-of-an-american-genius-and-his-works/)), to the office building the Wisconsin native designed for a wax-polish company in a “drab section” of Racine, which was meant to be “as inspiring a place to work in as any cathedral ever was to worship in” ([May 8, 1939](https://books.google.com/books?id=rEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&dq=%22frank+lloyd+wright%22+and+%22racine%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj957SqkZLNAhUJFh4KHe-DAOgQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=%22frank%20lloyd%20wright%22%20and%20%22racine%22&f=false)). As LIFE summed up his portfolio in [his 1959 obituary](https://books.google.com/books?id=XkgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53&dq=): --- > “” --- In addition to being known for [sprawling oases](https://books.google.com/books?id=kEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA84&dq=%22frank+lloyd+wright%22+and+%22taliesin+west%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirlt6qk5LNAhVaGlIKHfP3DGwQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=%22frank%20lloyd%20wright%22%20and%20%22taliesin%20west%22&f=false) like Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz., he was also notorious for going over-budget (perhaps not surprisingly, given his taste in luxuries like velvet knickers). For instance, at one point he considered [applying](http://www.fallingwater.org/38/fallingwater-facts) a gold leaf coating to the concrete surfaces of Fallingwater, the personal home of Kaufmann’s Department Store owners in Bear Run, Pa. (and the subject of the Jan. 17, 1938 [cover of TIME](http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19380117,00.html)). Thus, _LIFE_ concluded[ in its Aug. 12, 1946 issue](https://books.google.com/books?id=kEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA94&dq=%22frank+lloyd+wright%22+and+%22fallingwater%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRjJKsipLNAhVM44MKHXlpC2QQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22frank%20lloyd%20wright%22%20and%20%22fallingwater%22&f=false) that he had “one dominant trait of character; an absolute inability to endure confinement of any sort.”  Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio, located at 951 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park, Ill. Built circa 1889. Don Kalec/Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple Church in Oak Park, Ill. Built circa 1905-1908. Hedrich Blessing Collection/Chicago History Museum—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Avery Coonley house, Riverside, Ill. Built circa 1908. Chicago Architectural Photography Company/Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, Chicago, Ill. Built circa 1909-1910. Hedrich Blessing Collection/Chicago History Museum—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's J. Kibben Ingalls house in River Forest, Ill. Built circa 1909. Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin East in Spring Green, Wisc. Built circa 1911. Hedrich Blessing Collection/Chicago History Museum—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, 1950s. Built circa 1919-1923. Authenticated News—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House in Los Angeles. Built circa 1924. Philip Scott Andrews—AP Photo  Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water house in Mill Run, Penn. Built circa 1936-1939. Brent Winebrenner/Lonely Planet Image—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz. Built circa 1937. Hedrich Blessing Collection/Chicago History Museum—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson Wax Company complex in Racine, Wisc. Built circa 1936-1939. Bettmann—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's William H. Danforth Chapel at The Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla. Built circa 1938. Julie Fletcher—AP Photo  Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York, N.Y. Built circa 1959. George Heyer—Getty Images  Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin County Civic Cente rin San Rafael, Calif. Built circa 1960. Garth Eliassen—Getty Images  The last architectural structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. Built circa 1964. Alan Band/Fox Photos—Getty Images Frank Lloyd Wright Birthday: Photos, Iconic Buildings ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4349722/frank-lloyd-wright-most-famous-greatest-buildings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4349722/frank-lloyd-wright-most-famous-greatest-buildings/"},"headline":"See 15 Iconic Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings","datePublished":"2016-06-08T12:30:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:28.686Z","description":"The architect was born on June 8, 1867","url":"https://time.com/4349722/frank-lloyd-wright-most-famous-greatest-buildings/","keywords":["architecture","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte034024389fbf84e/69889531a988ca5abd6b8051/160526-frank-lloyd-wright-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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