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| Frank Lloyd Wright |
Today
marks what would have been the 145th birthday of American architect, Frank
Lloyd Wright. Wright is known for
what he termed ‘organic architecture,’ which later developed into his Prairie Style.
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| Falling Water |
During
Wright’s 72 years as an architect, he designed over 1,000 buildings and
structures, and actually built around 500 of them. Wright is known for such
architectural gems as Falling Water in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, Taliesin in
Spring Green, Wisconsin, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
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| Belvidere, Illinois |
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| Buffalo, New York |
But
what people don’t usually realize is that Frank Lloyd Wright also designed a
memorial chapel for a cemetery that is built in Illinois; and a very
modern mausoleum that can be found in a cemetery in New York.
Pettit
Chapel:
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| Front of Pettit Chapel |
The
Pettit Chapel is located in Belvidere Cemetery in Belvidere, Illinois. Wright designed the chapel after Emma
Glasner Pettit approached him with the request. She wanted an indoor setting where friends and family could
gather to pay their respects to her husband, William Pettit. Pettit had been a doctor in Cedar
Falls, Iowa and had built the largest medical practice in the state during the
late 1890’s. When he died of a
heart attack in 1899, his body was taken back to Belvidere, Illinois, his
hometown. Crowds of people from
Cedar Falls wanted to attend the funeral in Belvidere. So many, in fact, that a special train
had to be chartered so that all who wanted to attend, could.
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| T Shaped Chapel |
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| Low Prairie Style Architecture |
It
was 1906 when the Belvider Cemetery Association approved the request and design
for the memorial chapel, and building began in 1907. The T-shaped chapel cost around $3,000 to build. The Pettit Chapel was the only structure
Wright designed for a cemetery and one of the earliest of his Prairie Style
buildings.
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| Low Overhanging Roof |
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| Inside the Chapel |
Wright
designed the chapel with a fireplace inside, and a porch with a low overhanging
roof, typical of his buildings to come.
Art glass windows were used, along with wood trim. The exterior was covered in a stucco
finish. The chapel was used for funerals
in the cemetery until the 1920’s.
In 1978, the Pettit Chapel was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. The chapel has
undergone restoration twice since 1907, once in 1977, and again in 2003.
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| Pettit Chapel in Cemetery |
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| Wright's Organic Style |
The
Pettit Chapel may be seen during regular cemetery hours. It is still used for weddings,
funerals, meetings and luncheons. For more information contact the Belvidere
Cemetery at (815) 547-7642 or visit http://www.belviderecemetery.com.
Blue
Sky Mausoleum:
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| Blue Sky Mausoleum |
Another
of Wright’s architectural designs for a cemetery can be found at Forest Lawn
Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.
This one-of-a-kind, organic design is known as the Blue Sky Mausoleum. Best described as an outdoor mausoleum,
the blueprint shows no walls or roof.
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| Wright's Sketch |
It
was during the late 1920’s when Darwin Martin, of the Larkin Soap Company,
contacted Frank Lloyd Wright about designing a family mausoleum for him. Martin wanted it built in Forest Lawn
Cemetery, in Buffalo. Wright drew
up a sketch, but Martin never had the mausoleum built. A year later, he lost
his fortune in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and with the start of the Great
Depression, the plans for the mausoleum were put away.
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| View From Across Lake |
It
was not until October 2004 that the Blue Sky Mausoleum was finally
constructed. In the mid-90’s, Fred
Whaley Jr., President of the Forest Lawn Cemetery, discovered that Frank Lloyd
Wright had designed a mausoleum for his cemetery. After several years of fund raising, the needed $500,000 was
raised and the cemetery had the memorial built according to Wright’s drawings
from 75 years before.
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| Benches and Crypts at Top |
Crafted
from white granite and concrete, twenty-four crypts rise gently from the edge
of a lake up a hill, with steps going up the center. Benches protrude from a vertical marker at the top.
Green trees provide the walls and the sky is the ceiling.
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| View with Lake |
According
to Wright’s notes, “This is a burial facing the open sky – a dignified great
headstone commune to all.” Designed in stepping terraces, it offers an organic
compromise between the grave and a mausoleum.
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| Forest Lawn Cemetery |
Since
the mausoleum did not get built for the Martin family, it now offers a unique
opportunity. The crypts are available for sale to the public by contacting the
cemetery. This is the only Frank Lloyd Wright structure that you can elect to
be buried in. Forest Lawn Cemetery also offers tours of the
mausoleum. For more information
call (716) 885-1600 or visit www.forest-lawn.com.
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| Frank Lloyd Wright |
Cemeteries are truly amazing places to visit. Especially when you find not only architectural gems, but
also masterpieces designed by architectural giants!
~ Joy
