Unity Temple | |
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Location | 875 Lake Street Oak Park, Illinois |
Coordinates | 41°53′18″N 87°47′48″W / 41.88833°N 87.79667°W |
Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) |
Built | 1905–1908 |
Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
Architectural style(s) | Modern |
Governing body | Private |
Criteria | Cultural: (ii) |
Designated | 2019 (43rd session) |
Part of | The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright |
Reference no. | 1496-001 |
Region | Europe and North America |
Designated | April 17, 1970[1] |
Reference no. | 70000240[1] |
Designated | December 30, 1970[2] |
Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Temple is considered to be one of Wright's most important structures dating from the first decade of the twentieth century.[3] Because of its consolidation of aesthetic intent and structure through use of a single material, reinforced concrete, Unity Temple is considered by many architects to be the first modern building in the world. This idea became of central importance to the modern architects who followed Wright, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and even the post-modernists, such as Frank Gehry. In 2019, along with seven other buildings designed by Wright in the 20th century, Unity Temple was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Unitarian Universalist congregation that worships in Unity Temple was formed in 1871, and has no connection with Unity Church, a religious organization founded in 1889.