Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

When I first heard that song on ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ in my teens (still one of my favourite albums ever, incidentally) I knew nothing about Frank Lloyd Wright. Nor, it turned out, did Paul Simon. Art Garfunkel, who had studied as an architect, was a big admirer and asked Simon to write a song about him. The result was a rather plaintive goodbye not to Wright, but to Garfunkel, with the pair’s separation already on the horizon.

No matter, my interest in Frank Lloyd Wright was sparked. Over the intervening decades I’ve seen many images of his buildings, read a bit about them, and visited one, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. But only one.

When my friend Isa suggested that while in Chicago we might do a tour visiting a number of his buildings in the area, including his own home, I was quick to agree and sign up. And I was so glad I did. While not cheap, the tour, run by the Frank Lloyd Trust, took us to a lot of places that would have taken us days to cover under our own steam. And the guides were so informative. I learned loads not just about Frank Lloyd Wright but also other architects of his day.

The tour started in the heart of downtown Chicago in the stunning Rookery Building. While Wright didn’t build this, he was responsible for a major renovation of the interior spaces in the early 20th century. Our guide told us all about its original design by architect John Wellborn Root, which was very innovative at the time (1886). Its central glass atrium provided light to the offices. And its ‘floating’ foundations enabled this tall heavy building to be constructed on Chicago’s swampy soil. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).