First Unitarian Society
Meeting House
Madison, WI
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unitarian Meeting House, home of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, is recognized internationally as an icon of religious architecture. It was built in 1951, and in 1964 the AIA designated it one of Wright’s 17 most important structures. It received National Historic Landmark status in 2004.
This Usonian structure was the first of its kind to synthesize a soaring auditorium roof, bell tower, and parish hall into one coherent whole. The overall design is triangular, the strongest of all geometric shapes, and for Wright, it symbolized “aspiration” which he felt was a good analogy for what Unitarianism is about.
The design of all 11 of Wright’s religious buildings was intended to reflect the beliefs of the denomination he was designing for. Wright was a third-generation Unitarian and a member of the church, and in the case of the Meeting House, he incorporated his own religious ideas — reverence for nature, a belief that man is part of an interdependent web of existence, and the unity of all things. He believed Nature was the only body of God one would ever see.
The stories surrounding the construction process, the huge cost overruns, and continuing roof leaks well into the 21st century, are the stuff of legend and the stories help make tours of the Meeting House a truly memorable experience.
