Unity Temple

Unity Temple, built for the Unitarian Universalist congregation of Oak Park after fire destroyed its previous building, was Frank Lloyd Wright's first significant public commission and, by his own account, the building where he first proved that architecture could be built as sculpted space rather than as applied ornament on a box. Poured in raw, unadorned reinforced concrete with a low budget that ruled out stone or brick veneer, its T-shaped plan separates a windowless, top-lit worship auditorium from a more sociable church house, joined by a shared low entrance that forces visitors to turn before they see the sanctuary itself. The building underwent a complete restoration from 2015 to 2017 after decades of concrete deterioration and failing mechanical systems.