Want a free day trip from the city to explore the beautiful architectural work of Frank Lloyd Wright? The Chicago Architectural Biennial is here to hook you up. One of the many awesome events during the Biennial includes this sweet gratis trip, where you can reserve a spot on a shuttle departing from the Chicago Cultural Center and heading to Racine, Wisconsin. There you’ll be able to explore the Wright-designed SC Johnson corporate headquarters as well as take in Wingspread, one of the iconic Prairie-style homes Wright created during his career.
Opened in 1939, Wright designed SC Johnson’s main administration building to include more than 40 miles of Pyrex glass tubing, and it's the only Wright-designed commercial building still in use today. The Research Tower was opened in 1950 and was recently restored and open to the public for the first time in spring 2014. The tower was Wright’s ideal complement to the original administration building, and it's one of the tallest structures built using the cantilever principle.
Tours of Wingspread are only included on the weekend visits, so if you're already making the trek (and even better, for free!) you should make sure to enjoy both, especially since Wingspread is the largest (14,000 square feet) and last of the Prairie-style homes designed by Wright. H.F. Johnson Jr., the third generation of SC Johnson, commissioned Wright to design the house in 1936.
During the weekend tours you’ll kick off the trip with a shuttle ride from the Cultural Center at 10am. Lunch is available for purchase while traveling on the bus. Tours of the SC Johnson campus start at 1pm and tours of Wingspread start at 3:15pm. The shuttle will head home at 4:30pm and is set to arrive back in Chicago around 6:30pm, making it a perfect day trip to enjoy some fresh air and take in some historical architecture and design from an American master.
To reserve your spot and enjoy the free shuttle and tours, sign up through the SC Johnson and Chicago Architectural Biennial’s joint site here.
Tours are offered Thursday through Sunday until January 3, with no tours offered on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Tours on December 26 and 27 will not include a visit to Wingspread.