World-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright was initiated into the Wisconsin Alpha Chapter on November 13, 1886

Wright became an American architect, interior designer, writer, and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures, 532 of which were completed. Wright believed in designing buildings that were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by Fallingwater (1935), which has been called “the best all-time work of American architecture.” Wright was a leader of the Prairie School architecture movement and developed the concept of the Usonian home, his unique vision for urban planning in the United States. His creative period spanned more than seventy years.

His work includes original and innovative examples of many building types, including offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, and museums. Wright also designed many of the interior elements of his buildings, such as furniture and stained glass. Wright wrote twenty books and many articles and was a popular lecturer in the United States and Europe. His colorful personal life often made headlines, most notably for the 1914 fire and murders at his Taliesin studio. Already well known during his lifetime, Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as “the greatest American architect of all time.”

One of the last buildings designed by Wright was Arizona Beta’s Chapter House. Even though Brother Wright died on April 9, 1959, the house was completed in the design he created in late 1961 and the chapter moved in in 1962.