The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Lucius Pond Ordway Arts Building

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Lucius Pond Ordway Arts Building, Florida Southern College

Institution Name: Florida Southern College
Original/Historic Place Name: Lucius Pond Ordway Arts Building
Location on Campus: West Campus - Johnson Ave.
Date(s) of Construction:

1952	original construction Wright, Frank Lloyd

Designer: Frank Lloyd Wright
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Modern/post-WWII (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, landscape
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: concrete

Walls: concrete textile block

Roof: built-up

Function:

ca. 1952-present (2006)	theater (theater in the round)
ca. 1952-present (2006)	faculty offices
ca. 1952-present (2006)	classrooms

Narrative:
One of the most imposing buildings in the Wright complex is the Ordway Building. The single story structure is characterized by a shed roof which rises above the flat first story supported by concrete piers and joists. Between the large piers are glass clear-story windows which admit light into the main spaces. At the north end of the building is a circular tower with a flat, conical roof in which the entire second story is enclosed in glass. The original intended use as a dining room was never realized, with the building being used instead as an industrial arts and home economics building. A final important asset of this building is the extensive integration of the esplanade into the structure (from National register report).

References:

Florida Southern College. Historic American Buildings Survey report and photos. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, [n.d.].

Florida Southern College: The First Hundred Years. Lakeland, FL: Florida Southern College, 1985.

Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly 12, no. 3 (2001).

Little, J. Rodney, and Phillip A. Werndli. Florida Southern College Architectural District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1975.

Rogers, Steven B. "The Frank Lloyd Wright Campus at Florida Southern College: A Child of the Sun." Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly 12 (Summer 2001): 4-23.

Smalling, Walter, Jr. Lucius Pond Ordway Arts Building [Florida Southern College]. Historic American Buildings Survey photographs. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1979.