Wichita’s other Frank Lloyd Wright building

It is Wichita’s other Frank Lloyd Wright building.

The Corbin Education Center at Wichita State University has the trademark signs of the man called “the greatest American architect of all time” in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects.

The Corbin center is one of only two buildings designed by Wright in Kansas; both are in Wichita.

“He was hoping to have a project in every state,” said Howard Ellington, executive director of the Allen House Foundation, the more well-known Wright structure in Wichita. “That was not achieved.

“But some states do have more buildings such as Illinois, Wisconsin and Arizona.”

Wright built more than 500 homes, museums and office buildings during his career and more than 400 still stand. That’s according to the website architecture.about.com, which has a directory of all of Wright’s buildings.

Corbin Education Center, located just off 21st Street on WSU’s campus, is considered one of Wright’s most daring designs during his last years. Construction began in 1963 with the dedication following in 1964.

Wright died in 1959 at the age of 91.

“We have people come from all over the world to see this building,” said Patrice Hein, WSU assistant to the dean for the College of Education. “We have a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright groupies.”

Corbin Education Center is open to the public. Hein said she often does tours, especially for school groups.

“We get lots of requests, and we are always welcome to give them,” she said. “We have brochures to give them and are working on a self-guided tour.”

The building contains many of Wright’s principles in design – the massive low entry emphasizing the soaring interior courtyard, and the 90-degree hallway turns that keep the building unfolding like a Rubik’s cube. Hein said it also has much of the original furniture from 1964 when the building opened.

Another building was designed to accompany Corbin Education Center but was never built, Hein said, most likely due to budget constraints.

The building is named after Harry Corbin, who was the university’s president and led the school’s transition from a municipal university to a state college. The north side houses offices; the south side of the center houses classrooms.

Hein said the building is similar in blueprint plans to a design Wright created called the Postal-Telegraph building in Baghdad, Iraq. The building was never constructed but, like the Corbin Education Center, it has two 70-foot light spires reaching up to the sky.

The terra-cotta and turquoise color scheme was selected by Wright’s widow, Olgivanna.

Other Wichita influences

As most longtime Wichitans know, Century II – Wichita’s concert and convention center – was influenced by Wright. Both of Century II’s architects – John Hickman and Roy Varenhorst – were interns under Wright.

Hickman, who committed suicide during the Century II project, also designed Rea Woodman Elementary School, near Pawnee and Glenn, and the original Ablah Library at Wichita State University.

The other Wright-designed building in Wichita is the Henry J. Allen house at Second and Roosevelt. In 1915, Henry J. Allen, publisher of The Wichita Beacon and later governor of Kansas, and his wife, Elsie, commissioned Wright to design their house. It is best known for being one of Wright’s favorite prairie-style houses.

Don Schuyler was the supervising architect for Wright when the Henry J. Allen home was built in College Hill in 1917. He also was the architect for dozens of houses, churches and schools in Kansas and Alabama, some of which are now included on the National Register of Historic Places.

Details of Corbin

When touring the Corbin Education Center, the first thing to do is stand outside the building and look.

Note the windows, the fountains, the roof. Look for the shapes of diamonds and rings in the building, which are meant to symbolize the marriage between earth and sky.

“Wright talked about the marriage of the building to the site, to form and function, the marriage of the building to the sky,” Hein said. “A lot of the diamonds are the symbol of marriage.

“But once you begin looking at the rings, you begin to see they never quite meet on the doors – which was kind of his intent. He was conflicted. A lot of the ideology he may have intended.”

Ellington said the building has a glass curtain wall, which Wright termed a “light screen.”

Through the years, WSU has made a few modifications to the building – rewiring the electricity for computers and smart boards; installing an elevator, and placing a more energy efficient screen over the windows, Hein said.

“A big part of the College of Education is teaching our teachers how to use the latest in technology,” she said.

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Wichita’s other Frank Lloyd Wright building."