Gwendolyn Wright, no relation to Frank Lloyd Wright, outlined another side of the famous architect last night at UNL's Norman and Jane Geske Lecture.

G. Wright, famous herself for hosting the PBS "History Detectives," show, went beyond the usual FLW show-stopper buildings and focused on his 1913 drawings for a "model suburb" on the outskirts of Chicago.

Although it was only a design concept for a competition, the blueprints were progressive in FLW's vision for connecting, not isolating the suburbs from the city, G. Wright said.

They included mixed use spaces, aimed at mixed incomes, from lavish single family homes to apartments which were close to the train stops. Interwoven were green spaces, public libraries and schools.

Although the houses were similar, FLW wanted to stress "one distinctive thing that was beautiful" about each home.

Frank Lloyd Wright began with residential designs. He listened to owners, then built houses for them. He even promoted it in the "Ladies Home Journal." It's part of the reason he was so popular with the public and why architects often dismissed his "prairie style" as overused and over rated.

But regardless of your opinion of the architect, his progressive view of the suburbs in 1913 is still relevant today as builders turn to "new urbanism" and a way to connect the sprawl to the city.