CHICAGO, IL.- The digital restoration of Wright’s Robie House, created by zünpartners, received the Webby Award for Cultural Institutions. The recreation of Robie House’s interior spaces allows visitors to explore the home as envisioned by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1910, the year construction was completed. The Web site is designed to engage visitors in the restoration process help encourage donations required for its completion and provide an interactive educational demonstrations.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, the organization that operates the Robie House, zün collaborated and James Eaton Design created an immersive virtual tour of the Robie House main floor, as Wright originally designed it. Visitors will view the original images and explore how the Living room and Dining room have evolved during Preservation Trust’s restoration. The color schemes for the carpet were sampled from original yarn threads archived at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The dining room table was recreated by a composite of photographs taken of the original, and the last remaining original table lantern served as a guide to rebuilding the missing four. The use of historical images and vintage fabric lead to the digital recreation of the table runners.

The most dramatic effect is the restoration of Wright's lighting scheme. Reproduction period light bulbs were sampled for an accurate color and glow. Special attention was given to recreate the pattern of the grill which serves as a light screen on top of the sconces which, when lit, illuminate the adjacent wall. The composition of different fixtures and lights is a wholly unique Robie House experience.

The Robie House sparked a revolution in residential architecture whose influence still reverberates today. Designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of the 10 most significant structures of the 20th century, this American treasure is celebrated as one of Chicago’s most important works of art. Robie House, more than any other structure, demonstrated Wright’s genius and brought him acclaim from both the United States and abroad. In its precision-like arrangement, the home continues to be recognized as one of the most important buildings of the 20th century, a building that propelled the modernist movement in architecture.

View the award-winning digital restoration at: http://www.gowright.org/robie/