What company's headquarters did Wright design in Racine, Wisconsin?

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Johnson Wax headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin. The complex was commissioned by S.C. Johnson & Son, the household-products company commonly associated with the name Johnson Wax.

Wright designed the Administration Building after company president Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr. hired him in 1936. It was completed in 1939, and Wright later designed the Research Tower, completed in 1950. Together, these buildings formed the original corporate headquarters at 1525 Howe Street in Racine.

The Administration Building is famous for its large open workroom, curved brick walls, translucent Pyrex glass tubes, and mushroom-shaped concrete columns called “lily pads” or “calyxes.” The Research Tower used a central structural core with floors projecting outward, creating an unusual vertical arrangement.

A common mix-up is to treat “Johnson Wax” as the company’s exact legal name. The company was S.C. Johnson & Son, but “Johnson Wax” is the familiar name of the Wright-designed headquarters and is the canonical quiz answer. The complex became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.