Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer
Airstream, the legendary manufacturer of silver bullet recreational vehicles, has partnered with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to create the Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer. This new vehicle is a tribute to the visionary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and to Airstream’s founder, Wally Byam, who created a streamlined mobile trailer that revolutionized how Americans travel. It’s a marriage of engineering and architecture, as seen through a 21st century lens.
“This is a dream collaboration that brings together two icons of American design”
The new 28-foot unit was inspired by unique access to archival materials at Taliesin West, Wright’s home and studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. Among the unique design features, the new Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer was built using Wright’s famed Usonian home design principles. The emphasis was on maximizing small spaces and keeping an open floor plan for the sake of efficiency.
Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer
Visually, this trailer is all about the aerodynamic curves that Airstream is famed. They’re further enhanced by pairing them with the overriding principles of Wright’s organic architecture philosophy.
“This is a dream collaboration that brings together two icons of American design, and by focusing on Wright’s design principles, we were pushed to think differently about materials, textures, and small space efficiency in our floor plan,” Bob Wheeler, president and chief executive officer at Airstream, said in a press release.
The new Airstream features a panoramic rear hatch with that incredible wide angle view. Perhaps most startling is the abundant light provided by 29 windows, more than in any other Airstream model to date. Overhead storage capacity was relocated to accommodate more windows and allow natural light to flow into the unit. There are two circular porthole windows that were inspired by Wright’s love of circular design elements, as well as Airstream’s traditional focus on aerodynamic design.
Convertible beds in the Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer
The trailer features a first-of-its-kind convertible king-sized bed, the largest option in the Airstream fleet, a design inspired by mid-century travel trailers. Two twin beds, which double as bench seating, conveniently convert with the push of a button into a king-sized bed.
“We believe Frank Lloyd Wright’s design philosophy was always about helping people live with more purpose, beauty, and joy,”
There’s a convertible dinette and separate desk space, both of which stow compactly into a wall cabinet. The chairs are Wright-inspired but also collapsible. Wright's Taliesin designs inspire the lounge seating. There are additional design historic elements taken from Wright’s visionary career, such as a never-produced mobile kitchen concept that was based on a 1939 archival design. Other rediscovered designs include deep-set lounge seating inspired by Wright’s distinctive furniture and open shelving that replaces the more typical overhead locker cabinetry.
Kitchen area in the new Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer
The color palette was adapted from a 1955 Wright-curated Martin-Senour paint collection and features desert-inspired hues, such as turquoise, ochre, and red, throughout the interior finishes and upholstery. The main entry door features a custom graphic design element drawn from the archival Gordon Leaf mural pattern, which Wright commissioned his apprentice and secretary, Eugene Masselink, to create in 1956 for House Beautiful editor Elizabeth Gordon.
“We believe Frank Lloyd Wright’s design philosophy was always about helping people live with more purpose, beauty, and joy,” Henry Hendrix, vice president and chief marketing officer at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, said in a press release. “This collaboration with Airstream has been better than we could have imagined — a perfect meeting of vision and craft that brings Wright’s timeless ideas to life on the road.”
This limited-edition Airstream travel trailer will be produced in a numbered production run of 200 units and priced at $184,900.
