Airstream and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation have partnered to debut the Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer.
The 28-foot travel trailer will be made in a numbered production run totaling 200 RVs. The model was designed as a collaboration between Airstream’s engineering and design teams and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s experts at Wright’s Taliesin West home and studio in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Airstream said the design teams blended Airstream founder Wally Byam’s emphasis on aerodynamic curves with Wright’s organic architecture philosophy.
Airstream President and CEO Bob Wheeler said, “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 floorplan. Collaborations like this bring new ideas to the table and push our design and engineering teams beyond their comfort zone.”
Key design references were drawn from Wright’s Usonian home design principles. Adopted by Wright in his later career, the Usonian style centers on maximizing small spaces and open floorplan efficiency, while blending interior and exterior spaces.
Henry Hendrix, vice president and chief marketing officer at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation said, “We believe Frank Lloyd Wright’s design philosophy was always about helping people live with more purpose, beauty and joy. This collaboration with Airstream has been better than we could have imagined.”
The limited-edition RV has a 7,600-pound GVWR and sleeps two to four people. The travel trailer has two air conditioners, a 15,000 BTU model and a 13,500 BTU AC. The power system includes a 100-amp-hour lithium battery, a 2,000-watt pure sine inverter, a 35-amp MPPT charge controller and three 100-watt solar panels.
The model’s rear reflects the Usonian concept. Many Airstream travel trailers feature a convertible dinette inside the rear hatch, but the Frank Lloyd Wright model positions the primary sleeping area at its rear. Two twin beds, which double as bench seating, convert into a king-sized bed—the largest option in Airstream’s fleet.
Another unique convertible feature is found in the front living space, where a dining table and separate desk space collapse into a wall cabinet, creating room for a pull-out sofa. Two collapsible Wright-inspired chairs and a collapsible stool tuck away inside the wall cabinet behind the lowered desk and table.
Overhead storage capacity was relocated to create more windows and increase natural light. Two circular porthole windows are included.
Other historic elements pulled from Wright’s career include a never-produced mobile kitchen concept unearthed from a 1939 archival design. Open shelving replaces overhead locker cabinets. The color palette is drawn from a 1955 Wright-curated Martin-Senour paint collection. The colors feature ochre, deep red, and cool turquoise throughout the interior finishes and upholstery.
The main entry door features a custom graphic design element drawn from the archival Gordon Leaf mural pattern. Wright commissioned his trusted apprentice and secretary, Eugene Masselink, to create the mural design in 1956 for House Beautiful editor Elizabeth Gordon. The pattern’s organic geometry is featured on the Airstream’s main entry portal and matching die-cut screen door, as well as in the lighting sconces, galley wall laminate, dinette and cabinetry pulls.
