Chicago Architecture: Histories, Revisions, Alternatives (Chicago Architecture and Urbanism) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226870391 ISBN 13: 9780226870397

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2007

Synopsis

When you think of modern architecture, you think of Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, the cradle of twentieth-century American design, and the home of enduring works by such iconic figures as Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Idealized through tourism and celebrated in the groves of academe, the city's majestic skyline and landmark buildings remain a living testament to the modern movement.

In Chicago Architecture, Charles Waldheim and Katerina Ruedi Ray revise and offer alternatives to the archetypal story of modern architecture in Chicago. They and an esteemed group of contributors assert that the mythic status of Chicago architecture has distorted our understanding of the historical circumstances in which it was realized. This searching volume illuminates the importance of photographs, books, magazines, and other media in the cultivation of an international audience for Chicago architecture; it explores the pivotal role of real estate developers, finance and insurance sectors, and speculative capital markets in the development of the city itself; and, perhaps most notably, it examines a wide variety of overlooked architectural works and their creators—individuals who did not fit into the dominant modernist narrative.

Offering new insights on Chicago public housing and O'Hare International Airport, on the Columbian Exposition and Marina City, on the city's grid system and the place of women architects in the story of Chicago modernism, and on the subjective experience of living inside Chicago's most well-known buildings, Chicago Architecture is a work of enormous scope and vision—a book as heady and towering as the skyline it considers.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

When you think of modern architecture, you think of Chicago, the mythical birthplace of the skyscraper, the cradle of twentieth-century American design, and the home of iconic works by such heroic modernist figures as Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Idealized and commodified through tourism and contemporary culture, the city's skyline and landmark buildings are evidence of the founding myths of the modern movement internationally.In "Chicago Architecture," Charles Waldheim and Katerina Ruedi Ray revise and offer alternatives to the archetypal story of modern architecture in Chicago. Together with an esteemed group of contributors they assert that the mythic status of Chicago architecture has distorted our understanding of the historical circumstances in which it was realized. This searching volume illuminates the importance of photographs, books, magazines, and other media in the cultivation of an international audience for Chicago architecture; it explores the pivotal role of real estate developers, finance and insurance sectors, and speculative capital markets in the development of the city itself; and perhaps most notably, it examines a wide variety of overlooked architectural works and their creators-individuals who did not fit into the dominant modernist narrative. Offering new insights on Chicago public housing and O'Hare International Airport, on the Columbian Exposition and Marina City, on the city's grid system and the place of women architects in the story of Chicago modernism, and on the subjective experience of living inside Chicago's most well-known buildings, "Chicago Architecture" is a work of enormous scope and vision--a book as heady asthe city it considers.

About the Author

Charles Waldheim is associate professor of architecture and director of the Master of Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Toronto. Katerina Rüedi Ray is professor in and director of the School of Art at Bowling Green State University.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0226870391
• ISBN 13: 9780226870397
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 442
• Editor: Waldheim Charles, Ray Katerina Ruedi