Chicago Architecture: Histories, Revisions, Alternatives

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.

Chicago is synonymous with modern architecture--the birthplace of the skyscraper, the cradle of twentieth-century American design, and the home of enduring works by such iconic figures as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. However, in "Chicago Architecture," Charles Waldheim and Katerina Ruedi Ray revise and offer alternatives to the archetypal story of modern architecture in Chicago.
An esteemed group of contributors here show that the mythic status of Chicago architecture has distorted our understanding of the historical circumstances in which it was realized. This volume of fascinating essays 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, including Marina City and O'Hare Airport, and their creators--lesser known women architects and individuals who did not fit into the dominant modernist narrative. "Chicago Architecture" is a work of enormous scope and vision--a book as heady and towering as the skyline it considers.