Past Exhibitions

Robert Burley
Light Ladders Leading Plane Into R4 (1984)
Courtesy Robert Burley

Hedrich Blessing
Entryway Drive Upper Level and Terminal Buildings, Chicago O’Hare International Airport (1963)
Chicago History Museum, HB-25500-B2

ORD: Documenting the Definitive Modern Airport

January 15-May 1, 2009

ORD: Documenting the Definitive Modern Airport presented architectural photographs portraying O’Hare International Airport. Hedrich Blessing’s iconic black-and-white images captured the Miesian modernism of Chicago’s largest public works project. Robert Burley’s color photographs depicted O’Hare as a managed landscape. The work of both photographers illustrates the design legacy of O’Hare, an international model of jet-age airport design.
Consulting and design firm Urban Agency curated ORD.

The exhibition included the sound installation “ORDnoise" by Khoury Levit Fong .

ORD was supported by:
Chicago History Museum
Gamma Imaging
Herman Miller
Stephen Bulger Gallery

Shanghai Transforming

October 14, 2008-January 9, 2009

Capturing a snapshot of a city in transition, Shanghai Transforming explored the past and speculated about future possibilities of China’s second largest city through photographs, graphics, and maps. In contrast to design in the established cities of Europe and America, Shanghai's new architecture and infrastructure challenges traditional spatial and social relationships. The exhibition considered the future of China—and our rapidly urbanizing planet. The exhibition provided a portrait of a city that offers unprecedented opportunities to architects and urban planners.
Architect and urban planner Iker Gil curated Shanghai Transforming. Photography was the work of Juan de Dios Pérez.

The companion book is available at the Chicago Architecture Foundation shop.

Boom Towns! Chicago Architects Design New Worlds

February 12-May 1, 2009

Boom Towns! contrasted architectural responses to explosive growth in 19th century Chicago and 21st century Asia and the Middle East.

Fueled by massive immigration, technological innovation, and new models of social organization, Chicago was the focal point of an unprecedented population boom. The city led the development of a new architecture that changed the practice of building worldwide. Fast forward a hundred years. Now it is Asia and the Middle East that are the brave new worlds. Great cities of the past like Beijing and Mumbai awaken roaring from long slumbers, while entirely new metropolises of staggering proportion appear to arise almost overnight.

Boom Towns! paired iconic works of architecture from late 19th century Chicago with comparable works in today’s China and the Middle East. The exhibition included photographs, drawings, graphics, models, and videos that encouraged visitors to travel between eras and continents in order to consider how international networks of architects transform dynamic societies.

Architecture critic Lynn Becker curated Boom Towns!

Boom Towns! was supported by:
Graham Foundation
Zell Family Foundation

caption: Roads Ministry, Tbilisi, Georgia (completed 1975). Architect G. Chakava
Photograph © F. Chaubin

Photo: Anne Evans

CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

July 10–October 3, 2008

CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed featured photographs of startling architectural projects built during the last two decades of the Cold War. The exhibition included photographs by French photographer Frederic Chaubin. CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed also traced the intellectual and political undercurrents that acted as a backdrop, and at times inspiration, for the work of these Soviet architects.

The Storefront for Art and Architecture curated this exhibition.

CCCP was supported by:
Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies at the University of Chicago
Moscow Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International Program
Reklama Media Company.

Green with Desire: Can We Live Sustainably in Our Homes?

June 24–September 5, 2008

Green with Desire: Can We Live Sustainably in Our Homes? explored the emotional and physical construction of a typical home. Through a large-scale evocation of a house, along with eight case studies of Chicago-area housing types, the exhibition examined the meaning and consequences of our expectations of home—including comfort, convenience, and affordability. Apartments and houses are designed to fulfill these expectations, rather than conserve resources and reduce waste. Are Chicagoans ready to add ‘green’ to their desires?

Chicagoland’s importance in the design and construction industries and the diversity of its housing made the region an ideal focus for Green with Desire. The exhibition featured historical and contemporary Chicago dwellings. It included building components, advertising materials, publications, artwork, photographs, drawings, and video.

Green with Desire: Can We Live Sustainably in Our Homes? was supported by:
Grand Victoria Foundation
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity/Bureau of Tourism
City of Chicago Department of Environment

In-kind contributions of goods and services for the project were generously provided by:
ComEd
Evergreen Oak Electric/Crest Lighting Studios
Greenmakers Buidling Supply
Lightswitch

Inspired by Nature: The Garfield Park Conservatory and Chicago's West Side

April 3-June 6, 2008

Inspired by Nature celebrated the centennial of the Garfield Park Conservatory through photographs, maps, and illustrations.

Located in Garfield Park at 300 N. Central Park Avenue in Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory has been recognized as an internationally significant horticultural facility as well as a cultural asset to the surrounding community and the city of Chicago.

Julia Bachrach, Historian, Chicago Park District, and Jo Ann Nathan, Director, Jens Jensen Legacy Project curated the exhibition.

Programs were co-sponsored by:
Chicago Park District
Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance

Do We Dare Squander Chicago’s Great Architectural Heritage?Preserving Chicago, Making History

February 7– May 15, 2008

Do We Dare Squander Chicago’s Great Architectural Heritage? examined the role of historic preservation in Chicago by featuring stories of individuals, developers, and grassroots groups whose efforts were central to the construction of the city and its identity. Do We Dare Squander focused on preservationists’ motivations—and evaluated the consequences of their actions. The exhibition and accompanying programs engaged audiences in considering the impact of preservation on urban environments.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation was a fitting host for Do We Dare Squander because its founders consisted of a group of architects and activists who came together in 1966 to save H. H. Richardson’s Glessner House on Prairie Avenue.

View the Preservation Perspectives website.

Do We Dare Squander Chicago’s Great Architectural Heritage? was supported by:
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Seymour Persky

Photos: Anne Evans

Map This! Envisioning a Global City

January– March, 2008

Map This! Envisioning a Global City included ten large-scale maps of Chicago, created by 25 undergraduate architecture students, which documented the students’ perspectives. This exhibition was the result of a collaboration between the Chicago Architecture Foundation, architecture firm UrbanLab, and students from the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the School of Architecture and Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Map This! was supported by:
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

Intersections: Views Across Chicago

September 24, 2007-January 1, 2008

Intersections: Views Across Chicago featured a collection of 1930s photographs of the city’s major intersections. The images, taken by the Chicago Surface Lines streetcar company to document the streetcar system, captured hundreds of neighborhood and downtown streetscapes. These demonstrate how public transit helped define Chicago life and drove the city’s growth and development.

The photographs appear in a new book, Chicago: City on the Move, by Michael Williams, Richard Cahan, and Bruce Moffat. The Chicago Architecture Foundation celebrated the release of this publication with the exhibition and related programming.

Me, Myself and Infrastructure: Private Lives and Public Works in America

August 8 - November 16, 2007

Me, Myself and Infrastructure presented a consumer’s-eye view of infrastructure—the technological networks that keep society connected and that define modern life. Featuring evocations of a coffee shop, a living room, a bus stop, an office, and a big-box store, the exhibition invited people to explore how their decisions shape their environments.

Me, Myself, and Infrastructure highlighted the interactions of the public and innovators as they build the systems that determine quality of life.

Me, Myself and Infrastructure was supported by:
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
American Society of Civil Engineers

Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower

January 18-April 29, 2007

Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower presented the history and design of the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The exhibition, which celebrated the building’s 50th anniversary, included historical documents, photographs, building components, reproductions of drawings, and original furnishings, including desks, chairs, tables, and textiles designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

An illustrated catalogue edited by exhibition curator Anthony Alofsin is available for purchase in the Chicago Architecture Foundation shop.

Price Tower Arts Center, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in cooperation with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Arizona, organized the exhibition. The exhibition installation was designed by Zaha Hadid and the Office of Zaha Hadid, London and co-produced by Price Tower Arts Center and Yale University Art + Architecture Gallery.

The exhibition and publication were supported by:
Henry Luce Foundation
Buell Family of Bartlesville
Silas Foundation
Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department

Completing the South Lakefront Parks: The Last Four Miles

January 25 – March 10, 2007

Aerial view of Iroquois Landing. Courtesy of Friends of the Parks

Completing the South Lakefront Parks presented the final plan for two stretches of the south lakefront that remain in private or quasi-governmental ownership. Apart from these four miles, Chicago’s 26 miles of public lakeshore park system form an expanse that is renowned for its beauty and accessibility.

The lakefront plan is the result of an initiative undertaken by Friends of the Parks to work with citizens, park advisory councils, community groups, public officials, and government representatives. The goal is to create a plan to complete Chicago’s lakefront park system from Evanston to the Indiana border.

Completing the South Lakefront Parks was supported by:
Friends of the Parks

Learning from North Lawndale: Past, Present + Future

September 20 – November 15, 2006

Learning from North Lawndale focused on this west side community’s unique place in Chicago’s history. One of the densest communities in the city for much of its early history, North Lawndale contains fine examples of early 20th century American architecture. The exhibition interwove the community’s stories with a chronicle of its transition from a predominately Jewish community, known as “Chicago Jerusalem” in the 1920s, to a vibrant African American community, which was the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Chicago civil rights campaign in 1966. Benny Goodman, Golda Meir, Otis Rush, Dinah Washington, and Dr. King all called Lawndale home at one point in their lives. Learning from North Lawndale illustrated the importance of memory, community reflection, and pride of place among today’s North Lawndale residents, who want to preserve their heritage while exploring possibilities for growth.

Over 100 images depicted the community’s greystone homes, parks and gardens, synagogues and churches, and civic structures. Many were sites of historic events. Exhibition highlights included depictions of the former headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Company; Route 66, one of North Lawndale’s and the nation’s most celebrated roads; one of the nation’s first movie palaces; and the blues music known as the “West Side Sound,” which originated there.

View the exhibition guide.

Learning from North Lawndale was supported by:
Harris Bank
Fannie Mae Corporation
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Homan Arthington Foundation
Illinois Department of Commerce
and Economic Opportunity
Illinois Humanities Council
National Endowment for the Arts
New England Builders, Inc.
Steans Family Foundation
Lawndale Heritage
Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago
Chicago Architectural Club
College of Architecture and the Arts at the
University of Illinois at Chicago

Open: New Designs for Public Space

Aerial view of of Ponte Parodi in Genoa, Italy, designed by UN Studio.

January 28– May 7, 2006

Open: New Designs for Public Space investigated public space in Chicago — from the spectacular Millennium Park to the development of streets and gardens in neighborhoods throughout the city. The exhibition included more than 300 architectural renderings, photographs, and models.

Open, which also featured 20 international contemporary public spaces, comprised five themes: The Plaza Unbound, Information in Place, Opening the City, Active Memory, and New Meeting Grounds. Designers included Will Alsop, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Peter Eisenman, Norman Foster, Kathryn Gustafson, and Zaha Hadid.

The Van Alen Institute of New York organized the exhibition.

Holabird & Root: 125 Years

Through April, 2006

Holabird & Root: 125 Years celebrated the 125th anniversary of the renowned architecture firm. This retrospective featured the photography of Hedrich Blessing.

McCormick Buildings 1899
Chicago Historical Society
(ICHi 22833)

Ravinia Pavilion 1950
Holabird & Root archives


Federal Campus, Oklahoma City by Ross Barney + Janowski Architects	Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio by Zaha Hadid Architects	Glass Pavilian at the Toledo Museum of Art. Toledo, Ohio by SANAA	Light Rail Transit Stations, Minneapolis, Minnesota by Julie Snow Architects	SOS Children's Village Community Center, Chicago, Illinois by Studio Gang Architects

Five Architects

June 23 – November 20, 2005

Five Architects featured five public buildings located in the Midwest: the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, by Zaha Hadid Architects; the Federal Campus, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, by Ross Barney + Jankowski; the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, by SANAA; Light Rail Transit Stations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Julie Snow Architects; and the SOS Children’s Village Community Center, Chicago, Illinois, by Studio Gang. This exhibition illustrated the social, geographic, and aesthetic diversity of contemporary architecture.

Five Architects was supported by:
Altria
Sara Lee Foundation
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Graham Foundation
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Illinois Humanities Council
National Endowment for the Arts

New Federal Architecture: The Face of a Nation

January 27– May 2, 2005

New Federal Architecture: The Face of a Nation presented more than a dozen U.S. courthouses, federal office buildings, and border stations designed by architects including Thom Mayne of Morphosis, Richard Meier, and Antoine Predock. The exhibition demonstrated the government’s renewed commitment to design quality after years of commissioning and constructing federal buildings with a greater regard for the bottom line than for the public good. New Federal Architecture explained the federal selection and design process, which involves the participation of architects, engineers, and other professionals who evaluate the architect’s qualifications and review the work in progress.

The Design Excellence Program of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) organized this exhibition.

Racine Museum: Building an Institution

January-May, 2005

Racine Museum featured the individuals and groups who made possible the construction of the Racine Art Museum. The exhibition included specially-commissioned portraits by Scottish photographer Graham MacIndoe.

Bridging the Drive

Through January 20, 2005

Bridging the Drive presented competition designs for a Lake Shore Drive pedestrian bridge. The winning designs were announced during the exhibition run.

View exhibition entries and winners

A Century of Progress: Architecture and Chicago’s 1933-34 World’s Fair

September 23-November 21, 2004

A Century of Progress featured architectural renderings, souvenirs, and never-before-seen photographs from Chicago’s 1933–34 World’s Fair.

A Century of Progress was supported by:
City of Chicago
W.E. O’Neil Construction Company
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation
Dwell magazine
The Home Depot

Big & Green Chicago: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century

June 1-September 12, 2004

Big & Green showcased large-scale “green” architecture that incorporated renewable materials and energy-efficient utility systems in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, improve air quality indoors and out, limit the need for landfills, and conserve water. The exhibition was divided into five sections: Energy; Light and Air; Greenery, Water and Waste; Construction; and Urbanism. Big & Green, which featured models and drawings, compared recent projects like New York’s Conde Nast Building and Battery Park City to historic buildings such as the Flatiron Building (1905) and Rockefeller Center (1932).

View the Big & Green website.

The National Building Museum organizedthis exhibition.

Big & Green was supported by:
Field Museum
AIA Chicago
U.S Green Building Council
City of Chicago’s Department of Environment
City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation
Graham Foundation

Chicago Green: Chicago's Architectural Evolution

June 1-September 12, 2004

Chicago Green, an exhibition that ran concurrently with Big & Green, explored the public and private initiatives behind local green projects such as a Lincoln Park townhouse and a biomedical research lab in a renovated Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed building at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus.