A. James Speyer: Architect, Curator, Exhibition Designer

In 1938 James Speyer departed Harvard's School of Design in order to become Mies van der Rohe's first American graduate student at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. During the 40s and 50s he taught architecture under Mies while at the same time, as an architect in his own right, he completed houses in Chicago and Pittsburgh that represented the cutting edge of new glass-and-steel design. In 1957 Speyer traveled to Greece on a Fulbright fellowship, where he taught at the Polytechneon in Athens; upon returning to America, he became Curator of Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. He held this position for the next twenty-five years, and his tenure witnessed over 125 exhibitions and a remarkable expansion to the Institute's permanent collection.This volume includes a biographical essay by Franz Schulze and six accounts from Speyer's friends and colleagues who remember different aspects of his life and work. Floor plans and photographs direct special attention to Speyer's extraordinary, ultra-modernist designs—not only for houses but also for innovative exhibitions at the Art Institute during the 60s and 70s.

Biographies & Memoirs

Vinci, John

Arts & Literature

Richard Nickel Committee

Louis Sullivan (1856–1924) was a giant of architecture, the father of architectural modernism, and one of the earliest builders of the skyscraper. Along with Dankmar Adler (1844–1900) he designed many of the buildings that defined nineteenth-century architecture not only in Chicago but in cities across America—and continue to be admired today. Among their iconic designs are the former Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicago’s Auditorium Building and Carson Pirie Scott flagship store, the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, and the Guaranty Building in Buffalo. This first-of-its-kind catalogue raisonné of the work of Adler and Sullivan—both as a team and individual architects—is a lavish celebration of the designs of these two seminal architects who paved the way for the modern skylines that continue to inspire city dwellers today. The quest to pull together a complete catalogue of their work was first undertaken in 1952 by photographer Aaron Siskind and Richard Nickel, one of his graduate students at what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. This intense, decades-long labor of love has resulted in an extensive and unique resource that includes a complete listing of all of the buildings and projects undertaken by Adler and Sullivan. Each listing contains historic photographs, architectural plans (when available), and a description of each project. Alongside over two and hundred fifty essays are eight hundred photographs of their buildings—many of which have since been demolished—including images by Nickel, Siskind, and other noted photographers. This rich, incomparable reference will be treasured by readers interested in architecture, photography, and Chicago’s rich history as an architectural mecca.

The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan

Arts & Photography

Miller, Ward

SISKIND, Aaron

Nickel, Richard

Architecture

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Books by Richard Nickel Committee