"South Side Modern" Workshop Program
Monday, August 26 | 8:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
S. R. Crown Hall, Room 14 | 3360 S. State Street
Tuesday, August 27 | 8:30 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
McCormick Tribune Campus Center, Auditorium | 3201 S. State Street
NOTE: If you would like to join us for lunch during this session, please RSVP to mpetroli@hawk.iit.edu by August 19th.
In the same vein as architectural and institutional histories published by other renowned universities—Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s "A Second Modernism" or Yale’s "Pedagogy and Place," for example—Illinois Institute of Technology is proud to introduce South Side Modern: IIT and the Building of Chicago. The forthcoming book takes the form of a multi-authored, multidisciplinary study of Illinois Tech’s impact, both positive and negative, on Chicago’s cityscape and Bronzeville, the South Side neighborhood in which the university exists.
"South Side Modern" features essays from 30 authors of diverse academic backgrounds, and it includes writings from several Illinois Tech faculty and staff, including Professor of Architecture Michelangelo Sabatino and University Archivist Ralph Pugh. It also features a foreword by Thomas Dyja, author of "The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream."
Since the publication’s release date is imminent, all 30 authors will convene at Illinois Tech’s S. R. Crown Hall on August 26–27 for a workshop to present their research. The workshop is free and open to members of the Illinois Tech community and the public who are interested in learning about the university’s architectural and educational impact on the nation’s third-largest city.
Given Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was the last director of the Bauhaus, and considering Illinois Tech’s influence in shaping the Modernist movement in Chicago and the United States, the book’s release and workshop coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the iconic school in Germany.
Day One: Monday, August 26 (S. R. Crown Hall, Room 14)
8:00–9:00 a.m.
Continental breakfast and sign-in (north entrance credenza)
9:00–9:30 a.m.
Welcome and introduction
Michelangelo Sabatino (IIT, Professor and Former Dean)
Part I: The Birth of a “Red Brick” University
9:30–10:00 a.m.
Illinois Institute of Technology and Chicago: Shared Inceptions and Partnerships
Mindy C. Pugh (IIT, University Archivist)
10:00–10:30 a.m.
Lewis Institute, IIT’s Distaff Side
Catherine Bruck (IIT, Former University Archivist)
10:30–11:00 a.m.
Philip D. Armour Sr. and his Family: Prairie Avenue to Lake Forest
Arthur Miller (Lake Forest College, Archivist and Librarian Emeritus)
11:00–11:30 a.m.
A Curious Dialogue: Glessner House and the Armour Institute
William Tyre (Glessner House, Executive Director and Curator) and Daniel Whittaker (Independent Scholar)
Part II: Modernizing the Built Environment
11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Armour & Co. and the Union Stockyard District, 1850-1960
Dominic A. Pacyga (Columbia College, Professor Emeritus)
12:00–12:40 p.m.
Lunch and discussion led by Thomas Dyja (Independent Author of The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream)
12:45–1:15 p.m.
The South Side Before Bronzeville
Ann Durkin Keating (North Central College, Professor)
1:15–1:45 p.m.
Buffered Modernity: Preservation and Destruction on Chicago’s South Side
Daniel Bluestone (Boston University, Professor)
1:45–2:15 p.m.
There Goes the Neighborhood: Modern Urban Planning at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Michael H. Carriere (Milwaukee School of Engineering, Associate Professor) and David A. Spatz (American Society for Environmental History, Executive Director)
2:15–2:30 p.m.
Coffee Break
2:30–3:00 p.m.
Housing Bronzeville: Transformations Surrounding the IIT Campus
Bradford Hunt (Newberry Library, Vice President for Research and Academic Programs)
3:00–3:30 p.m.
Kitchenette Counterpoints: Chicago’s Blight Discourse and the Making of the Modern South Side
Amani Morrison (University of Delaware, CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow in African American Data Curation)
3:30–4:00 p.m.
Flatland: City and Landscape on Chicago’s South Side
Ron Henderson (IIT, Professor)
4:00–4:30 p.m.
Hilberseimer’s Chicago
Charles Waldheim (Harvard University, Professor)
4:45–6:45 p.m. (UC 2 – S. R. Crown Hall)
Diner and discussion led by Thomas Dyja (Independent Author of The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream)
6:45–7:45 p.m.
Campus Tour led by Professor Emeritus Kevin Harrington
Day Two: Tuesday, August 27 (McCormick Tribune Campus Center, Auditorium)
8:00–9:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast + Sign in – Lobby of 3410 S. State
9:00–9:30 a.m.
Crisis and Renewal: From the National Commission for IIT to the MTCC by Rem Koolhaas
Tibor Pataky (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, doctoral candidate)
Part III: Bronzeville and Chicago’s South Side
9:30–10:00 a.m.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the Development of IIT’s Campus
Vittorio Pizzigoni (University of Genoa, Assistant Professor)
10:00–10:30 a.m.
Preserving Mies at IIT
Gunny Harboe (Harboe Architects PC; IIT, Adjunct Professor)
10:30–11:00 a.m.
Mies van der Rohe Society: Education and Preservation
Cynthia Vranas (IIT, Director, Mies van der Rohe Society) + Justine Jentes (Former Director Mies van der Rohe Society)
11:00–11:30 a.m.
Places/Spaces of the Black Chicago Renaissance
Richard A. Courage (Westchester Community College, Professor)
11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Documenting Bronzeville in FSA Photography
Maren Stange (The Cooper Union, Professor Emerita)
12:05–12:45 p.m.
Lunch and Discussion led by Thomas Dyja (Independent Author of The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream)
12:45–1:15 p.m. (Visit to Paul V. Galvin Library, University Archives and Special Collections)
How to use the archives
Alison Fukuchi (IIT, Assistant University Archives)
1:15–1:30 p.m.
Building History
Adam Strohm (IIT, Director of University Archives and Special Collections)
1:30–2:00 p.m.
“Working on a Building:”Building and Sustaining Bronzeville through Gospel Song
Robert M. Marovich (Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Gospel Music)
2:00–2:30 p.m.
Photography and Black Discursive Space: Studio, Street, and Beyond
Amy Mooney (Columbia College, Associate Professor)
2:30–3:00 p.m.
Armour Institute's Domestic Curriculum: Investigating Opportunities for African American Women's Entrepreneurship on Chicago's South Side
Betsy Schlabach (Earlham College, Associate Professor)
Part IV: A “Learn by Doing” Educational Model
3:00–3:30 p.m.
Radical Architecture and the Origins of the Program at the Illinois Institute of Technology
David van Zanten (Northwestern University, Professor Emeritus)
3:30–4:00 p.m.
Architectural Education at the Armour and Illinois Institute of Technology
Kevin Harrington (IIT, Professor Emeritus)4:00-4:15
4:00–4:15 p.m.
Coffee break
4:15–4:45 p.m.
Innovation at the Department of Architecture and the Institute of Design: Bundled Tubes to Shelter Design
Thomas Leslie (Iowa State, Professor) and Zaida Garcia-Requejo (Universidad d A. Coruña)
4:45–5:15 p.m.
“Learn by doing”: Engineering Education and Research at Armour College
Edoarda Corradi Dell’ Acqua (IIT, Lecturer)
5:30–7:00 p.m. (UC 2 – S. R. Crown Hall)
Wrap-up discussion led by Thomas Dyja (Independent Author of The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream)