Lessons from Modernism: Environmental Design Strategies in Architecture, 1925-1970

Elmhurst Art Museum presents Lessons from Modernism: Environmental Design Strategies in Architecture, 1925-1970, a highly-acclaimed exhibition organized by The Cooper Union in New York that examines twenty-five modern building projects through the lens of sustainability. Incorporating environmental strategies that solve critical issues of comfort, use and economy, these projects, dating from 1925 to 1970, recognize and adapt to natural forces and serve as inspiration and guide for the current green building movement. Timed to coincide with the first Chicago Architecture Biennial, Lessons from Modernism encourages students, architects and the public to re-examine modern architecture, often presented as antithetical to climate-based and ecologically rooted design, and provides new insights into the works of such renowned architects as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, Paul Rudolph, Jean Prouvé and Oscar Niemayer. This project is supported in part by awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Graham Foundation for the Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Elmhurst Art Museum is an official Affiliate Partner of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Public Programs

• 9/12 at 11:30 am - Tour of Lessons from Modernism with exhibition co-curator Steven Hillyer, Director of the Architecture Archive at Cooper Union

• 9/12 at 1:00 pm - Tour of Lessons from Modernism with exhibition co-curator Kevin Bone, Director of the Institute of Sustainable Design at Cooper Union

• 9/15 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 9/19 at 11:15 am - Family Workshop

• 9/22 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 9/24 at 12:00 pm - Eco-Tour of Elmhurst College's West Hall

• 9/25 at 1:00 pm - Tour of Exhibitions with EAM Chief Curator Staci Boris

• 9/26 at 11:15 am - Family Workshop

• 9/29 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 10/2 at 6:00 pm - Gallery Talk: Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth and McCormick Houses by architects Heidi Y. Granke and Mike Dixon

• 10/6 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 10/10 at 1:00 pm - Tour of Lessons from the Fick Home with Andrew Santa Lucia

• 10/13 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect.

• 10/15 at 2:00 pm - Lessons from Lessons From Modernism: Towards a History of Architecture in the Anthropocene, a Lecture by Daniel A. Barber at IIT's Crown Hall

• 10/20 at 1:00 pm - Tour of Exhibitions with Chief Curator Staci Boris

• 10/23 at 7:00 pm - Sonic Incantation 1: A Ritual Performance in the McCormick House by Andrew Santa Lucia

• 10/27 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 11/3 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 11/6 at 1:00 pm - Tour of Exhibitions with Chief Curator Staci Boris

• 11/7 at 11:15 am - Storytime and Art! with Elmhurst Public Library

• 11/7 at 2:00 pm - House Practices: Discussion with Chicago architects Mejay Gula, Julia Sedlock and Amanda Williams

• 11/15 at 2:00 pm - Nitty Gritty: Conversation between Architects Andrew Santa Lucia and Heidi Y. Granke

• 11/17 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."