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Join DOCOMOMO US/Chicago for an exclusive and all-new illustrated lecture on the decades-long battle to design and build a new Chicago Central Library. The largest municipal library in the U.S., what is now Harold Washington Library (HWLC) is also one of the largest public Postmodern buildings in the world.   

Unlike the far better known architectural competition for the Chicago Tribune in 1922, the 1988 Chicago Central Library competition is nearly completely forgotten. This competition, unlike the Tribune, was in no way influential, with none of the losing designs known to have been celebrated, copied, or widely reproduced in books or online in the decades since. 

By the time HWLC opened in 1991, Postmodernism would be rapidly falling out of favor as an architectural style, leading to its often-maligned and overlooked place in Chicago architectural history and perception. In addition to the competition and the winning entry, this illustrated lecture will discuss in depth the drastic changes Chicago’s South Loop has experienced since the nineteenth century.  We will also discuss how the library has revitalized this long-struggling area.  

Included in our lecture are many unknown and unpublished images of South State Street and the South Loop,including never-published high-resolution photographs showing the site of the current Harold Washington Library Center and the surrounding area going back more than 100 years.