Curated by Jean F. Block.
The University of Chicago's remarkable adherence to Gothic design and quadrangular planning through four decades of rapid social change and shifting architectural fashion form the theme of this exhibit. The exhibit, mounted in the twenty-eight permanent display cases, presents a continuous narrative text supported by selected architectural drawings, blueprints, photographs, maps, letters, artifacts, and other visual documentation. The text places the architecture of the University of Chicago in critical perspective by assessing its development in three distinct historical phases. The exhibit also addresses the more difficult questions of purpose and meaning: why Gothic was selected as the official University style; how Gothic embodied the hopes of the University's founders and symbolized their vision of its academic mission; how Gothic accommodated the structure and scale of a modern institution; and what insights the University of Chicago campus can provide into the role of style in design and the place of architectural design in the history of American higher education.
Exhibit Publications & Documents
Out of print