With the Robie and Farnsworth Houses Chicago and „Chicagoland“ are home to two icons of 20th century domestic architecture. At the same time these two houses also epitomize two important strands of Chicago architecture, namely Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School and Mies van der Rohe’s glass-and-steel universalism taught at Armour Institute (later IIT). Unsurprisingly these two heavyweights of 20th century architecture had a lasting impact on Chicago’s architects as Susan S. Benjamin and Michelangelo Sabbatino demonstrate in their book „Modern in the Middle: Chicago Houses 1929-1975“, published in 2020 by Monacelli Press, in which the authors zoom in on four-and-a-half decades of domestic modern architecture in and around Chicago. In their comprehensive introduction Benjamin and Sabbatino go into detail about the book’s title which refers to Chicago’s geographical location, the chosen time frame as well as the predominantly middle and upper middle class clients. Furthermore they recount the development of modern residential architecture in the area and embed it within 20th century modern architecture.
In the catalogue part the authors present 53 houses by well-known names like Harry Weese, Bertrand Goldberg, Stanley Tigerman, FLW and Mies but also by largely unknown local architects. This carefully selected range of buildings and architects brings to light numerous gems like Clarence Krusinki’s Walgreen House (1970) or Jacques Brownson’s and Le Roy Binkley’s own houses (1952 and 1950), all presented in predominantly historic photos, plans and an essay shedding light on the architect and the building’s history.
„Modern in the Middle“ is rounded out by Benjamin and Sabbatino reflecting on their own (modern) houses, a personal touch that again emphasizes their love for modern residential architecture in Chicago, an appreciation the reader will easily subscribe to after finishing the book.
