Brick of Chicago Spring Walking Tour SOLD OUT!

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Louis Sullivan was a great champion of brick and terra cotta, even as Adler & Sullivan engineered architectural masterpieces with spines of steel. Both materials evolved in the late 19th century as the process of building became industrialized. The invention of the Chambers machine, for example, led to a threefold increase in brick production in the early 1880s. Terra cotta was popular thanks in part to Chicago’s Northwestern Terra Cotta company, which at one point was the largest such manufacturer in the world.

Despite the demolition of so many Adler & Sullivan buildings, Chicago’s built environment is replete with standing, artful examples of both brick and terra cotta. On this tour, you’ll start in the Museum, in the Capturing Louis Sullivan: What Richard Nickel Saw exhibition, to see ornamental terra cotta from several demolished buildings. From there, Will Quam will guide you around the Driehaus Museum neighborhood to see other artful examples of brick and terra cotta in buildings including the Medinah Temple, the Warwick Allerton Hotel, and many in between!

Please plan to arrive 5-10 minutes early and check in at the Museum when you arrive. This program runs rain or shine.

About the Speaker:

Will Quam is an architecture photographer and historian based in Chicago. His project Brick of Chicago has been featured on CBS, Fox32, WTTW, WGN, Block Club Chicago, ArchDaily, and in many more outlets. His walking tours have been named some of Chicago’s best by Curbed and the Chicago Reader.

Image credit: Adler & Sullivan, Ornamental Panel from James W. Scoville Building, 1884-85. Tim Samuelson Collection. Photograph by Eric Nordstrom.