Bennett was no mere sidekick, architecture's equivalent of Ed McMahon yukking at Johnny Carson's jokes. He was a significant figure in his own right: a pioneer in the field of city planning and one of the essential figures who ensured that the Plan's recommendations would not simply gather dust after Burnham died in 1912.

Bennett designed Buckingham Fountain and was responsible for turning Grant Park into a Midwestern version of the gardens of Versailles. He designed or served as a consultant for 20 Chicago bridges, which grace downtown and the city's neighborhoods with Parisian flair.

He worked on the widening or rebuilding of city streets both workaday and glamorous--Ashland, Damen, LaSalle, North Michigan, Roosevelt, Wacker and Western are their names--and thus helped to alleviate the very traffic snarls that led to the Plan of Chicago.

Yet Bennett remains an afterthought in most, non-scholarly discussions of the Plan--and that's if he's mentioned at all.

Often, the document is simply referred to "the Burnham Plan," as if old Danny Boy had whipped up the whole thing himself. This singular focus on the charismatic leading man, so typical of the current obsession with celebrities and "starchitects," bothers not only Bennett's family, but Burnham's.

"It is unfortunate that [Bennett] has been put to the back," Shannon Burnham Kirby, a San Francisco-area interior designer and Daniel Burnham's great-granddaughter, said in a telephone interview. "After Burnham was gone, he picked up the standard."

Born in England in 1874, the self-effacing Bennett lived a rich, full life before he died in 1954. He enjoyed "Bagatelle," a Lake Forest house modeled on a French country home; a national practice; social prominence and prestige. But not getting his due for his contributions to the Chicago Plan still rankled him, said Chicago architect Frederick Phillips, who ought to know.

Phillips' stepfather was Edward Bennett Jr., Edward Bennett's son.

"[My stepfather] said he had these conversations with his father about how little credit his father felt he had been given for all the design work he had done," Phillips recalled. "He was so emotional about this issue because he had heard the same emotion from his own father."

The contours of the Burnham-Bennett relationship are relatively clear: They were mentor and protege, visionary and right-hand man.

When Bennett began working for Burnham in 1903, he was still shy of his 30th birthday. Burnham, then 57, had already supervised the triumph of the "White City," the Chicago  World's  Fair of 1893, and had helped prepare the McMillan Plan that would remake the National Mall in Washington.

But by the time he and Burnham began working on the Chicago plan in 1906, Bennett had earned his architectural chops. He had led the design and day-to-day management of Burnham's plan for San Francisco. And his years at Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts  gave him the formal architectural training that Burnham, who typically leaned on skilled designers, conspicuously lacked.

Bennett was the "indispensable associate," said Northwestern University's Carl Smith, author of "The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City."

As the architectural historian Joan Draper has documented, Bennett played an essential, albeit low-profile, role in bringing many recommendations of the plan to life. As consulting architect to the Chicago Plan Commission, the group of business and civic leaders charged with carrying out the plan, he and his staff quietly drew up designs that other agencies constructed. A trace of that influence survives on one of the many plaques on Michigan Avenue Bridge, where, if you look closely, you can find the letters, "E.H. BENNETT, CONSULTING ARCHT."

Bennett's legacy is national as well as local. His visions ultimately gave shape to the Federal Triangle group of office buildings in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh's Point State Park and Denver's civic center. Closer to home, he made plans for the North Shore suburbs of Winnetka and Lake Forest.

To be sure, Bennett was limited, as well as strengthened, by his Beaux-Arts roots. Even as planning became more technical and scientific in the 1920s,  he continued to view plans as static templates rather than flexible frameworks that should evolve with changing circumstances.

Yet his contributions to the field of planning in general and to the Chicago Plan in particular deserve wider recognition.

Despite its aesthetic conservatism, the Plan represented nothing less than a revolution (which is why its backer at the Commercial Club of Chicago released it on the symbolic day of July 4). After years of helter-skelter growth that threatened to strangle Chicago, it offered the prospect of liberation, revealing how alliances of businesses and government could uplift a city's quality of life with expansive parks, upgraded riverfronts and infrastructure that was both beautiful and useful.

If Daniel Burnham was the general who led that revolution, Edward Bennett was his invaluable aide-de-camp.

The program, which begins at 11 a.m., will include a reading of excerpts of the plan by Burnham's great-great-grandson, Daniel H. Burnham V, an undergraduate at Indiana University who is a summer intern at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Also reading will be Bennett's great-grandson, Timothy R. Bennett, a partner at Richard Preves & Associates, a Libertyville architecture and planning firm.

The program also will introduce a special centennial edition of the plan, which is being published by the museum, the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee and the Great Books Foundation. The hardcover edition costs $125, the paperback $39.95.

The museum is located at 1601 N. Clark St. The Chicago Plan event is part of its annual July 4th celebration, which starts at 10 a.m. Admission to the celebration, including the Chicago Plan program, including is free.

On Wednesday, July 1, more of Tucker's LEGO creations will go on display at the Museum of Science and Industry, some of them more than 10 feet high. This bunch is mostly skyscrapers. 

I love the lineup in the photo at left for its blend of reality and fantasy, as well as its ability to bring together skyscrapers scattered across downtown Chicago for a shoulder-to-shoulder group portrait. From left to right, we see the Chicago Spire (currently a giant hole in the ground), Marina City's twin corncobs, 7 South Dearborn (a multi-use world's tallest building plan floated in the late 1990s and never built), the John Hancock Center, Trump International Hotel & Tower (almost done) and Sears Tower.

Who can resist such a visual feast? For more information, read the breathless press relese below:       

SEE STUNNING SKYSCRAPERS CREATED FROM LEGO BRICKS

WHAT:              In the exhibit ART + SCIENCE = ARCHITECTURE, opening at the Museum of Science and Industry on July 1, guests will see more than 15 of certified LEGO® professional Adam Reed Tucker’s amazing architectural LEGO creations. Some more than 10-feet high, they depict such renowned buildings such as Chicago’s Sears Tower, China’s Jin Mao Tower, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Seattle’s Space Needle, the Burj Dubai Tower and the soon-to-be Chicago Spire.

On opening day, Wednesday, July 1, guests will also be able to see Tucker’s work in action and see how a creation like this comes together, LEGO brick by brick. Tucker will begin creating his LEGO design of the Museum’s building on July 1 and will continue to build it throughout the run of the exhibit during public “build days” on Sept. 12 and Jan. 23.

Tucker, a former architect, discovered his love of LEGOs after a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry at the age of six. His aunt, an engineer, bought his first LEGO set at the Museum gift store, and his imagination and creativity were sparked.

This exhibit is included with Museum general admission and will run through March 15, 2010.

WHEN:             Media are invited to view the exhibit’s stunning LEGO skyscrapers and see certified LEGO professional Adam Reed Tucker (below) in action—building a LEGO model of the Museum’s building—from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE:           Museum of Science and Industry, 57th and Lake Shore Drive.

COST:              The exhibit is included in Museum general admission.

From today's print edition

Future Chicago architect Ezra Gordon's life took a decisive turn during his Army service in World War II when he was impressed by the magnificence of Europe's cathedrals. Until then, his family said, Mr. Gordon had dreamed of moving to Palestine and helping to establish a Jewish state there. But a taste of the soaring cathedrals kindled a passion for architecture.

The result was a five-decade career characterized by quiet buildings and a strong social conscience.

With his partner, Jack Levin, Mr. Gordon designed everything from towering Near North Side residential complexes to South Side urban renewal projects (below, The Commons) to a small, round psychiatric building at Michael Reese Hospital that Chicago's Olympic planners have targeted for demolition.

Mr. Gordon, 88, who also was a longtime member of the architecture faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago, died Sunday, June 28, at his home in Chicago. The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter Rana Gordon.

"He did thoroughly practical, functional buildings -- no pretense," said Evanston architect John Macsai, who taught housing with Mr. Gordon at UIC.

Born in 1921 in Detroit, Mr. Gordon grew up in the Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side and graduated from Crane Technical High School.

He landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day and detonated mines that laid the groundwork for the Allied invasion. After the war, family members said, he smuggled supplies and ammunition to refugees and others trying to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.

Mr. Gordon obtained his bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1951 and worked for a variety of Chicago architecture firms, such as PACE Associates and Harry Weese & Associates. At the Weese firm, he helped design such buildings as the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

He and Levin began their firm, Ezra Gordon-Jack M. Levin & Associates, in 1961 and designed award-winning residential buildings such as South Commons (left), a 30-acre Near South Side urban-renewal project that mixed buildings of different scales and owners of different incomes and races.

Critics praised the complex for its townhouses, which clustered around open courtyards, playgrounds and stores.

In 1975, the Gordon-Levin partnership received a distinguished building award from the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects for Kennelly Square and its commercial component. The project converted a nine-story warehouse at 1750 N. Clark St. into a lively collection of shopping spaces topped by apartment floors.

Mr. Gordon later designed major downtown buildings, such as the East Bank Club at 500 N. Kingsbury St., and several residential towers, such as the high-rises at Dearborn Park, Newberry Plaza at State and Oak Streets, and River Plaza just west of the Wrigley Building (left). 

Some of these buildings drew critics' ire. In 1978, for example, Tribune architecture critic Paul Gapp termed River Plaza a "hulking apartment tower."

On the other hand, Mr. Gordon's Simon Wexler Psychiatric Research and Clinic Pavilion (below) at Michael Reese Hospital continues to be appreciated, even if it appears unlikely to survive the city's plans to demolish the Reese campus for a residential complex that would become the Olympic Village if Chicago is awarded the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

This year, the non-profit group Preservation Chicago cited the building among the endangered structures at Michael Reese. "The small scale of this closed circular-plan building addresses issues of patient comfort and privacy, while the thoughtful use of natural light successfully enriches the experience of interior spaces," the group said.

Mr. Gordon taught urban development, multifamily housing and building technology at the University of Illinois at Chicago's architecture school from 1972 to his retirement in 1994.

One of his former students, the Chicago architect and writer Edward Keegan, wrote in an e-mail Monday: "He was an extraordinarily kind, gentle, and patient teacher -- attributes that also apply to his buildings."

Mr. Gordon was elected to the American Institute of Architects' College of Fellows in 1974.

His wife of 66 years, Jennie, died last year. Survivors include two other daughters, Cheryl Van Ausdal and Judy Gordon; a brother, Aaron; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Congregation Rodfei Zedek, 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd., Chicago.

By Kathy Bergen

Tribune reporter

State historic preservation officials are withdrawing from the battle to save buildings on the Michael Reese Hospital campus, which is slated for development as an athletes’ village if Chicago wins the 2016 Summer Games.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency this spring had said Illinois law requires it to assess how state agency decisions on projects could impact historic properties.

The agency planned to provide such information on the Reese site to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which has jurisdiction over the operation of the soon-to-close hospital.

But the health planning board is not involved in the sale of the property, David Blanchette, a spokesman for the preservation agency, said Monday.

"So we have no hook regarding that sale," he said.

Development plans call for the historic main building to be saved, but for the remaining 28 buildings to be razed, including several modern structures designed with the involvement of architect Walter Gropius.

The decision is "extremely disappointing," said Jonathan Fine, executive director of Preservation Chicago. "But what’s truly disappointing," he said, "is the haste with which the Daley administration and Chicago 2016 are rushing full steam ahead with this demolition when there are so many unanswered questions."

The city’s $86 million purchase of the hospital site is expected to close Tuesday. Demolition contractors are expected to be selected July 14.

Plans call for reselling the site to private developers who would build an Olympic Village that would be converted to housing and retail after the Games. The city plans to move forward with a similar project if it doesn’t win the right to host the Games.

The International Olympic Committee will choose a host city on Oct. 2.

--The Great Books Foundation of Chicago, the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee and the Chicago History Museum are publishing a centennial edition of the plan on July 4th. This 275-page edition features an introduction written by Northwestern University professor Carl Smith, author of "The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City." The hardcover edition costs $125, but paperback edition is priced at an affordable $39.95. You can buy either edition online at www.greatbooks.org/planofchicago or by phone at 800-222-5870. Also selling the special edition are the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the Book Cellar, Powell's Bookstore and Printers Row Fine and Rare books.   

--Michael Ebner, an emeritus history professor at Lake Forest College, on Wednesday, July 8th, will present a  slide show and lecture at 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Public Library. Titled "After One-Hundred Years: Daniel H. Burnham and the Plan of Chicago," Ebner's talk will explore Burnham's influence on the development of Chicago's North Shore. (As Ebner will no doubt note, Burnham lived in Evanston and his Chicago Plan proposed extending what is now Lincoln Park all the way through Evanston and up to Wilmette.) 

Mr. Gordon had a long architectural partnership with Jack M. Levin and their portfolio ranged from towers to town houses. Among their projects: South Commons, ffrom 26th to 31st St., and Michigan to Prairie Avenues (1966-70); Dearborn Park high-rises at 901 S. Plymouth Court and 899 S. Plymouth Court (1978-79); Newberry Plaza at 1000-1050 N. State St. (1972-74); and Kennelly Square at 1751 N. Wells Street (1973)

Ezra Gordon was born in 1921 in Detroit, Michigan. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, Gordon recieved his B.Arch. from the University of Illinois in 1951. Gordon was employed in various Chicago architectural offices, including PACE Associates and Harry Weese Associates, before opening his own partnership with Jack Levin in 1961. Continuing an interest in socially responsible housing and urban development reinforced through work with Harry Weese, Gordon and Levin planned and designed numerous residential developments, notably the award-winning The Commons and South Commons, both in Chicago. Later in his career, Gordon also designed several major buldings in downtown Chicago, including Newberry Plaza and the East Bank Club. In 1972, Gordon joined the architecture faculty at the University of Illinois, Chicago, where he taught urban development, multi-family housing, and building technology until his retirement in 1994. Gordon was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1974.

"This is a great place to come," Grant said. "You can watch the boats go by."

In recent weeks, scores of walkers, joggers, bicyclists and others have discovered the riverwalk that just opened on the Chicago River's south bank. Stretching from east of the Michigan Avenue Bridge to Wabash Avenue, with an extension to State Street due to wrap up in early July, the handsome, people-friendly public space marks the latest step in Mayor Richard Daley's ambitious drive to make the riverfront a prime public space downtown and in the city's outlying neighborhoods.

Think of it as a new lakefront. A completed riverwalk would offer much-needed open space for tens of thousands of office workers and downtown apartment dwellers. And it would let you do along the riverfront what you can do along most of the lakefront: walk, bike or jog without interruption, enjoying the water along the way.

Yet there are obstacles, including the need to obtain millions of dollars in federal funds to bankroll city-controlled portions of the project. An equally daunting hurdle: the city's reliance on real estate developers to deliver improvements on the vast majority of riverfront land, which is privately owned.

While the three-tiered riverwalk at the base of Donald Trump's 92-story hotel and condominium tower (visible in rear) iis heading for completion in late summer or early fall, the recession has put other notable riverfront projects -- and their amenities -- on hold. Among them: the 150-story Chicago Spire, which was tied to the construction of a riverfront plaza and a new Du Sable Park at the river's mouth.

Still, the overall course that planners are taking seems right. They wisely are not aiming to create a Frost Belt version of San Antonio's famous yet heavily commercialized River Walk, which is lined by shops, bars and restaurants. They seek, instead, to complement Chicago's vibrant downtown with a riverwalk where you can find food and drink, but also "go down and touch nature," said Richard Wilson of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Chicago firm that is preparing a long-range plan for the river.

Chicago was born by the river and named for the wild onion plants that once thrived on its banks. But in the boom years of the 19th Century, businessmen turned the river into an artery of commerce and a sewer for dumping industrial waste. The river became a forbidding trench, an "On the Waterfront" landscape of piers, bulkheads and bollards for tying up ships. Buildings turned their backs to it

"That was a tough place," said Tim Samuelson, the City of Chicago's cultural historian. "It was all about business."

The new riverwalk, on the other hand, is all about pleasure, even if it has not come cheap. Funded through the Central Loop tax-increment financing district, the Michigan-to-State stretch is expected to cost about $22 million, which works out to roughly $16,755 per foot of waterfront. That's roughly double the original estimate, an increase that the project's sponsor, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), attributes to soaring costs for fuel, steel and construction.

Still, as designed by Chicago architect Carol Ross Barney and her associate John Fried, the riverwalk combines engineering muscle and architectural elan to make a more welcoming waterfront (at left).

Built atop steel piles and concrete landfill, the project plugs gaps in the existing riverwalk with new pathways, 17 feet wide, that slide beneath the Michigan Avenue and Wabash Avenue Bridges. Pedestrians no longer have to climb stairs to street level to get from one section of the river walk to another (at left, below). Once the Wabash-to-State section opens, there will be a continuous waterfront pathway from "That Great Street" to Lake Michigan.

The architects have nicely outfitted the riverwalk with simple concrete benches and see-through stainless steel railings that let you lean out over the water, even if you can't quite touch it. East of Michigan Avenue, there are boulders to sit on, and west of Michigan, the riverwalk gracefully loops around a waterfront restaurant that has the de rigueur umbrella-topped tables.

The best stroke, however, comes in the spectacular canopies that protect riverwalk pedestrians from trash falling from the bridges above (left and in second image in this post, with Trump Tower in background) As you pass beneath them, the canopies' stainless steel shingles create a mirror effect, brilliantly reflecting the waters of the river, the people beneath it, even boats going by. Instead of under-bridge fear, you get under-bridge delight.

"It's like a linear Bean," said Andrew Gleeson, a senior architect at the Chicago firm of Murphy/Jahn as he ate lunch along the new riverwalk. He was referring, of course, to the " Cloud Gate" sculpture, also known as the Bean, in Millennium Park.

While this stretch of river walk has faults, including some areas with too much concrete, it nonetheless sets a high standard for future riverwalk development. In the next couple of weeks, the city hopes to advertise a request for proposals for the State-to-Lake Street portion of the riverwalk, according to Michelle Woods, the CDOT project manager who oversaw the new riverwalk.

And during the summer, the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill will present to the Chicago Plan Commission a long-range "framework plan" for the 1.3-mile-long trunk of the river between Lake Street and Lake Michigan.

The plan, still in draft form, calls for creating four "identity districts" along the river, according to Wilson, who is urban planning practice leader for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Among them would be a new chunk of green space at the confluence of the river's North and South Branches that would extend 50 feet into the water and feature a restaurant or some other "destination amenity."

That vision, perhaps too commercial, is a vast leap from what you see now if you peer down from the bend in Wacker Drive toward the river's edge: a lifeless dock, strewn with trash, where a homeless man rested on a sleeping bag one recent morning.

The city is smartly concentrating on the south bank of the river because it controls the land there. The north bank, in contrast, is primarily in the hands of private owners, as is most of Chicago's other riverfront land. Because of the recession, that land is unlikely to be developed for years, meaning that architects' visions of fishermen and strollers on riverwalks along the North and South Branches also won't be realized anytime soon.

Still, a pause offers time to think and plan. And as the lakefront reveals, it can take decades, if not generations, to transform a city's mind-set and map.

One might have reacted with cynicism in 1909 when, in the Plan of Chicago, Daniel Burnham urged Chicago's leaders to turn their chopped-up assortment of lakefront parks into a sparkling and continuous public space. Yet for the last 100 years, completing that vision has been Chicago's grand civic project. For the next 100 years, in the downtown and beyond, the city has its work cut out for it: turning the riverfront into an equally great public space.

LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
CELEBRATES BURNHAM PLAN CENTENNIAL
WITH LIMITED RUN OF
OUR FUTURE METROPOLIS

Special benefit performance on July 14, 2009 to honor
Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg

Chicago, IL — Lookingglass Theatre Company announces the limited run of Our Future Metropolis: Mr. D.H. Burnham Presents a Plain Talk for the Development of Chicago, adapted and directed by Ensemble Member John Musial, featuring Ensemble Member Raymond Fox. The production will play at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson on Monday, July 13, Monday, July 20 and Tuesday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m.

A special benefit performance honoring Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg will be held in the theater on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.  Event highlights will include a pre-show reception in the Lookingglass Lobby, gala performance of Our Future Metropolis, and post-show party hosted by EVE at 840 N Wabash. 

Lookingglass, the only theater company participating in the region-wide Burnham Plan Centennial, is proud to pay tribute to this important part of Chicago’s history.  The limited run production celebrates the anniversary of Burnham’s groundbreaking plan that led to Chicago’s sweeping lakefront, the “emerald necklace” of County Forest Preserves, and a tradition of bold plans and big dreams.

Adapted and directed by Ensemble Member John Musial, Our Future Metropolis draws from the archives of the Burnham Library at the Art Institute of Chicago to recreate the initial presentation of Burnham’s Plan for The City of Chicago given 100 years ago.  Lookingglass Ensemble Member Raymond Fox plays Daniel Burnham as he struggles to win over a skeptical audience using nothing more than early “magic lantern” slides and his own conviction in Chicago’s greatness.

“It is exciting to be looking backward to Burnham’s original vision for the development of the city, at a time when Chicago looks forward to a new century’s growth with the 2040 plan and as we contemplate an Olympic bid,” says John Musial.  “The themes Burnham set forth 100 years ago have tangible continuity to our present—so many issues he wrestled with remain with us today.  The scale of his approach remains a gauntlet thrown to the future.  Burnham challenges us to dream big.”

Lookingglass Ensemble Member John Musial has created several theatrical productions celebrating Chicago’s history and culture, including the adaptation and direction of Nelson Algren: For Keeps and A Single Day and The Great Fire. He most recently designed the set for Lookingglass' acclaimed production of Our Town.

Ensemble Member Raymond Fox has worked with Lookingglass since 1989. In addition to numerous roles with Lookingglass, he has appeared at the Goodman, Remy Bumppo, Court, and off-Broadway in Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses.  He was most recently seen in Lookingglass' spring production of Our Town.

Location and tickets
Lookingglass Theatre is located in the heart of the Magnificent Mile shopping district inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.  Discounted parking is available for Lookingglass patrons at nearby Olympia Centre Garage (161 E. Chicago Ave.).

Tickets are $25 and are available by calling the Lookingglass Theatre box office at
(312) 337-0665 or by visiting lookingglasstheatre.org.  Student tickets are available for $10.00 at the box office with a valid student ID. Tickets include a post-show discussion with a Burnham scholar, TBA.

Our Future Metropolis Benefit
On July 14, 2009, 100 years to the day that Daniel Burnham delivered his famous "make no little plans" address, in which he outlined his enduring vision for The City of Chicago, there will be a benefit performance honoring Lois Weisberg, City of Chicago Commissioner of Cultural Affairs. The benefit will include a pre-show reception in the Lookingglass Lobby at 5:30 p.m., a gala performance of Our Future Metropolis, and post-show celebration hosted by EVE at 840 N Wabash. 

The event will be co-chaired by board member Leigh Bienen and Dr. Henry Bienen, President of Northwestern University.

Profits from the benefit performance and celebration will go toward advancing Lookingglass’s commitment to new theatrical works, and enhancing its educational and community programs, which currently reach more than 15,000 Chicago-area community members annually.

Gala singe tickets are $100 and include admission to the pre-show reception, a ticket to the production  and after-party at EVE.
Supporter tickets are $250, and include 2 tickets, premium seating, listing as a Donor and admission to the pre-show reception and after-party at EVE. 

For more information about the benefit performance, please contact Meghan Oppegard, Development and Special Events Coordinator, at (773) 477-9257, ext. 122.

About Lookingglass Theatre Company
Inventive.  Collaborative.  Transformative.  Lookingglass Theatre Company was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students. 2007-2008 marked the company’s 20th anniversary season. Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. Lookingglass has staged 50 world premieres at 23 venues across Chicago, and garnered 41 Joseph Jefferson Awards and Citations.

Work premiered at Lookingglass has been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Princeton, Hartford, Kansas City, Washington D.C. and St. Louis. In the coming year, touring productions include Lookingglass Alice at The Alliance Theatre in Georgia and The Actors Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky as well as Around The World in 80 Days at Centerstage in Baltimore, Maryland.  Lookingglass Originals have been produced across the United States.

The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago's landmark Water Tower Water Works opened in June 2003.  In addition to developing and presenting ensemble work, Lookingglass Education and Community programs encourage creativity, teamwork and confidence with more than 15,000 community members each year.

Lookingglass Theatre Company continues to expand its artistic, financial and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Artistic Director David Catlin, Producing Artistic Director Philip R. Smith, Artistic Director of New Work Heidi Stillman, a 22-member artistic ensemble, 14 artistic associates, 13 production affiliates and administrative staff a dedicated board of directors led by Lisa Green. For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

About the Burnham Plan Centennial
Lookingglass Theatre is one of 250 Burnham Plan Centennial Partner Institutions offering hundreds of ways for the people of Chicago’s three-state metropolitan region to dream big and plan boldly.  This 100th anniversary of the Plan of Chicago is once again stirring a diverse community to action on a grand scale—building the best possible quality of life for all.  For more information, visit www.burnhamplan100.org.

# # #

Woodhouse is one of the city's rising stars. His high-profile projects include the handsome visitor pavilions at Buckingham Fountain and the playful beach houses at Rainbow Beach and Park (left). I came upon one of his latest projects Wednesday, the DuSable Harbor Building, and am eager to write about it. The small lakefront building has an occupiable green roof and a subtly nautical look. It has a  much bigger presence than its diminutive size. 

Chicago architect and architecture critic Edward Keegan curated this survey of Woodhouse's work, which appears through Saturday, June 27, at I space, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Chicago gallery. It's at 230 W. Superior St., second floor.

Here's a news release about the show:

“Placement: The Architecture of David Woodhouse Architects,” curated by Edward Keegan, includes imagery representing more than 20 projects by the award-winning firm known for its civic, institutional, commercial, residential and speculative work.

The firm was founded in 1990 by Woodhouse, a U. of I. School of Architecture alumnus, and now employs more than a dozen architects, planners and interior designers.

DWA is one of the design firms selected by the Chicago 2016 Bid Committee to work on its proposal to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Chicago. Most recently, the firm was named one of three finalists in the Burnham Memorial Design Competition held by the American Institute of Architecture’s Chicago chapter.