Windy City: the architecture of Chicago

Mike Higginbottom


Region:
Anywhere
Notice Period:
Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
Type:
Architectural and social history
Fee:
Paid: Dependent on size of audience and distance travelled from South Yorkshire
Category:
History
Updated:
23rd November 2017

Chicago is America’s crossroads, successively the hub of its canal-, rail- and air-transport systems, sited by the shore of Lake Michigan within easy reach of Canada, linking the Atlantic seaboard with the Mississippi basin. It is also the birthplace of much of what is recognisable as American architecture, because after the Great Fire of 1871 necessity brought together the group of designers, architects and engineers now known as the Chicago School, who first perfected the techniques of building high that created the skyscraper, and – fortuitously – it was the location for the early work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the leader if not the pioneer of the Prairie School of architects.

This lecture offers an introduction to the wealth and variety of Chicago’s architecture in and around the Loop central area, north to Graceland Cemetery, west to Oak Park and south to Hyde Park.

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About Mike Higginbottom

I am a freelance history lecturer specialising in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with a background in university extramural education.

I offer distinctive, life-enhancing insights into the past, particularly the recent past, for people who enjoy visiting places and recognising the human stories behind this historical heritage.

I lecture for the Arts Society (formerly the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies [NADFAS]) in the UK, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

Whether lecturing, writing or guiding tours, I provide detailed information in a lucid and entertaining way.  My publications and lectures are copiously illustrated, as much as possible using my own photography.

Mike Higginbottom Interesting Times is the brand for my history education work – tours, lectures and publications. My blog is a fund of interesting, sometimes quirky insights into places, people and historical events.

I'm based in Sheffield and willing to travel anywhere in the UK or further afield.


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