The Three Lives of a Modern Building: The Edith Farnsworth House in Chicago

Full Title: The Three Lives of a Modern Building: The Edith Farnsworth House in Chicago

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

6:00pm-7:00pm

McCulloch Pavilion, 265 S. Orange Ave

Parking available in the lots East of the Pavilion & South of Morrill Street

About the Lecture

The Lives of a (Modern) Building:

The Edith Farnsworth House in Chicago: Architecture, Landscape, and Preservation

Join us as Chicago-based architectural historian Professor Michelangelo Sabatino (IIT College of Architecture) will discuss the new book about the famous Edith Farnsworth House in Chicago in relationship to design, landscape architecture, and preservation.

Sabatino’s new book reveals the three different “lives” of the famous modern house in Chicago beginning with its commissioning by client/patron Dr. Edith Farnsworth with famed German architect Mies van der Rohe followed by two additional “lives” centered around the period of ownership by Lord Peter and Hayat Palumbo, concluding with its current stewardship by the National Trust for Historic Preservation/Landmarks Illinois.

About the Speaker

Michelangelo Sabatino is a publicly engaged educator, historian, curator, and preservationist whose research and writing focuses primarily on the built environment of the twentieth century. In addition to having served as the Interim Dean (2017-19) he currently directs the PhD Program in Architecture and is the Inaugural John Vinci Distinguished Research Fellow.

Sabatino trained in art, architectural and design history, and preservation at universities in Canada, Italy, and the United States of America. He earned a professional degree in Architecture at the Università IUAV di Venezia and a PhD in the Department of Fine Art, University of Toronto. He held a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of History of Art + Architecture, Harvard University. Sabatino taught at Yale University and the University of Houston before his appointment to IIT’s College of Architecture. Sabatino’s research has been supported by a range of funding agencies and institutions such as SSHRC, Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Graham Foundation.

Sabatino’s first book, Pride in Modesty: Modernist Architecture and the Vernacular Tradition in Italy (2011), won multiple awards, including the Society of Architectural Historians’ Alice Davis Hitchcock Award. He recently completed two books related to IIT: The Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture (2024) and Mies in His Own Words: Complete Writings, Speeches, Interviews (2024).

www.michelangelo-sabatino.com

Cultivating Space: Two New Books about Architecture and Landscape

Two Chicago authors and educators will offer new perspectives about trees and buildings:

Ron Henderson will present his 30 Trees: And Why Landscape Architects Love Them (2024) and Riverside resident Michelangelo Sabatino will present his The Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture (2024). Together, the authors reflect on the ongoing and sometimes challenging dialogue between nature and the built environment.

Books will be for sale and signed during the event.

PHOTO CREDITS:

Feature Photo #1: Photo by Derek Salwell

Feature Photo #2: Photo By William Zbaren

Feature Photos #3-5: Courtesy of Michelangelo Sabatino

Host or Publisher Architecture Sarasota