Design Evolution: Chicago’s Century of Progress and World Fairs of the 1930s (Online Video)

  • Tuesday, August 01, 2023
  • Tuesday, December 31, 2024
  • The Zoom link for this live online event will be emailed the day of the program to those who have registered.

Registration

  • Available to Household, Sponsor, Patron, Benefactor, and Guardian levels only, in order to include additional bundle member at same ticket price
  • Special discount for members of fellow Art Deco Societies
Register

Design Evolution: Chicago’s Century of Progress and World Fairs of the 1930s Video Event

About the Event:

When Chicago’s 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exposition was being planned and built, organizers wanted to design a distinctly modern fair but were unsure what that meant. They eventually arrived at a definition of modern that was not based on a specific aesthetic style, but instead on the use of new materials and construction processes that would meet the functional needs of a modern society. As they planned the fair, its architecture evolved from neoclassicism--the preliminary concept for the exposition--to Art Deco, with the earliest pavilions constructed with design features found at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris; to modernism and streamlining.

This richly illustrated talk will explore the evolution of designs produced for the Century of Progress Exposition, focusing on the Art Deco pavilions, and the influence of the Chicago exposition on the designs for the other American expositions, including the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair.

This recorded video event includes the original PowerPoint––with wonderful images that you will be able to see directly on your computer screen, tablet, or mobile device. 

About the Speaker:

Lisa D. Schrenk, Ph.D. is Professor of Architectural History and Faculty Fellow at the University of Arizona. Her research on twentieth-century modern architecture focuses on Chicago, international expositions, and the early work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Her books include The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of Chicago’s 1933-34 World’s Fair. She has authored many articles and book chapters, several focused on exposition Art Deco. She was a consultant on, and gave the opening lecture for, the National Building Museum’s exhibit, Designing the World of Tomorrow: America's World Fairs in the 1930s. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Architectural Historians and as President of the Chicago Society of Architectural Historians. She is co-founder of ISIE, the global Institute for the Study of International Expositions. In 2020 she was named AIA Arizona Community Educator of the Year, in part for initiating and serving as faculty advisor for the UA Women in Architecture Society.

Registration:

How to Register for ADSNY's Web-based programs:

  • Click the gold  Register  button located to the left of the "About the Program" section
  • Enter the requested information in the registration form and follow the instructions to pay online and complete your registration
  • In a few moments, your registration confirmation containing your link and unique password to watch the video event will be sent to the email address you used to register. If you do not see this email in your inbox, please check your spam folder

If you need further assistance registering for this event, or are experiencing a different issue, please email Events@ArtDeco.org, let us know which events you would like to register for, and we will send you an invoice that can be easily completed without going through the ArtDeco.org website.

All ticket sales are final. Sorry, there are no refunds or exchanges. 

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By attending the live event, you consent to the use of your image, voice, comments, and/or questions by ADSNY for all purposes.

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