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The Invisible Hand: Architect Thomas Beeby

Thomas Beeby (left) with WTTW host Geoffrey Baer. Photo: Bill Richert

Thomas Beeby (left) with WTTW host Geoffrey Baer. Photo: Bill Richert

Chicago is known for its skyline – illuminated with various architectural styles, each touched by the hands of architects new and old, classic and modernist. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the city was rebuilt from the ground up, thus starting an architectural movement based on originality, rather than antiquity.

Examination of the career and work of Chicago born architect, Thomas Beeby, offers a window into this modern world, providing an opportunity to understand how Beeby has influenced architecture not only in Chicago during the 20th century, but across the globe.

Beeby’s Harold Washington Library  Photo: HBRA Architects Beeby’s Harold Washington Library. Photo: HBRA Architects

In The Invisible Hand: Architect Thomas Beeby, host Geoffrey Baer explores Thomas Beeby’s career, life, and accomplishments – from his early days in Oak Park to the establishment of the Chicago Seven, and the design of the Harold Washington Library, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, and the Tuscaloosa Federal Building and Courthouse. Join us here to explore the life and work of Thomas Beeby.

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Funded by:

Notre Dame School of Architecture