Who Is The City For? Architecture, Equity and the Public Realm

The city of Chicago is well known for its award-winning architecture, yet too often the public spaces fail to adequately address the long standing inequities of its neighborhoods. In a book that draws from 28 years as an architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, Blair Kamin explores some of the most iconic Chicago architecture and neighborhoods, from the Loop to Trump Tower to the almost completed Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. With 55 of his past columns complemented by the photographs of his one-time rival at the Chicago Sun Times, Lee Bey, Kamin examines the role of architecture in the lives of the people of Chicago. Using Kamin's book Who Is the City For?: Architecture, Equity, and the Public Realm in Chicago (Chicago Press, 2022), we will discuss this collection of columns, supplemented by a field trip or two and hopefully the author as a guest speaker.