Historian Thomas Leslie, guest co-curator with Carol Willis for the Skyscraper Museum’s exhibition The Modern Concrete Skyscraper, will summarize the new avenues of research that grew from research on the exhibition. This in-person program traces the history of concrete skyscraper construction in Chicago, highlighting how the material challenged the more established steel industry in the city and how local organizations played pivotal roles in advancing concrete technology to new heights.

In the postwar decades, Chicago played an outsized role in the historical development of the rise of the concrete skyscraper that was at least as decisive as its famous 19th-century innovations with skeletal steel. Through its local architectural and engineering culture and, equally important, its innovations with material manufactures and construction companies, Chicago helped transform concrete from a handmade craft process into the industrially-produced, precisely-engineered material it is today. Strong relationships between research institutions and industry associations, the city’s volatile real estate and labor markets, as well as a rich tradition of collaboration and knowledge transfer all contributed to Chicago’s lead in high-rise construction in concrete. Over half of Chicago’s 400 buildings taller than 12 stories built between 1950 and 1986 were reinforced concrete.

Thomas Leslie is Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he researches the integration of building sciences and arts, both historically and in contemporary practice. He is the author of Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871-1934 and its sequel Chicago Skyscrapers, 1934-1986 (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2013 and 2023). He is also the author of Beauty’s Rigor: Patterns of Production in the Work of Pier Luigi Nervi (University of Illinois Press, 2017).

Monday November 17, 6:00pm ET
Skyscraper Museum, New York
In-person program at the museum’s downtown gallery. Also available for live streaming on the museum’s YouTube channel.
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