ABSTRACT
My interest in architectural regionalism began in Chicago during the late 1920s and early 1930s. I lived in Oak Park, working through the summers as an apprentice in the old-time "Prairie School" office of George W. Maher. After graduation from the Univer sity of Illinois, I transferred to the office of a close friend, George Fred Keck. At the time, he was the only architect in the city who, at some risk, limited his commissions to noneclectic practice. His interest was technological (anti-stylist), but not regional. Today he may be remembered as the developer of the early "solar house." He was architect of the experimental "House of Tomorrow" (1933) and the "Crystal House" (1934) at the Chicago World’s Fair. Later he served as first head of the architecture department at the new (Bauhaus) School of Design.
