ABSTRACT

In October 1944 the German-American architect, art critic, educator, and planner Ludwig Hilberseimer installed an exhibition on planning in the large, double-height Blackstone Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC).1 On display throughout the autumn, ‘The City: Organism and Artifact’ accompanied a series of weekly lectures by experts on planning, organized under the same title, addressing ‘the history, philosophy, science, and art of city planning’.2 Delivered in the afternoon on the campus of the University of Chicago (UC) and again that evening in the AIC’s Fullerton Auditorium, the series of lectures culminated in mid-December with a public discussion on ‘The Future of the City: Possibilities and Limitations’, led by UC President Robert Maynard Hutchins. Both the AIC’s exhibition and lecture spaces were directly accessible from its central foyer and principal entrance on Michigan Avenue, allowing lecture attendees to peruse the exhibition before or after lectures, and oering the exhibition a prominent location in the city during its three-month run.