Join us as Dr. Siobhan Moroney, an associate professor of politics at Lake Forest College, discusses her recent book Chicagoland Dream Houses: How a Mid-Century Architecture Competition Reimagined the American Home (2024).

In-depth and extensively illustrated, Chicagoland Dream Houses revisits this overlooked chapter in Chicago and architectural history. Organizers conceived the competition to help remedy the postwar housing crisis and it received front-page news coverage and an exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. It also had the rare distinction of taking designs from paper to reality, an accomplishment that brought out two hundred thousand people to tour finished homes. Yet the contest ultimately failed in its aim to inspire new home construction that would solve Chicago’s housing shortage. Dr. Moroney situates the competition in its time both socially and architecturally, analyzing floor plans and other materials to reveal how the designs reflected the expectations of middle-class families and the social norms that dictated their everyday lives and aspirations.

Free; RSVP required.

CHM Member Bonus
Members are invited to an exclusive book signing and Q&A session with Dr. Moroney prior to the public talk.

Schedule

6:00 p.m. – CHM member-exclusive book signing and Q&A session with Dr. Moroney
7:00 p.m. – Public author talk
8:15 p.m. – Event concludes