Architectural Symposium: Chicago Temple Building Centennial

For Chicago architecture enthusiasts, the First United Methodist Church will present “The Chicago Temple 1924-2024: An Architectural Symposium” featuring an expert panel discussing the 1924 Loop skyscraper church and office building’s design and construction.

The event is free and open to the public. It will take place in the First United Methodist Church of Chicago’s main sanctuary on the ground floor of the Chicago Temple Building.

Speakers and their topics include:

• Robert Bruegmann, “The Chicago Temple and Holabird & Roche.” Bruegmann is professor emeritus of art history, architecture and urban planning at the University of Illinois Chicago.
• Thomas Leslie, “The Chicago Temple and Chicago Zoning and Building Trends.” Leslie is professor of architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
• Lee Bey, “The Chicago Temple’s Place in Chicago’s Architectural Landscape.” Bey is adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Adam Rubin, senior director of public engagement, Chicago Architecture Center, will moderate the discussion.

Closing remarks will come from Rebekah Coffman, curator of religion and community history at the Chicago History Museum.

Among the building’s earliest and most notable tenants was criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow, famous for his work in the Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee and Leopold and Loeb murder case in Chicago.