Description:

Abstract

An Examination of the Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side. Writer/photographer Lee Bey presents and discusses his images of places and spaces on Chicago’s South Side. The presentation will include histories of these South Side locales and how historically racist lending practices and city policies have worked to devalue the area over the past century.

Bio

Lee Bey is member of the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board, where he shapes the newspaper’s position on a range of issues including urban planning, land use, politics. He is also a photographer, writer, consultant and lecturer whose work deals in the documentation and interpretation of the built environment—and the often complex political, social and racial forces that shape spaces and places. Bey is the author of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side (Northwestern University Press, October 2019), a book that showcases his architectural and social commentary and his architectural photography. An adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture, Bey teaches a class based on his book. The class examines how race shapes architecture and urban planning on Chicago’s South Side and other communities of color across the country. Bey’s architectural photography has also appeared in magazines and periodicals such as the New York Times, Architectural Digest,Chicago Architect, Architect, Old House Journal, CITE, and in international design publications such as Bauwelt, and Modulør, both published in Germany. A former Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic, Bey’s writing and reporting on architecture and urban design have been featured in Architect, Chicago magazine, Architectural Record, the Houston Chronicle, Crain’s Chicago Business, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, Fox News Chicago, Guardian Cities, Monocle Radio, and CBS2 News Chicago. Bey is the author of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side (Northwestern University Press, October 2019), a book that showcases his writing and photography. Bey, who served as deputy chief of staff for architecture and urban planning under former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, is also a sought-after expert on architecture, architectural history and the development of cities.