2020 National Symposium Chicago: Crossroads of Modern America 

Chicago has been recognized as the “crossroads”, not only for its connecting of water, land, and air networks, but for its place at the intersection of architecture, culture, and technological change. The rapidity of Chicago’s growth, coupled with its prominence in producing innovations of the modern movement is an opportunity for the 2020 meeting of Docomomo/US to consider this history and its prospect for the recognition, interpretation, preservation and extension of the forms and ideas of modernism in the middle of America. The 2020 Symposium theme will be explored through guided tours and lectures, both from invited speakers as well as those to be selected from a call for presentations, to be sent this fall.

The 2020 Symposium will:

• Explore how Chicago’s growth and socioeconomic dynamics produced an innovative urban architecture
• Offer an opportunity to enjoy architecture, integrated art, and the streetscapes of Chicago from on foot and upon water.
• Celebrate iconic and well preserved structures such as Unity Temple and the Farnsworth House while considering iconic and yet endangered structures such as the Thompson Center.
• Hear from key persons associated with preservation projects and advocacy efforts that maintain and preserve modern architecture in various contexts.
• Feature tours and lectures at university complexes that feature significant mid-century architecture.