Lecture
Reception in Temple Buell Hall Atrium begins at 5:30PM.
Lecture in Temple Buell Hall Plym Auditorium, Room 134, begins at 6PM.
There will be a book signing afterward of his book, “The Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture.”
Dr. Edith Farnsworth, Modern Architecture, Landscape, and Preservation
“Taking the country out of the country house”
Plym Auditorium, Rm. 134 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, reception 5:30, lecture 6:00
Learn more about the architectural design and preservation of one of the most iconic Modernist residences from Prof. Michelangelo Sabatino, author of the new book Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture. Afterward, a panel of distinguished speakers including Professors Tom Leslie, Pollyanna Rhee, and Kathryn E. Holliday will discuss the different ‘lives’ of the house (Edith/Mies; Lord and Lady Palumbo; National Trust for Historic Preservation) on this 20th anniversary of its entry into the public domain.
A reading of Edith Farnsworth’s memoirs by Professor Kathryn E. Holliday, harkening back to an especially complex client-architect relationship, will conclude the evening.
Copies of Prof. Sabatino ’s book will be on sale by the Illini Union Store before and after the program.
Michelangelo Sabatino (PhD) is a publicly engaged architectural historian, curator, and preservationist whose research and writing focuses primarily on modern architecture and the built environment. He is Professor of Architectural History and Heritage at IIT’s College of Architecture where he directs the PhD program and is the inaugural John Vinci Distinguished Research Fellow.
Michelangelo Sabatino is an architectural historian, curator, and preservationist. He is Professor at Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture, where he is the inaugural John Vinci Distinguished Research Fellow and directs the PhD program. He serves on the Board of Directors of Docomomo US. Furthermore, he is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including Modern in the Middle: Chicago Houses 1929–75 (Monacelli, 2020).
“The book foregrounds the key role of client Edith Farnsworth, in creating one of the most famous residences in modern history, a glass and steel marvel that seems to float above its site. Written and edited by Michelangelo Sabatino, who contributes deep expertise on modernist architecture, it includes an essay by architectural historian Dietrich Neumann, excerpts of Edith Farnsworth’s unpublished memoir, as well as interviews with Mies’s grandson Dirk Lohan, and the house’s second owner, Lord Peter Palumbo. Published in association with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this book is published is a trove of cultural and visual history, and includes photographs by Hedrich Blessing, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Annie Leibovitz, in addition to documentation of cultural collaborations with artists, designers, and performance troupes such as Virgil Abloh, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Gerard & Kelly.”
