No Place Like House

Continuing the Museum’s “In the House” series, Chicago architectural designer and critic Andrew Santa Lucia will create a series of altars in the McCormick House, using both the living room space and the newly opened west wing, to transport viewers into a temple of images, objects and offerings. This site-specific installation is guided by “Miesian Mysticism,” a fictional religion uncovered by Santa Lucia in Mies van der Rohe’s architecture, that narrativizes through rituals Mies’s essential design contributions to the discipline of architecture. Each room will consist of three integral layers: Altar (an architectural intervention), Atmosphere (lighting, smell and sound) and Accoutrement (the “things” that make up altars including candles, mementos and statues). “Miesian Mysticism” exists as a series of textual and graphic artifacts, which also serve as a vehicle for architectural criticism. This project is supported in part by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Public Programs

• 9/12 at 11:20 am - Tour of Lessons from Modernism with exhibition co-curator Steven Hillyer, Director of the Architecture Archive at Cooper Union

• 9/12 at 1:00 pm - Tour of Lessons from Modernism with exhibition co-curator Kevin Bone, Director of the Institute of Sustainable Design at Cooper Union

• 9/15 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 9/19 at 11:15am - Family Workshop

• 9/22 at 11:15 am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 9/24 at 12:00 pm - Eco-Tour of Elmhurst College's West Hall

• 9/25 at 1:00pm - Tour of Exhibitions with EAM Chief Curator Staci Boris

• 9/26 at 11:15am - Family Workshop

• 9/29 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 10/2 at 6:00 pm - Gallery Talk: Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth and McCormick Houses by historic preservation architect Heidi Y. Granke

• 10/6 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 10/10 at 1:00pm - Tour of Lessons from the Fick Home with Andrew Santa Lucia

• 10/13 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 10/15 at 2:00 pm - Lessons from Lessons From Modernism: Towards a History of Architecture in the Anthropocene, a Lecture by Daniel A. Barber at IIT's Crown Hall

• 10/20 at 1:00pm - Tour of Exhibitions with Chief Curator Staci Boris

• 10/23 at 7:00pm - Sonic Incantation 1: A Ritual Performance in the McCormick House by Andrew Santa Lucia

• 10/27 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 11/3 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."

• 11/6 at 1:00pm - Tour of Exhibitions with Chief Curator Staci Boris

• 11/7 at 11:15am - Storytime and Art! with Elmhurst Public Library

• 11/7 at 2:00pm - House Practices: Discussion with Chicago architects Mejay Gula, Julia Sedlock and Amanda Williams

• 11/15 at 2:00pm - Nitty Gritty: Conversation between Architects Andrew Santa Lucia and Heidi Y. Granke

• 11/17 at 11:15am - Storytime - Bring your little one for a read-aloud of books like "Roberto the Insect Architect."