William Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907)
“Father of the skyscraper”

​

Sophia Gregoria Hayden Bennett (1868-1953)

First woman to receive a degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was the female architect chosen to design the Woman’s Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

​

Mary Ann Elizabeth Crawford (1901-1988)

Her designs were featured in "American Beaux-Arts" at the Frumkin-Struve Gallery in Chicago, Illinois in 1980, and are still displayed to this day at the Smithsonian Design Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago

​

Nelson Arthur Harris (1900-1990)

Served under General Douglas MacArthur in WWII and was one of twelve architects who founded the National Organization of Minority Architects

 

Roger Williams Margerum (1930-2015)

A modernist architect who opened his own firm in 1974 and obtained his AIA fellowship in 1984

​

Natalie Griffin de Blois (1921-2013)

Became an AIA fellow in 1974, and was one of eight women who founded Chicago Woman in Architecture (CWA)

​

Henry Clifford Boles (1910-1979)

Studied under Mies van der Rohe and became a member of AIA in 1952

​

Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856-1913)

The first woman to practice as a professional architect in the United States

​

Nathan Clifford Ricker (1843-1924)
First graduate of an architecture program in the United States and creator of first four-year curriculum in architectural engineering at UIUC

​

Daniel Burnham (1846-1912)
Created the stunningly ambitious plan for the design of not only the lakefront parks, but for all of Chicago, extending up to 60 miles from the city center

​

Mary Louisa Page (1849-1921)
First woman to graduate with a degree in architecture in North America when she graduated from the University of Illinois in 1879

​

John Wellborn Root (1850-1891)
Designed the tallest load-bearing office building ever built with Burnham before his untimely death, combining his artistry with Burnham’s business aptitude

 

Martin Roche (1853–1927)
Partnership with William Holabird created landmarks in the development of early skyscrapers following the Chicago School

​

Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)
Dictated that "form follows function"

​

Charles W. Nothnagel (1863-1947)
The original Citizen Architect through his service as an Illinois state legislator and author of the first Practice Act in the nation

​

Henry K. Holsman (1866-1963)
Architect and inventor of the high wheeler automobile

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
A belief that structure and space could create and convey cultural values

​

Dwight H. Perkins (1867–1941)
Progressive designs for education including Chicago's Playground Movement and first-floor auditoriums

Marion Mahony Griffin (1871-1961)
"America’s (and perhaps the world’s) first woman architect who needed no apology in a world of men" - first woman in the United States to be professionally licensed

​

Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937)
Griffin stands as the third great member, after Sullivan and Wright, of the Chicago movement to create a decorated modern architecture for the twentieth century; won Australian design competition to design Canberra

​

Walter T. Bailey (1882–1941)
First African American graduate with a bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering from UIUC and the first licensed African-American architect in the state of Illinois

 

Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)
“Less is more” especially with skyscrapers

​

John Augur Holabird (1886–1945)
Holabird & Root became known for Chicago skyscrapers in the Art Deco style

Roscoe Harold Zook (1889–1949)
Zook’s romantic style contributes greatly to Hinsdale’s charm

​

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983)
Continuing influence on designers, architects, scientists and artists working to create a more sustainable planet

​

Robert Rochon Taylor (1899–1957)
Early housing activist who became Chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority in 1942

Bruce Goff (1904-1982)
One of the most inventive and iconoclastic architects of the twentieth century - check out his archives
 

Crombie Taylor (1914-1999)
Spreading the influence of Bauhaus

​

Beverly Loraine Greene (1915-1957)
First African American woman licensed as an architect in the US in 1942.

​

Harry Weese (1915-1998)
Problem solver willing to apply his skills to everything from a piece of furniture to an entire city

​

Walter Netsch (1920 – 1988)
Established “field theory,” a highly versatile approach to the geometric generation of architectonic structures intended to be uniquely suited to their purposes and environments

​

Wendell Campbell, FAIA (1927-2008)
Founder of National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)

​

Cynthia Weese (1940- )

​

Alan A. Madison (1944-2005)
Promoted diversity through serving three terms as President of the Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Minority Architects