We Built This City: Chicago

John Hill

24. November 2015

Educator and urbanist Clare Lyster on the shore of Lake Michigan (Photo: Screenshot)

A new ten-minute documentary from the Irish Architecture Foundation "traces the Irish involvement in building Chicago, from the famous I&M canal to the rise of the Irish culturally and politically."

Irish-born Clare Lyster, Associate Professor of Architecture at University of Illinois at Chicago, leads filmmakers Bonnie Dempsey and David O'Sullivan (Dyehouse Films) around the city and back in time to highlight the contributions of the Irish in building the Midwestern metropolis. She speaks with local luminaries, including historian Kevin Harrington, author and historian Ellen Skerrett, author Rich Lindberg, and architect John Ronan.

We Built This City: Chicago is the second of three films produced by IAF that explores Irish city-building. The first looked at London and a forthcoming film will target New York.

The Chicago-Ireland connection can also be explored at the Chicago Design Museum, which is exhibiting New Horizon: Architecture from Ireland until 31 January 2016.