Chicago’s Role in the Modern Concrete Skyscraper
Presented Thomas Leslie, FAIA
The current exhibition at the Skyscraper Museum in New York City, “The Modern Concrete Skyscraper,” explores the history of this ubiquitous, but often invisible, material in high-rise construction from Roman times to the present day. In it, the Museum’s Executive Director, Carol Willis, and I argue that concrete deserves equal recognition, alongside iron and steel, for its influence on skyscraper construction.
Chicago, in particular, played a vital role in transforming concrete from a handmade, relatively weak craft into the industrially produced, precisely engineered material that it is today. Rich with sources of strong aggregate, there are geological and geographical explanations for our city’s rich concrete history. But strong relationships with research institutions and industry associations, the city’s volatile real estate and labor markets, and a rich tradition of collaboration and knowledge transfer all contributed to Chicago’s leadership in concrete high-rise construction throughout the last half of the twentieth century. More than half of the roughly 400 buildings taller than 12 stories built in Chicago from 1950 to 1986 were of concrete, not steel. Significantly, six of the ten structures that claimed the title of the world’s tallest concrete skyscraper from 1902 to 1989 were built in Chicago.
This presentation, an expansion of a paper initially presented at the Building Technology Educators’ Society in Spring, 2025, tracks the history of concrete skyscraper construction in Chicago, showing how the material challenged the more recognized steel industry and how local organizations—including the CCHRB—played key roles in pushing concrete technology to new heights.
About the Presenter:
Thomas Leslie, FAIA, teaches building science, history, and design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. After practicing with Norman Foster and Partners, London, he held visiting or permanent faculty appointments at the University of Technology-Sydney, Australia, the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar, Germany, the Università di Bologna Alma Mater Studorium, Iowa State University, and the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University.
Leslie is the author of Louis I. Kahn: Building Art, Building Science (Braziller, 2005), Chicago Skyscrapers, 1871-1934 (University of Illinois, 2013), Beauty’s Rigor: Patterns of Production in the Work of Pier Luigi Nervi (University of Illinois, 2017). His latest book, Chicago Skyscrapers, 1934-1986 (University of Illinois, 2023), received the 2024 Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award from the Newberry Library, presented annually to “a book that transforms public understanding of Chicago, its history, or its people.”
Leslie was the Booth Family Rome Prize Fellow in Historic Preservation at the American Academy in Rome in 2013-2014. He was elevated to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects for his contributions to architectural education and research in 2018, and in 2023 was named a Distinguished Professor by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
This meeting will take place at:
Waterview
350 W Wolff Point Plaza, 15th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654
The committee meeting will start at the usual time 5:00 pm at the Waterview Restaurant. Afterwards, at approximately 6PM, the business and technical presentation will be provided in the Western Stage House Room located on the 14th Floor.
Do you have a program you would like to share with the committee, please feel free to reach out to our program coordinator at jose.estrada@clarkdietrich.com
