First Mayor Daley announced the Historic Chicago Bungalow Initiative, celebrating the architectural and historic importance of the venerable Chicago bungalow. Next came “Bungalows by bus,” a series of sold-out tours of Chicago “bungalow belt” neighborhoods. Now the Year of the Bungalow culminates with “The Chicago Bungalow,” a major new traveling exhibition mounted by the Chicago Architectural Foundation (CAF), in conjunction with the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association and the City of Chicago. Opening Oct. 18, the exhibit will be on view through Jan. 15 before traveling locally and nationally.
“Chicago bungalows seem to strike a chord among people in the Chicago area, many of whom have grown up in them and have fond memories of them,” said Bonita Mall, vice president of programs and tours for CAF and a board member of the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association. “The response to the city’s initiative and to our bungalow tours and programs has been overwhelming. The Chicago bungalow truly is a Chicago icon.”
The free exhibit offers a kaleidoscopic look at 20th century life in urban America as viewed through the architectural and social history of the Chicago bungalow. With an exhibit design based on the layout of a full-scale bungalow, the Chicago Bungalow features more than a hundred contemporary and historic photographs of Chicago bungalows, the people who lived in them and their neighborhoods. It also includes historic bungalow advertisements and memorabilia; samples of decorative arts typically found in a Chicago bungalow—furnishings, lighting, art glass windows and more; bungalow blueprints; and a map of the area’s “bungalow belt” neighborhoods. Photographers for the contemporary images in the exhibit are Mati Maldre and Harry Meyer, both of Chicago.
Also debuting with the new exhibit is a book entitled “The Chicago Bungalow.” The 176-page, generously illustrated hardback includes 200 photos and seven essays by architects and historians, covering topics ranging from “Defining the Chicago Bungalow” to “The Bungalow and the New American Woman” and “The People of the Bungalow Belt, 2001.” It is available at the CAF Shop & Tour Centers, 224 S. Michigan Ave. and 875 N. Michigan Ave., and area bookstores. The price is $29.99.
Bungalow programming will include a series of lectures that will be presented at CAF’s Chicago Architecture Center Lecture Hall Gallery. They are “Moving on Up: Chicago’s Bungalow Belt and the American Dream” on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m., admission $15; “Affordable Convenience: A Bathroom in the Bungalow” on Oct. 31 at 12:15 p.m., free; “The Bungalow: Inside and Outside,” Nov. 1, 6 p.m., $15; “Working with an Architect: Historic Bungalow,” in conjunction with AIA Chicago, on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m., free; “It’s More Than a Bungalow: Portage Park and the Making of the Bungalow Belt” on Nov. 29 at 6 p.m., $15; and “Photographing the Bungalow,” Dec. 5, 12:15 p.m., free. CAF has also scheduled “The Chicago Bungalow: Exploring Homes, Neighborhoods & Social History,” a two-day bungalow workshop for teachers of grades four through 12 on Nov. 10 and 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., $100.
To register for the Oct. 25, Nov. 1 or Nov. 29 lecture, call (312) 922-3432, ext. 909. To register for the Nov. 7 lecture, call ext. 930. To register for the teacher workshop, call ext. 232. No registration is necessary for the noontime lectures.
The Chicago Bungalow exhibit will be on view beginning Oct. 18 at CAF’s Chicago Architecture Center Atrium Gallery, 224 S. Michigan Ave. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. A smaller version of the exhibit will travel to several Chicago venues, including the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, Sulzer Regional Library, the Czechoslovak Heritage Museum, the Nortown Library, Rogers Park and West Ridge Historical Society and the Ridge Historical Society. The exhibit will also travel nationally to Pasadena, CA; Seattle; WA; Portland, OR; and Washington, D.C.
For more information about CAF’s Chicago Bungalow programs, call (312) 922-3432, ext. 266.
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