The apartments at 860-880 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois were designed by Mies van der Rohe. Louise Harris Brown, his former pupil, was the structural engineer for this site, as well as others for the architect.
Louise first met Mies when she was 17 when she took a night class he taught at Chicago’s Armour Institute (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). She went on to get a degree in architecture and later went back to school for a civil engineering degree. After working for an architecture firm located in downtown Chicago, she became the second licensed African American female architect in America.
She went to work for Frank L. Kornacker and associates, a prominent engineering firm in Chicago. It is there that Louise worked on 860-880 Lake Shore Drive. She was responsible for the structural calculations for the reinforced concrete and steel structures for it and other residential, office and public buildings. Completed in 1951, the glass and steel high-rise towers revolutionized urban residential architecture due to its clean lines and minimal design and exposed structure. It has been granted Chicago Landmark status and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Visit The Collection of Women of 20th-century American Architecture to read more or add information on Louise Harris Brown.
Photo credit: Creative Commons 2.0
Photo Credit (News Clipping of Louise): Ebony Magazine (1950)
