“Berlin Rising”: An illustrated slide lecture by architectural historian Susan Benjamin

Jewish Museum, Berlin, by Daniel Libeskind, 2001 Courtesy Liebeskind

“Berlin Rising”: An illustrated slide lecture by architectural historian Susan Benjamin

When: Wednesday, Feb. 20, 5:30 check-in, 6:00 talk.

Where: AIA Chicago, 35 E. Wacker Drive, 2nd floor.

What: Join Susan Benjamin on an historical and architectural odyssey through Berlin, Potsdam and the Bauhaus at Dessau - a trip in 2012 led by Brown University architectural historian Dietrich Naumann.  Susan will present an illustrated lecture with photos of seldom-seen places including a ‘Habitation’ by Le Corbusier and Erich Mendelsohn’s Einstein Tower. Like Chicago in 1871, Berlin experienced a rebirth in 1945, with particularly astonishing changes after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as the city became the scene of multiple building projects. Today it is a city of vibrant new architecture, with contributions by Frank Gehry, Helmut Jahn, Daniel Libeskind, Peter Eisenman, and many others.  The streetscape is unique in reflecting the city’s war-torn, sordid past, with buildings from Hitler’s regime and from the Karl Friedrich Schinkel era.

Reception: At AIA Chicago before the lecture.

Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

RSVP: by email to  jrfree3500@aol.com ,

or call Judy Freeman at (773)929-0329  by Feb. 18th.

Space is limited, please reply early!