A. James Speyer

January 10, 2012

A. James Speyer is well known in Chicago as a curator and architect. I made the mistake in thinking he was from there until the Ben Rose home he designed with David Haid went up for sale last year!

I went to the Carnegie Library and checked a book out on him titled “A. James Speyer: Architect, Curator, Exhibition Designer.” He studied architecture at Carnegie Tech which is now Carnegie Mellon University and graduated in 1934. During the 40′s and 50′s he taught under Mies van der Rohe, while at the same time, he was an architect in his own right. He completed houses both in Chicago and Pittsburgh using a modernist designs with glass and steel materials. He had such an interesting life and ended up being more known as a curator at The Art Institute of Chicago where he did innovative exhibitions during the 60′s and 70′s.

I’m posting a few of his other homes from the book. I won’t get into all the details of his life just because I’m not much of a writer and I think the book is worth checking out. Tracy Myers wrote a nice summary for the Carnegie Museum magazine in 1998 you can also take a peek at.