We Built This City traces the Irish involvement in building Chicago, from the famous I&M canal to the rise of the Irish culturally and politically. A generation of Irish architects came to study under Mies van der Rohe at IIT in the fifties and sixties and this has inspired Irish architects working internationally today. The film is presented by Clare Lyster, Associate Professor at UIC School of Architecture, who is a writer and urbanist based in Chicago.
We Built this City is a Dyehouse Films production, directed by Bonnie Dempsey and edited by David O’Sullivan. The film was screened as an introduction to a panel discussion about the contribution Irish people have made to the built and cultural fabric of Chicago, from historic to contemporary times, which took place at the Arts Club of Chicago on November 10th 2015.
We Built this City is curated by Nathalie Weadick, Director of the Irish Architecture Foundation, assisted by Rachel Gallagher and is in collaboration with Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) and the Office of the Minister for Diaspora Affairs of Ireland. ID2015 is an initiative backed by the Irish Government celebrating and promoting Irish design in Ireland and internationally.