Félix Candela (1910–1997), an essential architect of the twentieth century and an iconic figure in Latin-America, became world-renowned for his many captivating structures in Mexico City and across the globe. Therefore, it is surprising that his time in Chicago is almost entirely unknown. This book project is the first investigation into Candela’s life and work in the city from 1971–78. It unearths the specific political, economic, and material conditions that prompted Candela’s departure from Mexico City and sheds light on his reception in Chicago as well as his penetrating view of the architectural culture that he found in the United States. Edited by Alexander Eisenschmidt, this volume includes original essays, translations, and historical accounts by Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis, William Baker, Reyner Banham, Alvin Boyarsky, Robert Bruegmann, Félix Candela, Carl Condit, Stuart Cohen, Juan Ignacio del Cueto, George Flaherty, Geoffrey Goldberg, Esther McCoy, Jonathan Miller, Kathryn O’Rourke, Elisa Maria Quaglia, Kenneth Schroeder, Nader Tehrani, and Stanley Tigerman.

Alexander Eisenschmidt is a theorist, designer, and associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Architecture. He directs the Visionary Cities Project, a research-based platform devoted to the contemporary city and speculations on new forms of architectural urbanism and collective housing. He is author of The Good Metropolis: From Urban Formlessness to Metropolitan Architecture (Birkhäuser, 2019); guest-editor of City Catalyst (AD, 2012); and the coeditor of Chicagoisms with Jonathan Mekinda (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2013); amongst other volumes. Eisenschmidt has curated and his research and design work has been exhibited in venues such as the International Architectural Biennale in Venice, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Biennale on Urbanism in Shenzhen, the Architecture Triennale in Lisbon, the Druker Design Gallery at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism in Seoul.