‘Houses of Tomorrow: Solar Homes from Keck to Today’, a new exhibit at the Elmhurst Art Museum in Elmhurst, Illinois, celebrates the House of Tomorrow and its solar innovations as a precursor to technologies and materials still in use today. The project, designed by George Fred Keck for the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago, was decades ahead of its time. As well as featuring new-fangled gadgets, such as a dishwasher and an ‘iceless’ refrigerator, the House of Tomorrow also represented an early manifestation of harnessing solar energy.
The Elmhurst exhibit features a dedicated gallery illustrating a range of midcentury solar homes designed by brothers George Fred Keck and William Keck, along with a newly commissioned art project centred on glass and light by Jan Tichy, associate professor of Photography, Art & Technology Studies at the School of Art Institute of Chicago. The show concludes with winning designs from a 2021 passive solar competition by Passive House Institute US (PHIUS).
‘Houses of Tomorrow: Solar Homes from Keck to Today’
Keck’s House of Tomorrow in construction. Photography: image courtesy of Robert Boyce
McCormick House – the midcentury residence that is part of the Elmhurst museum’s campus – features a related exhibit by Tichy entitled ‘Reflectance’, with a centrepiece solar light space modulator constructed with dishwasher racks and reflected glass from the House of Tomorrow. Tichy’s kinetic piece harnesses solar power to reanimate its mundane domestic objects while simultaneously reflecting light around the entire room. This part of the show also includes a collection of nearly 30 pieces located throughout the house, including artifacts from the House of Tomorrow and photographs featuring poetry by Isabella Gardner – who, with her husband Robert McCormick, was the first resident of the McCormick House.
‘(I wanted to) make the connection between these larger themes of solar architecture to the specific family that inhabited this space as artists; that reflected on what was happening around them and to them and all the way back to House of Tomorrow,’ said Tichy.
The exhibition launch also marks a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Elmhurst Art Museum. Several related events are planned, including lectures about the House of Tomorrow, family-friendly hands-on activities, a panel discussion on sustainable architecture and docent-led tours of McCormick House. All exhibits run through 29 May 2022.
Hedrich Blessing ‘House of Tomorrow, Chicago, 1933, Fred Keck’. Photography: Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum, Hedrich Blessing Collection
Hedrich Blessing, ‘House of Tomorrow Living Room’, 1933. Photography: Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
Hedrich Blessing ‘Greens Ready Built Model, 1945, Fred Keck’. Photography: Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum, Hedrich Blessing Collection
Hedrich Blessing ‘Howard Sloan House I, Fred and William Keck, 1940’. Photography: Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum, Hedrich Blessing Collection
McCormick House 70th Anniversary tour. Photography: courtesy of Hedrich Blessing Archive, Chicago Historical Society
INFORMATION
-
Rachel Whiteread creates silver collection for Puiforcat inspired by corrugated cardboardThe Turner Prize-winning artist reinterprets imperfection in a new silverware collection with French maison Puiforcat
-
Meet Malak Mattar, the Palestinian artist behind the 'Together for Palestine' concert at London's Wembley ArenaThe London-based artist curates a landmark concert of music and art in support of Gaza, alongside Brian Eno, James Blake, Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry and more
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasureThe Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in PhiladelphiaThe new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellingsWhile architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernismWe explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
How LA's Terremoto brings 'historic architecture into its next era through revitalising the landscapes around them'Terremoto, the Los Angeles and San Francisco collective landscape architecture studio, shakes up the industry through openness and design passion
-
Inside a Donald Wexler house so magical, its owner bought it twiceSo transfixed was Daniel Patrick Giles, founder of fragrance brand Perfumehead, he's even created a special scent devoted to it
-
The Pagani Residences is the latest ultra-luxe automotive apartment tower to reach MiamiRising up above Miami, branded apartment buildings are having a renaissance, as everyone from hypercar builders to crystal makers seeks to have a towering structure bearing their name
-
A modern cabin in Minnesota serves as a contemporary creative retreat from the citySnow Kreilich Architects' modern cabin and studio for an artist on a lakeside plot in Minnesota was designed to spark creativity and provide a refuge from the rat race
