Mid-Continent Modern

This book documents the contributions of architects Jack Sherman Baker, John Gordon Replinger, A. Richard Williams, Robert Louis Amico, and Jeffery S. Poss to the Midwest's built environment. All were keenly aware of the prairie landscape of Central Illinois, its vast vistas, and the prismatic forms of houses, barns, and granaries that punctuate the horizon. We tell the story of their work, the "Champaign School of Mid-Century Architecture," and the people who continue to live, use, and care for these buildings.

"The striking images in this book depict distinctive buildings from the heartland of the North American continent. The book’s title was inspired by architect/educator A. Richard Williams, who used the expression ‘mid-continent’ to describe landscapes and living spaces around the “… Midwest prairie. The Great Lakes … the center of the freshwater world.” Mid-Continent Modern is characterized by its formal simplicity, functional pragmatism, unaffected dignity, and thoughtful detailing. It is an architecture that is modern in character yet embedded sensitively into the natural world and in dialogue with the regional building vernacular. These ideas are well represented through the work of four architects teaching and practicing in Central Illinois in the mid-20th Century." Jeffery S. Poss, FAIA.

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Phillip Kalantzis-Cope attempts to make sense of techno-social relations in everyday life and visual culture. His photographic work has been published, exhibited internationally, written about, and can be found in public and private collections. Holding a PhD from The New School for Social Research, Phillip has also published a range of scholarly publications exploring the role of intellectual property as a medium of social, economic, and political regulation—with a particular focus on the arts. He is the Chief Social Scientist of Common Ground Research Networks, a not-for-profit that builds scholarly communication technologies and manages Research Networks that cover the arts, design, architecture, humanities, and social sciences. In this role, he’s worked with world-leading academic institutions, arts festivals, galleries, and museums. He is the co-founder of Immaterial Books.

Jeffery S. Poss, FAIA has designed and completed award-winning proposals for spaces of commemoration and contemplation.   Commission and competition work has been published internationally in books, journals, and magazines.  As a result of this recognition, Poss was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2010. Poss received his Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois in 1980. In the years following, he practiced with Skidmore Owings and Merrill,  Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates,  and Tai Soo Kim Partners. In 1989 he returned to Urbana-Champaign to begin teaching and practicing architecture. From 2017 until 2019 he served as the Interim Director of the Illinois School of Architecture.  In 2019 Poss was awarded the position of Professor Emeritus.