MAS Context

Press day at @grafiche_veneziane for our new book. photographer James Florio was there to review the process. Book coming soon! #mascontext #ikergil #jamesflorio #architecture #book

Join us on Wednesday, May 13, for a lecture by @leebey , architecture critic at the @chicagosuntimes , photographer, and author. The event will take place at the MAS Context Reading Room (1564 North Damen Avenue, Suite 204, Chicago, Illinois 60622). • • • The city’s West Side is well known for the disinvestment that it has endured for the past sixty years. But the area holds an abundance of the city’s best architecture. During this talk, Lee Bey will discuss the critical need to document and preserve these places. In 2019, Lee Bey published “Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side,” the first book devoted to the South Side’s rich and unfairly ignored architectural heritage. Inspired by Bey’s 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial exhibition, Southern Exposure visits sixty sites, including lesser-known but important work by luminaries such as Jeanne Gang, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Eero Saarinen, as well as buildings by pioneering Black architects such as Walter T. Bailey, John Moutoussamy, and Roger Margerum. • • • Link in bio. • • • Image: Hotel Guyon, 4000 West Washington Boulevard, Chicago. © Lee Bey. • • • #mascontext #leebey #westside #chicago #photography

BOOK REVIEW LILLY REICH IN BARCELONA Elizabeth Blasius, “Under the Influence of Lilly Reich,” MAS Context, April 27, 2026 “…Lilly was in care of the documents [of Mies’s European work] in part because they included representations of her own work; drawings for industrial exhibits, fabrics, and furniture that expressed the elegance of German modern design on a world stage. These documents showed what Lilly was capable of…and detailed the chronicles of the German Pavilion as a completely new kind of architecture on which Lilly Reich and Mies collaborated (…). Lilly Reich in Barcelona…is a close inspection of the German Pavilion as a product of the design mind of Lilly Reich and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe…The book endeavors to disrupt the hierarchies between Mies and Reich by positioning Mies as under the influence of Lilly Reich—not the other way around. Architect Martinez de Guereñu examines the German Pavilion carefully, breaking down components previously understood to be signature Mies moves as those that are a product of Lilly Reich’s understanding of surface and texture (…). Towards the end of Lilly Reich’s life, we learn…that Reich began calling herself an “Architektin” (architect). Like Mies, surprisingly, Lilly Reich never went to architecture school...Yet Mies was, and is, naturally accepted under that title.” A million thanks to @blaservations for this precious book review and to @mascontext and @Ikergil for its publication. Images: . Anna Mas . Interior design course with Lilly Reich at the Bauhaus, Dessau, 1931. Ph. Pius Pahl . Reich and Mies, Elevations and vertical sections of glass walls, MR15.6, Palace of Communications and Transport, German section, International Exposition, Barcelona, February 1929 . Adrià Goula . Mies and Reich, Sections of a glass wall, MR14.9, German Pavilion, International Exposition, Barcelona, 1929 . Back of the envelope of a letter from Lilly Reich to Karl Otto, March 3, 1945 “Lilly Reich in Barcelona” is a publication by @fundaciomies with the collaboration of @viviendagob , @bilbaomuseoa , @iearchdesign , @estudiosdurero , and @alemaniaenespana . With the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung.

From Observations: “Route 66: A Personal Reflection in Today’s Context.” Text and photographs by @phdonohue . • • • Route 66, one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System, received its numerical designation 66 on April 30, 1926, in Springfield, Missouri. Coinciding with its centenary, photographer Phil Donohue reflects on his relationship to the iconic route in this moment in US history. In the coming months, Phil plans to walk the entirety of Route 66 in Los Angeles County —Santa Monica to the San Bernardino County Line—and will share this work via MAS Context in November to commemorate the establishment of US Highway 66 a hundred years ago. • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: Oral Roberts University (Frank Wallace, 1964-67), Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2017. © Phil Donohue. • • • #mascontext #phildonohue #route66 #photography

Join us on Wednesday, May 13, for a lecture by @leebey , architecture critic at the @chicagosuntimes , photographer, and author. The event will take place at the MAS Context Reading Room (1564 North Damen Avenue, Suite 204, Chicago, Illinois 60622). • • • The city’s West Side is well known for the disinvestment that it has endured for the past sixty years. But the area holds an abundance of the city’s best architecture. During this talk, Lee Bey will discuss the critical need to document and preserve these places. In 2019, Lee Bey published “Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side,” the first book devoted to the South Side’s rich and unfairly ignored architectural heritage. Inspired by Bey’s 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial exhibition, Southern Exposure visits sixty sites, including lesser-known but important work by luminaries such as Jeanne Gang, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Eero Saarinen, as well as buildings by pioneering Black architects such as Walter T. Bailey, John Moutoussamy, and Roger Margerum. • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: (1) Walsner House, 42 North Central Avenue, Chicago. © Lee Bey. (2) Greater St. John COGIC, 5701 West Midway Park, Chicago. © Lee Bey. • • • #mascontext #leebey #westside #chicago #photography

On April 13, @germane.barnes , founding principal of Studio Barnes, lectured as part of our spring series. The event took place at the MAS Context Reading Room. The video of the talk is now available on our website. • • • During this talk, Germane Barnes discussed what it means to build a practice while designing with, as opposed to, for communities. Since its founding in 2017, Studio Barnes has developed projects in Chicago, Columbus, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Logroño, Memphis, Miami, Milan, New York, Tokyo, and Venice. Studio Barnes has been featured in international venues and publications, most notably The Art Institute of Chicago, Venice Biennale, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), MAS Context, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, The New York Times, Design Miami | Art Basel, Metropolis Magazine, Domus, LACMA, Denver Art Museum, and The National Museum of African American History where he was identified as one of the future designers on the rise. • • • Images: Germane Barnes, Turn the Mic Up, MAS Context Reading Room, Chicago, 2026. © Iker Gil. • • • #mascontext #germanebarnes #architecture #chicago #mascontextreadingroom

From Observations: “Route 66: A Personal Reflection in Today’s Context.” Text and photographs by @phdonohue . • • • Route 66, one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System, received its numerical designation 66 on April 30, 1926, in Springfield, Missouri. Coinciding with its centenary, photographer Phil Donohue reflects on his relationship to the iconic route in this moment in US history. In the coming months, Phil plans to walk the entirety of Route 66 in Los Angeles County —Santa Monica to the San Bernardino County Line—and will share this work via MAS Context in November to commemorate the establishment of US Highway 66 a hundred years ago. • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: (1) El Rancho Hotel, Gallup, New Mexico, 2017. (2) King’s Liquors, Santa Monica California, 2025. (3) Roy’s, Amboy, California, 2022. (4) El Rancho Motel, Barstow, California, 2013. (5) Palomino, Tucumcari, New Mexico, 2007. (6) Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico, 2017. © Phil Donohue. • • • #mascontext #phildonohue #route66 #photography

From Observations. “Under the Influence of Lilly Reich.” Monthly column by @blaservations . • • • For her monthly column, Elizabeth Blasius reviews the book “Lilly Reich in Barcelona: The Materialization of a Neglected Authorship” (@fundaciomies , 2025) by @guerenuu that brings to light the brilliance and obfuscation of the work of architect, designer, and creative director Lilly Reich. • • • “Lilly Reich in Barcelona: The Materialization of a Neglected Authorship” by Laura Martinez de Guereñu is a close inspection of the German Pavilion as a product of the design mind of Lilly Reich and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The book, funded by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, is rightly published there, under the Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture. The book endeavors to disrupt the hierarchies between Mies and Reich by positioning Mies as under the influence of Lilly Reich—not the other way around. • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: “Lilly Reich in Barcelona: The Materialization of a Neglected Authorship” book cover and spreads (Fundació Mies van der Rohe, 2025). • • • #mascontext #elizabethblasius #lillyreich #lauramartinezdeguereñu #book

new for @mascontext : route 66: a personal reflection in today’s context “route 66, one of the original highways in the united states numbered highway system, received its numerical designation 66 on april 30, 1926, in springfield, missouri. coinciding with its centenary, photographer phil donohue reflects on his relationship to the iconic route in this moment in US history. In the coming months, phil plans to walk the entirety of route 66 in los angeles county —santa monica to the san bernardino county line—and will share this work via MAS Context in november to commemorate the establishment of us highway 66 a hundred years ago.” (link in bio) images: 2007-2025 © phil donohue

New in Observations: “Route 66: A Personal Reflection in Today’s Context.” Text and photographs by @phdonohue . • • • Route 66, one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System, received its numerical designation 66 on April 30, 1926, in Springfield, Missouri. Coinciding with its centenary, photographer Phil Donohue reflects on his relationship to the iconic route in this moment in US history. In the coming months, Phil plans to walk the entirety of Route 66 in Los Angeles County —Santa Monica to the San Bernardino County Line—and will share this work via MAS Context in November to commemorate the establishment of US Highway 66 a hundred years ago. • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: (1) Closed, Tucumcari, New Mexico, 2017. (2) Valenzuela’s Cafe, Needles, California, 2025. (3) Dancing, Barstow, California, 2017. (4) Days Inn, Santa Monica, California, 2025. © Phil Donohue. • • • #mascontext #phildonohue #route66 #photography

New in Observations. “Under the Influence of Lilly Reich.” Monthly column by @blaservations . • • • For her monthly column, Elizabeth Blasius reviews the book “Lilly Reich in Barcelona: The Materialization of a Neglected Authorship” (@fundaciomies , 2025) by @guerenuu that brings to light the brilliance and obfuscation of the work of architect, designer, and creative director Lilly Reich. • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: Re-enactment: Lilly Reich’s Work Occupies the Barcelona Pavilion, artistic installation by Laura Martinez de Guereñu, Barcelona Pavilion, 2020. © Anna Mas. • • • #mascontext #elizabethblasius #lillyreich #lauramartinezdeguereñu #book

Our book “Sam and Ruth Van Sickle Ford House” is back in stock. The book documents the remarkable house designed by Bruce Goff located in Aurora, Illinois. Thanks to everyone who has already purchased a copy. For those who don’t have one, this is the time! All purchases support MAS Context’s initiatives, including new publications, lectures, and exhibitions. • • • EDITED BY: @ikergil PHOTOGRAPHY: James Florio DESIGN: @thenormalstudio (@renatagraw + @lucasreif ) • • • Link in bio. • • • Images: James Florio. • • • #mascontext #fordhouse #brucegoff #book