Lunch & Learn With Chicago Sun-Times Architecture Critic, Lee Bey

More About The Speaker

Lee Bey is architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. He is also a member of the Sun-Times editorial board, where he writes editorials on city governance, neighborhood development, politics and urban planning. Bey is the author of the much-praised book Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side (Northwestern University Press, 2019), which showcases his architectural photography and social commentary. He was also the host of the public television special, Building Blocks: The Architecture of Chicago’s South Side, which aired on WTTW in 2023. Bey earned a 2023 Midwest Emmy nomination for his work on the program. He is also an in-demand speaker and media commentator on the subjects of architecture, urban planning, Chicago history and late 20th century Black history and culture. Bey’s previous positions include stints as director of media and government affairs for the Chicago office of SOM, executive director of the Chicago Central Area Committee, and deputy chief of staff for architecture and urban planning under Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. 

Bey is also an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture. Among his honors, Bey won the 2022 Peter Lisagor Award for Best Arts Reporting and Criticism; the 2021 Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award, and the 2019 Distinguished Service Award by the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects.