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Biographical Summary
Charles "Skip" Booher Genther was born in Savannah,
Missourri, in 1907. He studied at the University of Oklahoma and
at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he became a personal
friend and later a colleague of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. After
working at in the Chicago offices of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
and at Holabird & Root, he founded PACE Associates. PACE collaborated
with Mies on such Chicago projects such as the Promontory Apartments,
860-880 Lake Shore Drive, the Algonquin buildings, and buildings
on the IIT campus. Further, PACE was active in building new towns
and Illinois tollway projects. Genther taught at the University
of Illinois, Chicago, until he retired in 1981. He was elected
to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
in 1967. Genther died in 1987 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Interview Highlights
Genther speaks about his study at the University of Oklahoma;
Mies and studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology; work
and colleagues at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; PACE Associates;
working with Mies on the Promontory Park Apartments, the Algonquin,
and 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments.
Preliminary design sketch of 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, c.1946-1948.
Drawn by Mies van der Rohe. Department of Architecture, The Art
Institute of Chicago.
860-880 Lake Shore Drive; Chicago, 1949-1951. Photo courtesy
of Chicago Aerial Photo Services.
Interview Excerpt
"I asked Mies if he would be willing to collaborate with
[PACE], and he said, 'Well, sure.' We organized this firm in May
of 1946, and by May we had the contract for the Promontory Apartments....[PACE
was an acronym for] planners, architects and consulting engineers....I
conceived the name myself....I felt that it was not the day of
the individual--it was the group that people wanted to hire, and
they wanted to hire everybody that they could in one contract....The
first associate was W.H. Binford, the second associate was William
B. Cobb, and then John F. Kausel, and then Walter Stopa. Dick
Farwell, a man named William Culver, Robert Johnson came in, and
Morris Hertel. Those were the associates...Most of the people
had been with Holabird & Root. Most everyone had been trained
by Holabird & Root....The idea came out of Reginald Isaacs,
the chief of planning at Michael Reese Hospital, and we wanted
to get into hospital work." (pp.17-18)
Other Resources at The Art Institute of Chicago
Architectural drawings may be consulted by appointment in the
Department of Architecture.
See also oral histories of Genther's colleagues: Alfred
Caldwell, Joseph Fujikawa, Ben
Honda, Ambrose Richardson, A.
James Speyer and D. Coder Taylor.
Funding for this oral history was provided by the Graham Foundation
for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.
About the Chicago Architects Oral History Project
Department of Architecture • Ryerson & Burnham Archives
Send questions or comments to:
Ryerson & Burnham Archives, Chicago Architects Oral History Project
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