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Biographical Summary
Ezra Gordon was born in 1921 in Detroit, Michigan. After serving
in the United States Army during World War II, Gordon recieved
his B.Arch. from the University of Illinois in 1951. Gordon was
employed in various Chicago architectural offices, including PACE
Associates and Harry Weese Associates, before opening his own
partnership with Jack Levin in 1961. Continuing an interest in
socially responsible housing and urban development reinforced
through work with Harry Weese, Gordon and Levin planned and designed
numerous residential developments, notably the award-winning The
Commons and South Commons, both in Chicago. Later in his career,
Gordon also designed several major buldings in downtown Chicago,
including Newberry Plaza and the East Bank Club. In 1972, Gordon
joined the architecture faculty at the University of Illinois,
Chicago, where he taught urban development, multi-family housing,
and building technology until his retirement in 1994. Gordon was
elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of
Architects in 1974.
Interview Highlights
Gordon speaks about his childhood; his interest in social and
political activism; serving in World War II; studying architecture
at the University of Illinois; working for PACE Associates; his
friendship with John Cordwell and working for the Chicago Plan
Commission; working for Harry Weese, Weese's Arena Stage Theatre,
Weese's United States Embassy in Accra, Ghana, and I.M. Pei and
Harry Weese's redevelopment of Hyde Park, Chicago; his partnership
with Jack Levin; designing The Commons, South Commons, Newberry
Plaza, and the East Bank Club, all in Chicago; working with developers;
issues in multi-family and high-rise housing; general reflections
and opinions.
I.M. Pei and Harry Weese and Associates. Hyde Park Redevelopment
Project, Townhouses, Chicago, Illinois, 1959-1962. Photograph
by Annemarie van Roessel.
Ezra Gordon and Jack Levin, The Commons Townhouses, Chicago,
Illinois, 1965-1966. Photograph by Annemarie van Roessel.
Interview Excerpt
"[The design of The Commons] grew out of our earlier experience.
And it certainly grew out of town-planning experience that comes
out of England and the Scandinavian countries. There's adequate
earlier demonstrations of that kind of housing and what it did
to promote family life. So the environment plays a big role in
the role that family plays in conjunction with that....Anyway,
it was not uncommon that we all had concluded that this was the
proper approach. No one looked for over-densifying these sites.
I and Jack [Levin] always felt extremely sensitive about the relationship
of house to site and site to the community, with adequate space
around the house and views." (pp. 81-82)
Other Resources at The Art Institute of Chicago
See the oral histories of several of Gordon's colleagues: John Cordwell, John Macsai, Ben Weese, and Harry Weese.
Funding for this oral history was provided by a grant from
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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