John Vinci Papers

The papers of Chicago architect John Vinci. John Vinci was born in 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, and received a degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1960. While still a student Vinci and several friends organized an exhibition at IIT on the work of Adler and Sullivan, an experience that led to a lifelong interest in historic preservation and restoration. Vinci was a pioneer in the then little known arena of preservation and today he is a respected authority in the field. Vinci started his architectural career at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago, doing salvage work for Crombie Taylor, and in the office of Brenner Danforth Rockwell. Vinci opened his own office in Chicago with Lawrence Kenny in 1970, which was renamed the Office of John Vinci in 1978 and then Vinci/Hamp in 1995. In addition to his preservation work on such structures as Louis Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, Vinci is the architect of many new buildings, most notably the Arts Club of Chicago, completed in 1997. Additionally, Vinci also known for his art exhibition installation designs at the Art Institute and other museums and galleries, a specialty of his for nearly thirty years. In 1970, Vinci also began a parallel career teaching architecture—first at Roosevelt University in 1970 and then moving to IIT in 1972—and publishing on numerous architectural subjects. Vinci has been the recipient of many preservation awards for his work on landmark buildings by such architects as Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. He was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1989. View finding aid.View selected images from this collection. Collection access:Collections may be accessed in the Franke Reading Room of the Research Center at The Art Institute of Chicago, by appointment only. For further information, consult the FAQ. Finding aids by subjectBrowse all finding aidsBrowse images and mediaOral histories Contact the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:archives@artic.edu