Obituary: George Schipporeit, Architect of Evanston's State Bank and Rotary Buildings

George Schipporeit, age 80, of Glenview. Beloved husband of Alice Schipporeit, née Butler; loving father of John Beyer, Heidi (Greg) Peterson, Leslie Beyer, Marta, and the late Gregg Schipporeit; proud grandfather of Elizabeth Cornwell and Emily (Cameron) Jones; uncle of Kevin and George Meyer; brother of the Elaine (Al) Meyer and the late Dale Schipporeit; son of the late George and Ida Schipporeit. 

Best-known as co-designer of Chicago’s 70-story Lake Point Tower (completed 1969), he was renowned as both architect and educator. Born in Huron, South Dakota and raised in Norfolk, Nebraska, beginning in 1955 he studied at Illinois Institute of Technology under famed landscape architect Alfred Caldwell. He then moved to the office of Mies van der Rohe, where he worked from 1957 to 1960. In 1963, working for New York developer Hartnett-Shaw, Inc., he began studies for what would become Lake Point Tower in collaboration with John Heinrich, an IIT classmate. In 1970 he formed Schipporeit, Inc., and realized several significant high-rise buildings, including the State Bank and Rotary International Buildings in Evanston, Illinois, and Atrium Village, 445 E. Ohio Street, and Asbury Plaza in Chicago. In 1980 he became Chairman of the Department of Architecture at IIT, and later served twice as Dean of the College of Architecture. After 1990 he continued at IIT as Associate Professor, and taught until his death. Continuing his lifelong interest in urban design and planning, in the early 2000s he established IIT’s Sustainable New Cities Specialization, a masters degree program of which he was Director. He won many awards, including an American Institute of Architects National Honor Award (1970) for Lake Point Tower, and the AIA’s Chicago Chapter 25-Year Award, also for Lake Point Tower, which honors “design of enduring significance.” 

Funeral Info: 847-675-1990 or www.donnellanfuneral.com 

Obituary reprinted with permission of Donnellan Family Funeral Services.