Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s S.R. Crown Hall, home to the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture, stands at 34th and State streets today, in the same place that development, Mecca Flats, commanded for nearly six decades.

In 2014 at the Chicago Cultural Center, the exhibit "Mecca Flats Blues" highlighted notable events at the long-gone Bronzeville apartment building
In 2014 at the Chicago Cultural Center, the exhibit "Mecca Flats Blues" highlighted notable events at the long-gone Bronzeville apartment building © E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Traces of the Mecca Flats apartments, once central to black Chicago, resurfaced last month, however, when a crew at IIT unearthed remnants of the building’s basement during construction at Crown Hall. The university has opted to preserve and permanently showcase some of the found artifacts at Crown Hall. This month, on Tuesday, the architecture school will also host a public viewing for the unearthed artifacts, featuring panel discussions with historians and urban archaeologists. New photographs taken of the items found, including vibrant floor tile and brick, are the first color images of Mecca Flats to ever be published, experts said.

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