Back in the winter of 2019 I traveled to Chicago to set up an exhibition. It was a short visit, but I had some spare time to roam around. Back then, an arctic blast was hitting this Midwestern city, the third largest in the United States. I never lived in a city that gets that cold, nor I’ve been an avid winter sports practitioner, so I never had the need to buy clothes appropriate for such weather conditions. I was mentally prepared to be there, but totally unready to withstand those temperatures in physical terms. Fortunately, I managed to survive with ease. Chicago’s culture has had an exceptional contribution to the arts scene, and luckily I was able to get a glimpse of it. In 1871 a particular tragedy—the Great Chicago Fire—set a precedent for worldwide construction and urban planning, moving from predominant wood constructions to fireproof structural steel frames, resulting in the beginning of a new architectural era. As Carl Smith—Professor of English and American Studies and Professor of History, Emeritus, at Northwestern University—said: “The fire became critical to the image of Chicago as the embodiment of the irresistible force of modernity in America.” As a result, the city saw the birth of the Chicago School, as well as the development of the City Beautiful Movement, a revolution that aimed to introduce beautification and monumental grandeur in North American cities through a comprehensive urban planning based on a civic center, a sprawling network of parks, waterfronts, wide boulevards, and extensive railway and highway systems.