Harry Mohr Weese (June 30, 1915 – October 29, 1998) was an American architect[1] who had an important role in 20th century modernism and historic preservation.
[3] After graduating from New Trier High School, Weese enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1933 to earn a Bachelor in Architecture degree.
[3] Upon his return to the United States, Weese was offered a fellowship at the Cranbrook Academy of Art[3]) through Eero Saarinen, whose father Eliel oversaw the school.
The Washington Metro in the District of Columbia helped Weese become the foremost designer of rail systems during the peak of his career.
[5] He led the restoration of Adler & Sullivan's Auditorium Building, and Daniel Burnham's Field Museum of Natural History and Orchestra Hall.
[6] From the mid-1980s, Weese drank heavily and his reputation faded; he died after years of going in and out of alcohol rehabilitation and a series of disabling strokes.
While being interviewed by the building committee of the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist in Chicago, when asked of his religious views, he said, "My father was Episcopalian, my mother Presbyterian, and I’m an architect".
The announcement cited the key role of Harry Weese, who conceived and implemented a "common design kit-of-parts" which continues to guide the construction of new Metro stations over a quarter-century later.