![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69a912d2d26e2b4ffd1513c6fda14317f328bcad1f946cb5b2a993f063f7bfb0/mies-courthouse.png)
A New Urban Representation
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abfd937b4043ad02b32ab983e58ac5b9c8c4557adab15016bc6b2893580a455f/doubleagency2.jpg)
Chicago’s former federal courthouse seen here (above) in the foreground is being replaced by the Mies federal courthouse building in the background, c. 1965. The image marks a shift in the representation of the institution from a semantic historical reading to the organizational prominence of the Mies abstracted slab. The image suggests that organization had superseded and replaced representation. This thesis calls for another institutional shift bringing representation back to the discussion.