Joseph R. DuciBella A.S.I.D. (April 17, 1945 – June 29, 2007) was an interior designer, founding member of the
Theatre Historical Society of America
The Theatre Historical Society of America (THS) was founded in 1969 to promote the legacy of America's historic theatres and insure the documentation of the architectural, cultural and social history of those theatres. Through programs that include ...
(1969), author, and noted architectural historian.
Biography
Born and raised on the
West Side
West Side or Westside may refer to:
Places Canada
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Westside, Birmingham E ...
of Chicago, Joseph R. DeciBella's interest in theatres began as he watched the demolition of the Paradise Theatre. This experience allowed him to observe how large theatres were constructed and led to his desire to be an architect. He later studied under the noted German-American architect
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...
. Eventually, he pursued interior design instead of architecture. He graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Art with degrees in Interior Design. He went on to become an interior designer (residential, commercial, and theatrical) and had his own design firm for more than 25 years.
He became widely known as an important American theatre historian and published several books both in the United States and in Europe. His ''Theatres of Chicago'' (1973) is still one of the only comprehensive books on the theatres of Chicago. He also penned many articles for the publications of the Theatre Historical Society of America, ''Marquee'' and ''Annual'', covering a wide range of topics. He also wrote the foreword for the book ''The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban & Katz'' (2006). His forthcoming and final work, mentioned in Robert Charles Marsh's ''150 Years of Opera in Chicago'' (2006)
as ''The Theatres of Chicago: The Complete Illustrated History'', covers the history of nearly all the theatres in Chicago from the 1840s to the present, but remains unpublished in its entirety.
He was a member of many organizations, including the
American Theatre Organ Society
The American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) is an American non-profit organization, dedicated to preserving and promoting the theatre pipe organ and its musical art form.
ATOS consists of regional member-chapters, and is led by democratically e ...
, The Organ Historical Society, Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts, the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ and many more. He received many honors, commendations and awards in the Interior Design and Theatre History fields. He was also one of Chicago's most respected architectural historians and led many city tours of Chicago's legendary architecture and was a leading figure in its preservation. He fought to save culturally important buildings such as the
Chicago Theatre
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban a ...
, the
Congress Theater
The Congress Theater is a historic movie palace in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Fridstein and Company designed it in 1926 for the movie theater operator Lubliner and Trinz. It features ornate exterior and interior design work in a ...
, and many others, including the
Uptown Theatre, a movie palace still in need of a renovation plan. He also worked to have the Chicago
Wicker Park neighborhood designated a Chicago Landmark District. He appears in the documentary:
Uptown: Portrait of a Palace.
He died peacefully at home following a long fight with cancer on June 29, 2007.
References
External links
ObituaryTheatre Historical Society of AmericaAmerican Theatre Organ SocietyCATOE - Chicago Area Theatre Organ EnthusiastsOrgan Historical SocietyFriends of the Wanamaker Organ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ducibella, Joseph
Artists from Chicago
1945 births
2007 deaths
American architectural historians
American male non-fiction writers
Illinois Institute of Technology alumni
Historians from Illinois
20th-century American male writers