Vincent Michael, author of The Architecture of Barry Byrne, recently appeared on WTTW-TV’s Chicago Tonight program to discuss the apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright who brought the Prairie School of Architecture to Europe.

Byrne’s influence is widely present in Chicago as well.  In particular, St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park is what Michael terms the first “modern” Catholic church.

“What Byrne did is he too, Frank Lloyd Wright’s principle of functional architecture and reimagined the Catholic church,” Michael says. “He created an open space plan with the altar thrust into the sanctuary.  No one had done that before.”

You can read an excerpt from the book and view a slide show if Byrne’s work on the WTTW website.