Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart

This historic all-girls Catholic school, which joined the global Sacred Heart Schools network in 2011, has had a constant presence in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood since 1890. The original wooden school building was replaced for fire safety reasons in the early 1960s by a Modernist structure. Designed by architect Michael Gaul, some of the surprises within include a cafeteria with floor-to-ceiling glass block walls and a library featuring windows shaded by a geometric concrete screen. The gym is also a striking space decorated with glass block. The foundations of the old building still exist under the recent Chicago Cubs-funded athletic field.

Michael Gaul, c.1960