Edo Belli

Edo Jesualdo Belli (1918-2003) was an American modernist architect based in Chicago.

Belli was born on Chicago's North Side and attended Lane Technical High School. He apprenticed with the Holsman & Holsman firm while attending the Armour Institute of Technology in the evenings. He graduated in 1939. Belli also worked for Perkins and Will, briefly for Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, and served in Guam as a member of the United States Navy Construction Battalion (the Seabees) during World War II.

Joined by his brother Anthony, early in his career Belli formed a lasting relationship with Chicago Archbishop Samuel Stritch, and won commissions for many churches and schools in the growing archdiocese. The Archbishop supported Belli's early commitment to innovative engineering and a decidedly modernist style.

Archbishop Stritch also introduced Belli to financier John F. Cuneo Sr.. Cuneo hired Belli for multiple major projects, including the 1957 Frank Cuneo Memorial Hospital, mall developments in Niles Illinois, Houston, and Scottsdale Arizona, and work at Cuneo's dairy/amusement park Hawthorn Mellody Farms. As of mid-2013 the Frank Cuneo Hospital complex is the focus of a preservation battle.

Among hundreds of projects, with significant international work, Belli's single major work is likely the 13-story St. Joseph's Hospital on Lake Shore Drive, completed in 1963.

Belli died in Lake Forest, Illinois, in 2003. His sons Allen and James continue to operate Belli & Belli as a family-run firm, primarily specializing in healthcare, manufacturing and commercial work.

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