The April Calendar is Up! Tonight: The Great Public Transit Debate at the Cactus Bar & Grill vs. Alex Lehnerer at MCA -

Ok, so it's a taken us a third of the month to get the April Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events up on the web, but here's the strange thing:  from today, Tuesday the 12th, through the end of the month, there's FIFTY great events still to come.

It kicks off tonight at the Cactus Bar and Grill where the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers up the second of its Chicago Debates: Chicago Public Transit: On Track or Derailed, with a blue chip panel featuring Aaron Renn, Chris Robling, Stephen Schlickman, and Mary Wisniewski, with Edward Lifson moderating.  Meanwhile over at MCA, Alex Lehnerer will discuss his work during an informal gallery talk at the Lehnerer installment of the museum's UBS 12 x 12: New Artists/New Work Exhibition.

This coming Saturday afternoon,  April 16th, there'll be a special all-ages version of PechaKucha at Martyr's on Lincoln, Inspire Japan, to benefit Architecture for Humanity's work in that country.  Presenters will include Crandon Gustafson (who is actually doing relief work in Japan), Cathy Ivcich (who will be presenting live Ikebana with colleagues on the PK stage), Photographer Doug Fogelson will show pictures of cherry blossom, Shawna Martell (tales of extreme coupon-ing), Jeweler Carol Blumenthal, Doug Burgett (with some anecdotes of misunderstood artistic endeavors), Laura Bowe from Architecture For Humanity/Chicago, plus other players to be named later.

On Sunday afternoon, the 17th, historian Martin Hackl will lecture on The Life and Work of Prairie School Architect John Van Bergen, the first of a series of talks being presented in conjunction with an exhibition of the architect's work at the Barrington Area Historical Society.

In between on Wednesday the 13th, architects R Thomas Hille and Christopher Lee will present separate lectures at IIT, while Paula Lupkin will discuss Chicago, New York, and the Invention of the YMCA Building lunchtime at CAF.

On Thursday, the 14th, Chris Botti discusses the restoration of the Chicago Cultural Center's Preston Bradley Hall Tiffany dome for AIA Chicago, while on Friday, the 15th, there'll be an opening reception for the new exhibition at the Graham, Anne Tyng: Inhabitating Geometry.

And that's only some of the events just this week.

Later in the month, we've got Young of Architects of Chicago showing their stuff at the Instituto Cervantes on the 19th,  where Spanish architect Antón García-Abril will also lecture on the 25th.

Other highlights?  Julian de Smedt at UIC on the 20th, the SEAOI's annual Midwest Bridge Symposium on the 21st, the same day Kevin Harrington discusses Lake Point Tower for Landmarks Illinois lunchtime at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Well, you get the idea.  There's half a hundred great events still to come this month.  Check out the entire April calendar here.