Future Prentice, Russian Avant-Gardists, Studio Gang, Bloomingdale Trail, Mies+Massive - it's the Thursday logjam!

This coming Thursday evening, November 15th, is another one of those architectural event standoffs where great choices find themselves all crammed into the same timespace.

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 Over at CAF, there will be the unveiling of the winners in the Future Prentice competition for the Bertrand Goldberg masterwork that the signed, sealed and delivered Commission on Chicago Landmarks just made sure will have no future.

Meanwhile, over at the Graham, Jean-Louis Cohen will be discussing The Russian Avant-Garde between East and West, at the same time that, over at the Art Institute, curator Karen Kice willl be offering a Gallery Talk/Exhibition Overview of Building: Inside Studio Gang Architects, ASLA Illinois will be offering Ben Helphand on The Bloomingdale Trail: Tracking Progress on Chicago's Next Great Park, and at Oakton Community College, there's an opening reception for a new exhibition, messy MIES + MASSIVE middle.

That's just the p.m. portion of nine events this Thursday that will also see the Chicago Wilderness Conference 2012, and  director Lise Dubé-Scherr discussing Chicago’s Own American Palace: The Richard H. Driehaus Museum at the Cultural Center for Landmarks Illinois.

Elsewhere this week, if you can't catch Jean-Louis Cohen at the Graham, he'll also be lecturing at Crown Hall at IIT on Wednesday, the 14th, the same day Chan-li Lin, Partner, Rafael Viñoly Architects PC discusses the new U of C's new Center for Care and Discovery and two other Viñoly-designed hospitals at CAF at lunchtime.

Tonight, November 12th, Eva Castro Iraola of Plasma Studio lectures at the Art Institute, whole tomorrow, the 13th, Nick Hyatt discusses the Christchurch Earthquake at CAF for SEAOI and Chistopher Enck discusses 20th Century Furniture Design at the Herman Miller showroom for AIA/Chicago.  This Friday, Ciro Najle lectures at UIC, and on Saturday, Iker Gil of MAS Studio offers up an "Archi-Salon" inside of the Inside Studio Gang Architects exhibit.

I know! Take a deep breath and take the plunge.  Even with the turkey day hiatus, there are still over three dozen great events to come on the November Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.

Working this Weekend?: Monday deadline for CAC Future Prentice competition entries

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If you were going to do it, my bet is that you wouldn't have forgotten, but just in case, noon Monday, October 15th is the deadline for submissions to the Chicago Architectural Club's Future Prentice competition.

This single-stage international design ideas competition is intended to act as a platform for public debate about the future of one of Chicago’s most architecturally significant Modern buildings, Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital.  FUTURE PRENTICE is open to anyone with a vision of what the former Prentice Women’s Hospital could become.  Students, architects, landscape architects, planners, designers, artists and concerned citizens alike are encouraged to enter the competition. 

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks graciously keeps putting off consideration of Bertrand Goldberg's should-be landmark to allow the November unveiling of the competition winners, plus a promised exhibition of all of the ideas generated for reusing the structure.  (Or maybe it's just to give Northwestern additional time to pour more millions into its increasingly dishonest and misleading PR campaign to circumvent landmarks consideration and create still  another vacant lot on its campus.)

CAC has assembled an all-star competition jury:

•  Zoe Ryan, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design, The Art Institute of Chicago
•  Carlos Martinez, AIA, Principal and Firmwide Design Leader at Gensler 
•  John Ronan, AIA, Founding Principal, John Ronan Architects 
•  Martin Felsen, AIA, Co-founding Principal, UrbanLab 
•  Kevin Harrington,, Architectural historian and Professor 
•  Zurich Esposito, Executive Vice President at AIA Chicago 
•  William F. Baker, PE, SE, FASCE, FIStructE; Structural Engineering Partner for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP
•  Bonnie MacDonald, President at Landmarks Illinois.

But as Northwestern will tell you, what do they know?

The competition is open  to everyone - architect or not, professional or not  - as long as you've got what you think is a good idea, and the $90.00  ($50.00 for students) registration fee.  First prize is $3,000; second $1,500, third $750.00.

So if inspiration has just struck, put on the coffee, check out the rules and download the brief, here.