You may have noticed, the
November Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events was a bit late this month. Like eight days late. Can you imagine how many people were writing me asking where it was?
Would you believe . . . one?
I'm coming to the conclusion that the monthly calendar is an idea whose time has gone. Readership is not large. Throughout all the days of a given month, there are fewer cumulative pageviews for the calendar than for a single average post. It often seems the only people reading the calendar are the those who are on it. Since I'm now back to a regular 9 to 5 job, my side hours are limited, and I'm thinking they might be better spent on other projects. So, as with the printed version of
The Onion but a whole less funnier, December may see the final version of the monthly architectural calendar. If you have any thoughts on the matter, pass 'em on
On a cheerier note, as always, there's no small number of great events still to come in November. This Thursday,
Phyllis Lambert will be in conversation with
Wiel Arets at
Crown Hall and signing copies of her book,
Building Seagram. Also this week,
Carlo Caldini is at the
Graham on Tuesday, and
Jon B. DeVries and
D. Bradford Hunt will discuss their new book,
Planning Chicago: How Did We Get Here? and why planners always seem to incorporate an initial somewhere in their name, noontime at
AIA Chicago on Wednesday, the same afternoon the
Chicago Architecture Foundation has their annual
Patron of the Year luncheon at the Palmer House, and
SOM's
Phil Enquist discusses the
Great Cities, Great Lakes, Great Basin initiative lunchtime at CAF, where it's the subject of a just-opened exhibition of the same name..
DeVries and Hunt will also be putting in a appearance at
Open Books on Institute Place Monday the 18th.
More? How about
Pamela Bannos talking about
1836 through the Chicago Fire at the
MCA on Saturday the 16th, where filmmaker
Sarah Morris has a preview screening and talk on Tuesday, the 19th, the same day
David Wilts of
Arup discusses
The Smarter Building: What It is - and Why Bother noontime at
AIA/Chicago, and Rolf Achilles talks about his book, T
he Chicago School of Architecture- Building the Modern City, 1880-1910, at the
Glessner House Museum..
The Chicago Midwest Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art gives out its
First Annual Acanthus Awards at the
Elks National Memorial, also on Saturday the 16th.
On Wednesday the 20th
Jaume Plensa is in conversation with
Reed
Kroloff at
MCA, and on Thursday the 21st,
Jean Guarino discusses
Construction, Demolition and the Remaking of LaSalle Street for
Friends of Downtown at the
Cultural Center, and designer
Lloyd Natof is at
Unity Temple in Oak Park.
Catch it while you can. Check out all the great items on the
November Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.
Tonight, Tuesday, at the Graham Foundation, Florence-based architect Carlo Caldini, will discuss his 1970's co-founding of Gruppo 9999, and his contributions to the 1972 MOMA exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, which is the focus of the Graham's current exhibition, Environments and Counter Environments. Then on Thursday, as the future of the Egyptian-styled former Nick's Uptown is debated before the Landmarks Commission, preservationist and historian Heather Plaza-Manning will discuss Romancing the Sphinx: American Egyptian Revival Architecture at the Uptown Public Library.
