Faculty Scholars
Gregory K. Dreicer, Ph.D. is Vice President of Interpretation and Exhibitions at CAF and serves as faculty advisor for this Landmarks project. Dreicer has curated more than 20 exhibitions including Between Fences, a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service; and Chicago Model City, featuring a large‐scale model of downtown Chicago. His research focuses on international development of the industrialized construction strategies that led to the skyscraper. Dr. Dreicer’s lecture will explore the inseparability of the construction of buildings and the construction of meaning.
Henry Binford, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of History and Urban Affairs at Northwestern University specializing in the 19th century evolution of subcommittee’s within cities and suburbs and redevelopment efforts of cities in the 20th century. He is the author of The First Suburbs: Residential Communities on the Boston Periphery, 1815‐1860 (University of Chicago Press, 1985) as well as numerous entries in The Encyclopedia of Chicago. Dr. Binford’s lecture will outline six stages of Chicago history and explore the relationships between people, geography, and growth of the city.
Joanna Merwood‐Salisbury, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor and Director of Academic Affairs in the School of Constructed Environments, at Parsons The New School for Design where she teaches courses focused on 19th century architecture and urbanism in the United States. She is the author of Chicago 1890: The Skyscraper and the Modern City (University of Chicago Press, 2009). Dr. Merwood‐Salisbury’s lecture will explore what skyscrapers meant to Chicagoans who designed, built, and worked in them.
Katherine Solomonson, Ph.D. is Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota where her teaching and scholarship address the complex roles built environments play in the production of values, identities, and social relations. She is the author of Cass Gilbert in the West (University of Minnesota Press, forthcoming) and The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition: Skyscraper Design and Cultural Change in the 1920s (University of Chicago Press, 2003). Dr. Solomonson’s lecture will explore the impact of the 1922 Chicago Tribune Tower Competition on the architectural community and citizens of Chicago.
Mary Woolever is Art and Architecture Archivist at the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago where she is responsible for acquisition, organization, research, and exhibition of the architecture and art archival collections. In 1989, Woolever directed the completion of the Burnham Index to Architectural Literature. For the Landmarks workshop, Woolever will introduce educators to sketches, photographs, and architectural drawings from some of the most significant buildings in Chicago, examining how these primary source documents were created to conceptualize, create, document, or persuade.
Joel Berman, AIA is Principal Architect at Joel Berman Architecture & Design. Berman has extensive architectural design experience in retail, institutional master planning, and health care projects. Since 1997, he has also served on the faculty of Columbia College Chicago and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, teaching architectural sketching and color rendering. He also leads sketching courses for adult learners at CAF. For the Landmarks workshop, Berman will discuss how illustrations influence the way buildings are perceived and lead educators through drawing techniques suitable for beginners and classroom use.
Doug Gilbert, AIA is Principal Architect of his own architectural practice in Oak Park, Illinois. With more than 15 years of experience in preserving and restoring historic structures, he has served as Project Architect for the preservation or restoration of Chicago landmarks including: the Reliance Building/Hotel Burnham (D.H. Burnham & Co. 1895); the Carson Pirie Scott Building/Sullivan Center (Louis Sullivan, 1899); and S.R. Crown Hall (Mies van der Rohe, 1956). Gilbert’s lecture will explore the restoration of the Reliance Building and how this historic structure is seen as an important ‘proto‐modern’ building in American architecture.
Paul Steinbrecher, AIA is Principal Architect at Design Eight Architects (IDEA) in Chicago, Illinois. Steinbrecher has more than 20 years of experience in new construction and preservation projects throughout the Midwest. Current projects include restoration of the façade at the Federal Center buildings in Chicago (Mies van der Rohe, 1964, 1974), Milwaukee, and Cleveland. Recently he served as Project Manager for construction of the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. For the workshop, Steinbrecher will discuss modernism, Mies’ life and built works, and Chicago’s reaction to the midcentury glass and steel box.
Antony Wood, Ph.D., RIBA, is Executive Director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and Studio Associate Professor in the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology. Since 2006, Wood has been responsible for day‐to‐day operations of the CTBUH, the world’s leading body in the field of tall buildings and recognized source arbiter of the criteria upon which tall building height is measured. Dr. Wood’s lecture will discuss current international design and technology trends in tall buildings, including the hundreds of skyscrapers being constructed in Asia and the Middle East.
Chicago Architecture Foundation Staff
Jennifer Masengarb has over 12 years of experience at CAF developing and delivering professional development, in-service and pre-service workshops for K-12 teachers designed to model innovative ways to use the local built environment as the context for teaching the core academic subjects. She is the author of Schoolyards to Skylines: Teaching with Chicago’s Amazing Architecture; The Architecture Handbook: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings; and CAF's newest digital learning tool for teens and teachers DiscoverDesign.org. Jennifer Masengarb earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy and a Master of Architectural History and Historic Preservation degree from the University of Virginia.
Master Teacher and Support Staff: Master teacher Teresa Laslo holds an MA in Special Education and has 30 years of teaching experience. Laslo taught middle school Social Sciences, and has served as a Social Sciences coach for high school and elementary teachers, as well as a Standards‐Based Instruction coach for the Chicago Public Schools. Deb Rodak, Education Associate, joined the Education staff in 2008, where she coordinates student field trip and family programs. Ms. Rodak is a certified CAF docent.
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