At the Chicago Architecture Center, our programs and events help you think differently about the places we live, work and play. Get behind-the-scenes access to the city's architectural treasures. Practice your design skills while you play with your family. Participate in expert-led discussions about the latest urban design issues. With these offerings and so many more to choose from, we guarantee there’s something inspiring and fun for you at the CAC.
Design Dialogues: Notes from the Biennale: Jimenez Lai in conversation with Stanley Tigerman Chicago-based architect Jimenez Lai shares his impressions from the opening of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale, where he represented Taiwan with a pavilion…
LunchTalks@CAF: Chicago Women in Architecture: Understanding Historic Building Technology Anne Sullivan, FAIA, Sullivan Preservation Anne T. Sullivan, FAIA, director of the M.S. Historic Preservation program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago…
Special Lecture: Charles Montgomery’s Happy CityCharles Montgomery, Author For years, self-help experts have told us that we need to do inner work in order to improve our lives. But what if our cities themselves had the power to make or break our happiness?…
LunchTalks@CAF: CBD: City Data - Lower Energy, Longer Living, Larger Output Luke Leung, PE, LEED-AP, Director of Sustainable Engineering, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP Skidmore, Owings & Merrill employs a three prong approach to connection in order…
LunchTalks@CAF: CBD: Using Data and Computation to Understand 21st Century Cities Charlie Catlett, Senior Computer Scientist, Argonne; Director, Urban Center for Computation and Data, University of Chicago The Urban Center for Computation and Data (UrbanCCD)…
City of Big Data PechaKucha Night What can you learn about Big Data in 400 seconds? Come to the special, CAF City of Big Data PechaKucha Night and find out! The most engaging thinkers in the city talk about their work in 20 slides up for only 20 seconds…
LunchTalks@CAF: Landmarks Illinois– Ten Most Endangered Historic Places Lisa DiChiera, Advocacy Director, Landmarks Illinois Since the inception of Landmarks Illinois’ Ten Most Endangered Historic Places list in 1995, more than a third of the listed…
Drinks + Design in the Studio: Speed Sketching Can you sketch like an architect? Armed with sharpies, pencils and old-fashioned view finders, you can learn the tricks of the trade. Come in a novice and leave feeling like a pro. Architects from Cannon…
LunchTalks@CAF: Chicago’s 7 Most Threatened Buildings of 2014 Ward Miller, President, Preservation Chicago In this widely anticipated annual event, Preservation Chicago reveals its list of Chicago’s 7 Most Threatened Historic Places of 2014. The purpose…
LunchTalks@CAF: City of Big Data: Networked Urbanism: Re-Thinking Cities As Smart Machines John Tolva, President, PositivEnergy Practice, LLC From open data to the app economy, net zero buildings to free public wireless, cities in the 21st century are…
LunchTalks@CAF: New Book Talk - Chicago’s River: At Work and At Play Neal Samors, award-winning author and independent publisher; Steven Dahlman, professional photographer and journalist Neal Samors and Steven Dahlman, co-authors of the new book Chicago…
LunchTalks@CAF: Connection and High Performance Luke Leung, PE, LEED-AP, Director of Sustainable Engineering, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP Three different aspects of connection to deliver high performance design will be discussed in this presentation—connecting…
Instruments for Urban Production Over the past 150 years architects have approached the city through the lens of geometry, symbolism,hygiene, collage, contextualism, technology, density and landscape, among others. Recently, a whole host of new forces…
LunchTalks@CAF: Innovative Landscape Architecture in Chicago – Palmisano Park and Current Projects Ernest C. Wong, FASLA, APA, Principal and Hana Ishikawa, Design Director, Site Design Group Ltd For the first half of the 20th century, Henry Palmisano…
LunchTalks@CAF: Light in Four Directions Robert Benson, Design Director, 4240 Architecture and Allison H. Azevedo, PBS Regional Commissioner, U.S. General Services Administration Great Lakes Region Mies van der Rohe, Morris Lapidus, historic preservation…