Free Wood Fair Coming to Chicagoland

I got an e-mail from our friends over at WoodWorks last week letting us know that there's an event coming up that is of interest to architects, engineers, and those in related trades.

The WoodWorks Solutions Fair is a free event that will be held at the misnamed Westin Chicago North Shore, which isn't actually in Chicago at all, but out in the northwest suburb of Wheeling.  It is an all-day event scheduled for Wednesday, September 8th.  More information here.

Here are the nuts and bolts from the press release:

The Wood Solutions Fair is a free, day-long educational event for architects, engineers, builders, professors and students.  It combines topical seminars with relevant trade booths to provide a comprehensive educational experience for building with wood in a full range of non-residential and multi-family building types.

Seminar topics include:

• Design of Wood-frame Structures for Wind and Seismic Forces

• Introduction to Post-frame Construction and Design

• The Future of Structural Insulated Panels as a Commercial Building Envelope

• Connection Solutions for Wood-frame structures

• A Practical Guide to Life Cycle Assessment

• Today’s Glulam – Important Considerations for Design and Construction Professionals

• Understanding Your Environment: Forests, Trees and Responsible Wood Products

• Fire Protection Principles for Wood-frame Structures 

Regional Wood Design Award winners will be announced, and in-depth and practical information can be applied to projects immediately.  WoodWorks is an approved AIA provider, and eligible attendees will qualify for up to 6 HSW credits.  Professional Development Certificates and AIA CES forms will be available on site.  

New Book About Historic Chicago Architect Irving K. Pond

I got an e-mail flyer today from the good people down at the Glessner House Museum (1800 South Prairie Avenue) in the Prairie Avenue District.  They're having a presentation February 24, 2010 at 7:00pm about a new book about Irving K. Pond, a prominent architect during the one of Chicago's architectural heydays -- the late 1800's.

Here's the info they sent over:

The Autobiography of Irving K. Pond provides an important addition to our understanding of the field of architecture in Chicago during its zenith in the late 19th century, by exploring an important but often overlooked figure. Irving K. Pond was a distinguished architect, gifted storyteller, and national president of the American Institute of Architects. His richly anecdotal autobiography, published in 2009 for the first time, gives us an irreverent account of Chicago architecture and its architects at the turn of the last century. It should be read alongside the autobiographies of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, to remind us that seminal developments in architecture, like those of the Italian Renaissance, emerge from a collaborative environment, and are not the product of an individual genius working alone. 

The program is presented by architect David Swan, who, along with Terry Tatum (Supervising Historian and Director of Research for the Landmarks Division, City of Chicago) edited the text of the autobiography and gathered the several hundred photos and line drawings that accompany it. 

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Admission is $10 per person, $8 for members of the Museum. Please call 312.326.1480 to make reservations or for further information.

If you have an upcoming event, be sure to let me know and I'll pass it along to the thousands (yes, hard to believe -- thousands) of people who read this blog.  Just e-mail it to editor@ChicagoArchitecture.info.

North Side Sonic Boom Warning

That noise you're going to hear this morning (Friday, September 18, 2009) echoing across the Gold Coast and Near North Side is a 21-gun salute at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street.  In the photo above we see Chicago police officers preparing for the event in front of Fourth Presbyterian Church (125 East Chestnut Street).  It's part of a series of events all week honoring veterans, especially those who received the Congressional Medal of Honor.  The photo below is from an event at Daley Plaza (55 West Randolph Street) yesterday.