The SAH 68th Annual International Conference: Chicago at the Global Crossroads takes place April 15–19 at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza (#SAH2015)
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Registration is now open for the 68th Annual International Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). The architecture conference takes place in Chicago, Illinois, April 15–19, 2015, with the theme Chicago at the Global Crossroads. Over 180 speakers from around the world will present new research on built environment topics from antiquity to the critical present. The Early Registration deadline is February 15, 2015. Visit sah.org/2015 for more information and to register.
The conference features 36 paper sessions, an introductory address by Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin, a public seminar, architecture tours, roundtables, exhibit area, awards ceremony, and a plenary talk by architectural historian and History Detectives host Gwendolyn Wright.
SAH will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the conference with a birthday party at The Rookery, Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root’s 1888 landmark that was renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905. The celebration takes place on April 17 and is co-sponsored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust and the Vernacular Architecture Forum Chicago.
The conference’s main public event is the half-day SAH Chicago Seminar, “Magnitudes of Change: Local Sites and Global Concerns in Chicago’s Built Environment.” Funded in part by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts, the program features a keynote address by Harvard University’s Charles Waldheim and two panel discussions that address the history and future of the Chicago River and Lakefront and issues of community and preservation in Chicago neighborhoods. Alison Fisher, Harold and Margot Schiff Assistant Curator of Architecture at the Art Institute of Chicago, will serve as moderator. Panelists include:
- Carol Ross Barney, Ross Barney Architects
- Robert Bruegmann, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Martin Felsen, UrbanLab
- Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang Architects
- Alaina Harkness, MacArthur Foundation
- Patricia Saldaña Natke, UrbanWorks
- Debra Shore, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
Over 30 guided tours of Chicago’s world-renowned architecture and diverse neighborhoods will also be open to the public. The tours will cover everything from Chicago School skyscrapers and riverfront Mid-Century Modernism to Chicago’s public housing and the adaptive re-use of buildings. The neighborhoods of Uptown, Pullman, Pilsen and Chinatown will be explored, along with buildings and homes in Oak Park, River Forest, Riverside and the North Shore. A pre-opening tour of The 606, the groundbreaking urban park being built on the unused Bloomingdale elevated rail line on Chicago’s northwest side, will also be offered. Tours-only registration opens to the public on February 16, 2015.
Co-chairing the 2015 conference are SAH 1st Vice President Ken Tadashi Oshima, professor in the Department of Architecture at University of Washington, and Alison Fisher.
The SAH 2015 Annual Conference is sponsored by The Architecture & Design Society of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Vernacular Architecture Forum Chicago, and the University of California Press.
About SAH
Founded in 1940, the Society of Architectural Historians is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes the study, interpretation and conservation of architecture, design, landscapes and urbanism worldwide. Headquartered at the National Historic Landmark Charnley-Persky House in Chicago, SAH serves a network of local, national and international institutions and individuals who, by vocation or avocation, focus on the built environment and its role in shaping contemporary life. SAH promotes meaningful public engagement with the history of the built environment through advocacy efforts, print and online publications, and local, national and international programs. Learn more at sah.org.