For the tired AIA Conventioneer: A Quick tour of Chicago Architecture just outside McCormick Place

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If you're an architect here in Chicago for the AIA Convention, odds are you're overbooked with keynotes, sessions and lectures morning to night.  If it gets to the point, however, where you need a break, relief is just outside the doors of McCormick Place.

In just a few blocks, you can find a surprisingly varied survey of Chicago architecture, past, present and future, with structures by Bertrand Goldberg, Carol Ross Barney, Howard van Doren Shaw, Cesar Pelli and others.

We've created this map with some of the many points of architectural interest on and around a stretch of Cermak Road little more than a half-mile long..  Just click on its red marker to read details and history of a building, and see a picture.   We recommend you click on the rectangle symbol in the upper right corner of the black title bar to view the map full size in a new browser window.

If you set a brisk pace, you should be able to run the full circuit within 45 minutes to an hour and be back at the hall with time to spare for that session on sealants.

NeoCon and AIA National Convention - Smith, Gang, Gates, Lai, Tigerman, Happy City and more - Lots still to come on the June calendar

 June is a big double-header for the Chicago Calendar of Architectural Events.

While NeoCon is wrapping up, the big news is the national convention of the American Institute of Architects 2014 meeting here in Chicago at the end of the month, not just in McCormick Place, but in a wide range of convention-related events that we're still getting a handle on.

By the time you're reading this, Adrian Smith and Tom Eich have probably already delivered their early-Wednesday morning NeoCon keynotes, but tomorrow at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Charles Montgomery will be talking about his book, Happy City, while at the Bridgeport Arts Center, Friends of the Parks 2014 Benefit honoring Richard Hunt.  This weekend, MAS Context and others is offering a two-day symposium on Our Public Space: Who Owns It, Who Shapes It, and Who Benefits from it, with lectures on Saturday and a workshop at the Lathrop Homes on Sunday.

Next  Tuesday, the 17th, Lane Kendig discusses Walkability: Fact or Myth at APA Chicago, while Wednesday lunchtime at CAF, Anne Sullivan talks about Understanding Historic Building Technology, and in the evening CREW Chicago takes a look at Beautiful and Effective Public Spaces, focusing on Pioneer Court and the recently restored Wrigley Building Plaza. Thursday, the 19th, Larry Booth discusses Trailing Louis Sulivan: The Restoration of Ganz Hall at the Auditorium, while over at the Second Presbyterian Church, William Tyre offers A Look Back: Chicago and the World in 1874, at CAF, Jimenez Lai is in conversation with Stanley Tigerman, and over at the Pritzker Pavilion you can see a giant-screen showing of the new documentary Jens Jensen The Living Green (which airs on WTTW at the exact same time.)

Heading into AIA convention week, the Royal Institute of British Architects is sponsoring a series of lectures at the Apple store on Michigan Avenue, AIA keynotes are delivered by Jeanne Gang, Theaster Gates, Stephen Chung, and Tony Hsieh, with Architecture 2030's Ed Mazria offering a panel.  There's a special Design + Dining Pecha Kucha at Martyr's, a lecture by futurist Melissa Sterry on Learning from Life: The Biologically Informed City, and a AIADIV/Chicago Women in Architecture Global Inclusion Reception with a keynote by former Ambassador John F. Maisto, at Hafele Chicago.
Resiliency Dream Team

And that's just scratching the surface of the dozens of great events still to come this month.  Check them all out on the June Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.