Todd Snapp, AIA, LEED AP, Design Principal at Perkins+Will along with Thornton Tomasetti's Dave Weihing, SE, PE, LEED AP, Principal and engineer Alejandro Fernandez, LEED GA, will tell us about the Chicago River Beech Tower, a collaborative research effort that investigates the architectural, structural, and environmental aspects of building tall structures out of wood.  Designed by the

How can architects work collaboratively with planners, health professionals, community stakeholders, transportation providers, developers, and others in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, to make the Chicago region more aging-supportive as our population ages and evolves?  Brad Winick, AICP, LEED AP, will discuss how our communities and region are doing compared to others around the

Our urban environment is in constant flux brought on by changes in economies and climate change. Issues of adaptation and resiliency are increasingly more relevant to all design disciplines. Jim Wasley and Jennifer Cooper-Sabo will discuss their design projects and research related to managing stormwater, revitalizing brownfields, and assessing climate change risk and adaptation in

Chicago’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened in 2015 at 5001 North Clark Street in the Andersonville neighborhood. How did Perimeter Architects, designers for Dispensary 33, approach this new type of business which has similarities to a medical facility but also carries an association to illegal activity? Currently, 39 serious and debilitating health conditions qualify for

Steel elements that bridge across the insulation in a building enclosure can cause significant heating and cooling energy loss in a building, adversely affecting a building's energy performance and the comfort of inhabitants - but they don't have to. A number of effective mitigation techniques exist and other are under development to combat this issue.

Architect Gregory Dowell (Wiss Janney Elstner), a VSA Chicago Summer School Alumnus, will give an in-depth look at preserving Victorian-era buildings, showing buildings on which he has worked including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., and the Gingerbread Houses in Haiti. His presentation will be followed by information on the Victorian Society in America’s Summer