Hindsight 2020: Chicago Design and Development in a Turbulent Year
Thursday, January 21 at 5:30pm

CAC President and CEO Lynn Osmond shares how local architects, planners and developers pushed ahead with key projects and initiatives, while reflecting upon what we learned about the interrelated nature of public health, climate resiliency and inequality in Chicago’s built environment. It was a year for the design community, alongside others, to respond forcefully to crisis and opportunity. What role will design play in getting our city back on track?

Virtual City Walks: International Edition
Saturdays at 11am, January 23−February 27

Travel abroad—no passport required—through six programs produced in partnership by the Association of Architecture Organizations and AAO members. Start your journey in Denmark with Copenhagen: Scandinavian Cool from the Danish Architecture Center, followed by Chicago: City of Architecture from the Chicago Architecture Center; Boston: Reinvented from Boston By Foot; Prague: Old Meets New from the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP); New York: SoHo Cast Iron Historic District from AIA New York / Center for Architecture; and Los Angeles: Vintage Cool from the Los Angeles Conservancy. PS: This inaugural series makes a great gift!

Virtual Walking Tour: East Hyde Park
Wednesday, February 10 at noon

Chicago is well-known as “the city of neighborhoods.” Join CAC docents Maria Corpuz and John Hug on a virtual stroll through their South Side neighborhood, an area filled with architectural treasures old and new. Corpuz and Hug highlight structures built prior to the 1893 World’s Fair along with beautiful low-rise Art Deco buildings, Mies van der Rohe’s first high-rise and more recent additions, such as Solstice on the Park (2018) by Studio Gang.

Chicago’s Most Endangered Buildings 2021
Wednesday, February 24 at noon

Consistently among our most-anticipated and well-attended public programs, join us online for the unveiling of the 19th annual “Chicago 7,” a list from Preservation Chicago that identifies significant structures that advocates hope to protect from the wrecking ball. Prior “Chicago 7” lists have brought public attention to the plight of unique structures sufficient to save them from demolition.

The CAC is looking for feedback on our website at architecture.org from members like you! Planned improvements in 2021 will make it easier to find the tours and programs you’re most interested in—and we need your help to get it right.

Participants will be asked to join a 30-minute virtual user testing session via Zoom involving a few simple tasks and a short discussion with a CAC staff member. No internet expertise is required and participants will receive a gift from the CAC.

To volunteer, simply complete a brief, seven-question survey. Those selected to participate will be contacted in the coming weeks with more details.

It’s not too late to give! Your gift on or before December 31 is eligible for tax deductions in 2020. We hope you will consider a gift to the CAC as we continue to provide programs and resources to students and families learning from home.