While architectural academic institutions in the Midwest boast incredible professors from various parts of the design industry, students don’t often have the chance to peek behind-the-scenes of an international practice since many larger firms keep their offices in New York or Los Angeles. Luckily for students, many major architects give back to the field by teaching on the side.
For as long as architecture has been an educational pursuit, students have benefited from these unique opportunities to learn from an architect in action. University lectures aren’t just for students, though. Whether they are two years or twenty years out of school, every architect can enjoy these events. That’s why ahead of the upcoming school year, we’ve rounded up a list of impressive talks—all free and open to the public—happening this fall at various universities from St. Louis to Chicago.
Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design
Lawrence Scarpa, cofounder of Brooks + Scarpa Architects
Monday, October 1
Michelle Delk, ASLA, partner and discipline director at Snøhetta
Monday, November 5
University of Michigan Taubman College
Florian Idenburg, cofounder of SO–IL
“Open Structure – Open Form”
Tuesday, September 25
Ann Forsyth, professor of urban planning at Harvard GSD
“Planning for Longevity: A Gender Perspective”
Monday, October 8
Washington University Sam Fox School
Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, founders of TWBTA
Cannon Design Lecture for Excellence in Architecture and Engineering
Wednesday, October 24
Barry Bergdoll, MoMA curator of architecture and design
“Activating the Museum: Reflections on Architecture in the Gallery”
Friday, October 26
Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture
Takaharu Tezuka, cofounder of Tezuka Architects
Friday, October 19
Kenneth Frampton
Le Corbusier Symposium Keynote Address
Thursday, November 8
Iowa State University College of Design
Kevin Schorn, associate at Renzo Piano Building Workshop
2018 Herbert Lecture in Architecture
Friday, September 7
University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Architecture
Dan Pitera, executive director of the Detroit Collaborative Design Center
Friday, October 5
Amie Shao, principal of MASS Design Group
Friday, October 26
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning
Katherine Faulkner, founding principal of NADAAA
“Organized Layers”
Friday, September 14
Alexandra Lange, architecture critic at Curbed, author
“A Modern Education: Learning from Froebel, Frank Lloyd Wright, Anne Tyng and Isamu Noguchi”
Thursday, October 11
Jeanne Gang, founder of Studio Gang
“Expanded Practice”
Friday, October 19
