We asked our longtime friend and collaborator to make us a directory of organizations, resources, links and spaces related to the study and practice of architecture in Chicago. Use it to immerse yourself in the complex community of architects, designers, funders, and planners that shape the world we see. AIA Chicago, American Institute of Architects If you’re looking for job listings or are trying to get licensed, this is something you have to check out at some point. Although it’s possible to get licensed without being a member. Pretty much the closest thing pro-architects have to a union. 35 E Wacker Drive, Suite 250 Chicago, IL www.aiachicago.org Archeworks An alternative design school founded by Stanley Tigerman and Eva Maddox, now under direction of Martin Felsen & Sarah Dunn. They promote themselves as an alternative design school by partnering up student projects with various community organizations and advocates. 625 North Kingsbury Street Chicago, IL www.archeworks.org Archidose A daily and weekly blog of all things architecture. Written by John Hill out of New York, who also does Archi-tourist. archidose.blogspot.com Archinect Find out about how Ben Nicholson rode his bike from London to Paris to see Jean-Jacques Lequeu drawings, or find out who’s hiring interns in Chicago. You can also see what students are blogging about at design schools all over the world. www.archinect.com Architects, Designers & Planners for Social Responsibility, Chicago Chapter Not super active, but one of the few groups in the profession trying to keep architects, designers, and planners from working on prisons. www.adpsr-chicago.org Archi-tourist A site run by the archidose guy. The site is a wiki travel guide to contemporary architecture around the world. See what buildings tourists check out when they’re in Chicago. architourist.pbwiki.com Art Institute of Chicago Permanent gallery at AI for architecture exhibits is Gallery 227. Also check out the Japanese screen print gallery, designed by Tadao Ando. BLDGBLOG A Blog based in Los Angeles. Lots of great interviews. bldgblog.blogspot.com Lee Bey: The Urban Observer A bloggist, photographer and former architecture crit for Sun Times. www.leebey.com Center for Green Technology Take a (usually) free class at the Green Tech University. 445 N. Sacramento Boulevard Chicago, IL egov.cityofchicago.org Center for Neighborhood Technology Calculate your civic footprint! 2125 W North Avenue Chicago, IL www.cnt.org Chicago Architecture Club Want something to happen with that old abandoned train line behind your house? Get your community organization to partner with this no-longer-old-boys-only club to sponsor a relatively high profile design competition to attract attention and maybe even find an appropriate solution. 230 W Superior Street, second floor Chicago, IL www.chicagoarchitecturalclub.org Chicago Architecture Foundation Even if they were just the boat and walking tours, CAF would be pretty rad. They definitely aren’t just for tourists, and the programming, exhibitions, and continuing education opportunities offered here are incredibly rich for any student of the city. 224 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL www.architecture.org The Chicago Athanaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design Some sort of independent museum in Galena. Sounds weird. I don’t know anyone that’s actually been there. Also, it’s temporarily closed. Good luck with this one. www.chi-athenaeum.org Chicago Landmarks Find out how that stuff happens. http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/index.html www.chil.us Put together by Urbanlab. An exercise in graphic explanation of Chicago statistics ala Tufte. Definitely worth a look. Creative Reuse Center Great resource for discarded building materials. Go there just to visit Hegewisch. 222 East 135th Place Chicago, IL www.resourcecenterchicago.org/crw.html Death By Architechture After teaming up with CAC for your design competition, announce it on this website. It has one of the web’s largest listings for architecture competitions and archives. Started by a UIC undergrad in the mid-90’s, it has broadened its scope closer to that of archinect. deathbyarchitecture.com Extension Gallery Podmajersky’s dedicated architecture gallery. Impressive board of directors. 1835 S Halsted Street Chicago, IL www.extensiongallery.org Graham Foundation After you partner with the Chicago Architecture Club, go to these guys for funding. 4 West Burton Place Chicago, IL www.grahamfoundation.org IcArch Gallery Haven’t been here, but it seems to be a relatively anonymous source of hypo-thetical design competitions (House for Bergman, House for Antonioni, new Harold Washington Public Library) as well as a physical space in Evanston, where they exhibit the entries. Looks like they occasionally publish the work as well. 709 Washington Street Evanston, IL Illinois Institute of Technology Graham Resource Center is the Architecture library in the basement of Crown Hall. Whatever you do, don’t try to visit the architecture school’s website - what a mess! 3360 S State Street Chicago, IL www.gl.iit.edu/grc Illinois Renewable Energy Association Like the midwest version, but smaller. I haven’t been to their Energy Fair in Oregon, Illinois, but it sure is closer than Custer, Wisconsin. www.illinoisrenew.org Madlener House Library and exhibition space/headquarters for the Graham Foundation. www.grahamfoundation.org/foundation/madlener.asp Midwest Renewable Energy Association Based in Custer, Wisconsin, you can usually find a ride share from Chicago to take a class on straw-bale or cob construction. They also have a pretty great Energy Fair every summer. www.the-mrea.org Prairie Avenue Bookstore You could really do some damage here. People have no idea how lucky we are to have this resource here in Chicago. 418 S Wabash Avenue Chicago, IL www.pabooks.com Repeat Blog written by Lynn Becker, who occasionally writes for the Chicago Reader, among others. Aside from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Becker probably maintains the best calender of architecture and design related events in and around Chicago. www.lynnbecker.com/repeat/ School of the Art Institute of Chicago SAIC is developing an interesting designed object department and their website maintains a totally bitchin’ oral history archive of old chicago architects talking about each other. www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/caohp/ University of Illinois at Chicago, Gallery 400 400 S. Peoria Street Chicago, IL www.uic.edu/aa/college/gallery400/ University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, I-Space, Architecture Club 230 W. Superior Street Chicago, IL www.ispace.uiuc.edu/ by Charles Vinz