On Saturday, April 21st, SOM Design Director Eric Keune will speak at a symposium titled “Preservation Challenges of Modernist Structures.” ?The event is hosted by Docomomo US in conjunction with the Western Great Lakes Chapter? of the Association for Preservation Technology and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).
Keune and other speakers will discuss the challenges of preserving, rehabilitating, restoring, and reconstructing modernist buildings.? In his presentation, “The Plight of Suburban Modernism,” Keune will focus on SOM’s proposal for the adaptive reuse of Elgin Laundry Building in Illinois. The site, formerly a part of the Elgin State Hospital and designed by Bertrand Goldberg, has been reimagined into an extension of the city of Elgin’s existing recreation complex. It includes a variety of potential spaces for recreational functions, including soccer, basketball, strength training, martial arts, and dance.
The symposium, which will be held at the IIT College of Architecture, includes presentations on the preservation of modernist structures by architects and scholars from leading institutions. Various buildings—including the Gordon Bunshaft-designed Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Louis Kahn-designed Salk Institute, and the Eero Saarinen-designed Gateway Arch—will be discussed.
Preservation Challenges of Modernist Structures
April 21, 2018
10:00-5:00 p.m.
S.R. Crown Hall
Illinois Institute of Technology
3360 S. State Street
Chicago, Illinois