The Skyscraper Museum in New York City has a robust offering of free online programming of interest to docents and volunteers. Several of the programs feature connections to Chicago, including lectures by CAC favorites Thomas Leslie, author of Chicago Skyscrapers 1871-1934, and Lee Gray, author of Form Follows Finance.
There are five programs in the series. You may watch live, but all programs will be recorded, so if you’ve missed one, you’ll be able to access it later. Each lecture is about 45 minutes.
Week 1: New: York & Chicago, from the 1870s: Thinking about Tall Buildings and New Technologies
Week 2: Masonry to Steel, 1870s-1890s: How and When Masonry Systems of Construction Transitioned to Steel
Week 3: Business Buildings: Thinking about Corporate vs. Commercial Skyscrapers
Week 4: The Tall (Not) Office Buildings: Other Uses, Other Issues
Week 5: Tall Buildings, Labor and Capital
CLICK HERE for information on the programs and to register for live viewing.
And CLICK HERE to learn about upcoming programming sponsored by the museum
Form Follows Finance was written by Carol Willis, the president of the Skyscraper Museum in NYC. I know because Carol was visiting the CAC and I was the volunteer in our skyscraper gallery. I didn’t know who she was when she started to complain about our claim that the Home Insurance Building was the first skyscraper. She started quoting Tom Leslie and I had an answer for all her comments. She was not expecting to debate with someone else who knew Tom! She told me that she was the head of the Skyscraper Museum and when I got home and looked her up I realized she was Carol Willis. I emailed her to tell her how much I loved her book and how I hoped she enjoyed her visit to the CAC. She was very gracious and said she wished her museum was more like our CAC.
Are the times specified Eastern or Central?
The evidence that the Home Insurance Building had a freestanding metal frame is pretty weak. Even Tom Leslie thinks so.