Third Friday Presents: Dirk Lohan on Maritime Architecture
Friday, September 19th at 7 pm
To celebrate the last two months of CMM’s current temporary exhibition, Maritime Midwest Modern, renowned architect Dirk Lohan will be sharing his thoughts on the interplay between architecture and the waterways in Chicago and his own career. As CMM’s chairman, Dirk designed the museum’s interior space, which has received much acclaim from local and national media.
Lohan has long held the belief that successful architecture must respond not only to economic restraints but also to the larger social and physical conditions. As lead architect for the Shedd Oceanarium, and Adler Planetarium Sky Pavilion, Lohan keenly understands the sublime connection between waterways and architectural design.
Lohan left his native Germany to begin his architectural studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology under the tutelage of his grandfather Mies van der Rohe. He returned to Germany and finished his studies at the Technische Universität (Dipl. Ing.) in Munich in 1962. In the same year, he immigrated to the United States and worked closely with Mies on such projects as the New National Gallery in Berlin, the IBM office building in Chicago, and Toronto Dominion Centre.
In addition to the Shedd and the Adler, Lohan led architectural design for McDonald’s Headquarters Campus, the new Soldier Field Football Stadium, and many cultural and commercial national and international building projects.