Restored Reliance Building entrance. Photograph by Hedrick Blessing |
Gunny Harboe
The Practice of Preservation, Chicago-Style
6pm Wednesday, April 20
Graham Foundation, 4 West Burton Place, Chicago
Watch a video of this lecture:
Windows Media Player (53.2 MB, 320 × 240)
Quicktime (99.3 MB, 320 × 240)
Video running time is 1 hr 30 min.
Chicago's architectural legacy is known not only to Chicagoans but to architects and scholars all over the world. Insuring the preservation of the city's large inventory of historically significant buildings is a seemingly never-ending endeavor. The last twenty years have seen a reinvestment by both the private and public sector in preservation efforts that have produced some spectacular results. Throughout most of this period, Gunny Harboe has guided the restoration of some of the most important Chicago icons, such as the Rookery, the Reliance Building, and currently Carson Pirie Scott, Unity Temple, and Crown Hall. In this lecture, Harboe shares the influences that have shaped his career as a preservation architect and, more broadly, discusses how his professional experiences have formed his approach to various preservation projects.
Gunny Harboe is Vice President of McClier's Preservation Group, where he is responsible for all projects involving the preservation, restoration, or rehabilitation of structures of historic or architectural significance. A registered architect, Harboe received his M. Arch. from MIT and his M.Sc. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. His work on the Rookery and Reliance Buildings has received numerous awards, including national Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Harboe was named a "2001 Young Architect" by the National AIA and in 2002 he was made a member of the U.S. General Services Administration's National Register of Peer Professionals. He currently serves as Vice President of DOCOMOMO-US and is former Vice President of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.