IIT HOSTS DAY-LONG SYMPOSIUM ON PLANNED FORD-CALUMET ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER

Chicago, IL — February 25, 2004 —

The City of Chicago Department of Environment (CDOE), in partnership with the State of Illinois is sponsoring a design competition for the development of the Ford Calumet Environmental Center (FCEC) on the city’s Southeast side. The request for design proposals on the FCEC brought in plans from 108 designers from seven different countries including Belgium, Canada, France, Spain, Japan, England and the United States. The competition has been narrowed down to five finalists and three honorable mentions.

The five finalists’ designs will be unveiled at a symposium entitled “The Ford Calumet Environmental Center: The Relationship between Ecology and the Built Environment” hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) on Friday, March 5. The symposium, underwritten by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, will focus on the interconnections between ecology and the built environment, with a focus on the environmental center design competition project. Members of the jury, in addition to the sponsors and other partners will be present, including James Wescoat (Phase Two juror and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at University of Illinois) and Henry Henderson, Chair of Chicago’s Environmental Fund. Design competition finalists will also be present to receive feedback from Jury members, sponsors and others. Exhibits of the finalists’ designs will be unveiled at the event.

The symposium will take place in the McCloska Auditorium/McCormick Tribune Campus Center on IIT’s campus, 3201 S. State Street, from 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Attendance is free and open to the public.

For further details, visit www.cityofchicago.org/environment/fcec or contact Nicole Kamins at nkamins@cityofchicago.org or 312-744-5959. For a campus map, parking and other transportation information, log on to www.iit.edu/about/campus-information.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.