Friday 11/30 – Thursday 12/6
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“Design is very client based; you have to constantly perform for the client. Sometimes those are happy collaborations, but sometimes it’s kind of constraining,” says School of the Art Institute professor Maud Lavin, author of Clean New World: Culture, Politics, and Graphic Design. Her book tour has attracted a lot of design people, so she’s added a miniseminar to each event that she calls “Winning the Design Lottery,” in which participants imagine they’ve come into a pile of money to finance a design project of their choice. “It usually ends in a fun discussion,” says Lavin. She’ll give a talk and sign books tonight at 7 at Quimby’s Bookstore, 1854 W. North (773-342-0910). It’s free, and there will be snacks.
DECEMBER
The original McCormick Place was touted as “fireproof” because all of its structural members, including interior nonbearing walls, were noncombustible. But on January 16, 1967, the exhibition hall succumbed to a major blaze. What started as a small fire became uncontrollable after the roof collapsed from the intense heat. “Flames shot 100 feet into the air,” says firefighter David Cowan in his new book, Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City. It took 500 firefighters to put out the blaze. Cowan will discuss his book tonight at 7 at the Maze branch of the Oak Park Public Library, 845 S. Gunderson in Oak Park. It’s free; call 708-386-4751 for more information.
