At the Chicago Architecture Foundation's exhibition on big data, a resin model of Chicago has been digitally enhanced to project statistics on everything from demographics to tweets.  In the lobby of Daniel Burnham’s Railway Exchange building, the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) has made the invisible, visible. For the exhibition Chicago: City of Big Data, CAF turned its centerpiece Chicago Model—a 320-square-foot resin replica of the city’s downtown, updated annually to reflect additions and subtractions—into an interpretive piece through which to “view” the city’s data. Encompassing everything from tweets to demographics to air quality, so-called big data is increasingly employed

Photo © Architectural Record Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, speaking at the AIA Convention in Chicago on Saturday. Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO and bestselling author delivered the final keynote address at the 2014 AIA Convention in Chicago on Saturday. Hsieh has recently turned his attention to urban development and the way in which a corporation like Zappos can make a positive impact on a city. In 2013, Hsieh moved Zappos’s corporate headquarters from the suburbs of Las Vegas to the city’s former city hall. In the run-up to the move, Hsieh asked employees what they wanted in their new corporate

Photo © Architectural Record Ed Mazria, founder and CEO of Architecture 2030. The internationally recognized Ed Mazria delivered a keynote address at the 2014 AIA Convention in Chicago on Friday. His message to attendees: design with a purpose, because life depends on it. “Scientists are projecting that by 2047, that the coldest year after that date that you will experience will be warmer than the warmest year you’ve ever experienced,” Mazria said. Avoiding that possibility—and leveraging design, architecture, and building professions to make the built environment as “green” as possible—was Mazria’s message.Mazria is founder of Architecture 2030, a think tank

Photo © Architectural Record Theaster Gates addresses the crowd at the 2014 AIA Convention in Chicago. The internationally-acclaimed artist, potter, educator and breaker of rules, Theaster Gates, addressed the 2014 AIA Convention in Chicago today and argued that his role, as well as that of artists and design professionals, is to push the envelope. Related links Newsmaker Interview: Theaster Gates AIA Convention 2014: Jeanne Gang’s Sense of Purpose AIA Convention 2014: Rahm Emanuel Says Your Efforts are Essential “I don’t feel constrained by being trained as a planner,” Gates said. “As a result I’ve been breaking a lot of rules.

Photo © Architectural Record Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on stage at the AIA Convention in his city. Two days after announcing that Chicago will host its own architecture biennial in 2015, Mayor Rahm Emanuel opened the 2014 AIA Convention here this morning, where he called both the convention and the field of architecture essential to the future of all cities, and Chicago in particular. “In the same way that one hundred years ago Chicago was the epicenter of modern architecture, Chicago is now at the center of rethinking livable, sustainable, and beautiful cities,” Emanuel said. “Your effort is essential to