Join your hosts AIA Milwaukee, CSI Milwaukee, and ASLA Wisconsin for a distinctive ARCHtoberfest film screening event!

SITTING STILL is a portrait of Laurie Olin, hailed as a modern-day Frederick Law Olmsted, whose habit of wandering city streets with a sketchbook — sitting, watching, drawing — has shaped how Americans gather in public space for over fifty years. The documentary traces Olin's key projects, including Bryant Park, Columbus Circle, and the Washington Monument Grounds, and the vision behind them: that public space should be democratic, not just decorative. Featuring appearances by Frank Gehry, Billie Tsien, and Walter Hood, the film is as much a portrait of an artist as it is an argument for why the spaces between our buildings matter as much as the buildings themselves.

Get in the spirit with colleagues, neighbors, family, and friends of the community at a cocktail reception (food provided, dietary options limited) beginning at 5:00 PM, with the film screening to follow at 6:00 PM.

We're deeply grateful to our sponsors, whose generous support makes events like this possible for our community.

Marquee Sponsors

• Wausau Tile
• Kompan

Refreshment Sponsors

• BPL Enclosure
• Landscape Forms

Check-in with an AIA Milwaukee officer at the main entrance off the corner of S. Barclay Street and E. Pittsburgh Avenue.
Limited street parking is available.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze urban open space strategies that promote equitable public welfare - Evaluate design frameworks demonstrated in projects like Bryant Park and Columbus Circle to identify spatial layouts, seating options, and accessibility measures that encourage social inclusion, prevent privatization, and serve diverse public demographics.
• Evaluate landscape interventions for environmental resilience and climate adaptation - Examine nature-based design solutions featured in the film—such as urban canopy expansion, stormwater management, and soft-edge coastal strategies—to mitigate urban heat island effects and protect communities against natural hazards.
• Formulate site design approaches that protect public safety and physical well-being - Assess site circulation, pedestrian-vehicle separation, and active threat/perimeter security design (as highlighted in the Washington Monument Grounds project) to improve occupant safety without compromising site accessibility or human scale.
• Apply observational hand-drawing and field-sketching techniques as programming tools - Utilize direct site-observation methods and freehand visual documentation to analyze complex site conditions, historical contexts, and microclimates during the pre-design and programming phases.

Event submitted for AIA/CES approval

Links:

• SITTING STILL FILM TRAILER 
• Press Release
• Monocle magazine podcast
• PennGazette article  
• Dan's Papers-Hamptons article

Hosted by:

Marquee Sponsors:

Refreshment Sponsors: