Two Incredible Keynotes You Won’t Want to Miss!
Two exceptional keynote speakers will be gracing the stage at the 2023 IES Annual
Conference: Ellen Shubart from the Chicago Architectural Foundation and Eric Corey Freed,
principal and sustainability director for CannonDesign. Prepare to be inspired and enlightened!
Opening Keynote: Devil in the White City – Ellen Shubart, Chicago Architectural
Foundation
History buffs, architecture fans, and true crime lovers, rejoice! Our opening keynote
address delves into the compelling true story told in Erik Larson’s best-selling novel, “Devil in
the White City.” The story traverses two simultaneous events in Chicago’s history: the World’s
Columbian Exposition in 1893 and the emergence of serial murderer Dr. Henry H. Holmes.
Those who have read Erik Larson’s book will learn more about the circumstances surrounding
the Fair and Dr. Holmes; those who haven’t will find this talk to be a fascinating discussion of
the architectural significance of the 1893 World’s Fair and the acts of Dr. Holmes.
Closing Keynote: Symbiosis—Designing the Healthiest Buildings on Campus By Using Biology
- Eric Corey Freed, RA, LFA, LEED Fellow, EcoDistricts AP, Principal, Sustainability Director,
CannonDesign
Imagine a building that can boost immune response, lower blood pressure, or speed
collaboration efforts. By tapping into biology, we can trigger these specific outcomes through the
Architecture. In this talk, we’ll explore how to design student and health facilities that boost your
biological responses.
We’ll explore a new approach to achieving high performance educational facilities using
a symbiotic mindset to design in ways that triggers your biology to improve your health and
outcomes. We’ll explore the six categories of symbiosis: Systems, Senses, Signals, Cycles,
Biomes, and Genomes, to uncover new approaches to boost student test scores, lower stress
levels, or speed comprehension.
Imagine if we designed our buildings to work WITH our biology? In this session, we’ll
explore this new paradigm for sustainability that combines biophilia, with evidence-based
design, with wellness to create a new approach to designing healthy buildings. We’ll explore
how we can design a building that triggers specific physiological responses in students and staff
using physiological systems, human senses, circadian rhythm, neurotransmitters, and
microbiomes to transform how we provide care and learning. We’ll look at how to deploy next
generation materials that are “build with biology” to introduce a radical approach to wellness.
Register for the Conference at: https://www.ies.org/events/annual-conference/.
