Architecture and Exhibit Design

Architecture and Exhibit Design

by Larry Kulchawik 

Many years ago I earned a degree in Design at Southern Illinois University. One of our teaching professors who influenced me was Buckminster Fuller-world renowned designer and thinker. When I graduated in 1971, my first thought was-what am I going to do now? Design what- geodesic domes? Low and behold I got a job as an exhibit designer in Chicago. Who ever knew there was such a job? Like many in our industry, I fumbled into a career that filled my life with joy for many years. After the McCormick Place fire of 1967, the new McCormick Lakefront Center was completed in 1971. This happened to be a great time to get in the exhibit industry with Americas largest convention center in my home town. My passion was always architecture and my heroes were Bucky Fuller, Mies van der

Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Helmut Jahn. Architecture and exhibit design

have much in common. Each of these leading architects contributed greatly

to the new architectural shapes in Chicago. In fact, Helmut Jahn designed the famous canopied entry to the rebuilt McCormick Place on Chicago’s lake front which grew to be the biggest and most popular trade show destination for all the shows in North America. Helmut Jahn went on to design the United Airlines Terminal One at O’hare airport, the innovative State of Illinois Building (Thompson Center) as well as many other world renown buildings in Chicago, and throughout the world.

Side note- Jahn designed several convention centers- Doho Convention Center (Qatar 2016), Kansas City Convention Center-1976, Hitachi Convention Center (Singapore 1973), Shanghai Int’l Expo (2002) and Shanghai Convention Center (2016). He also designed airport terminals for Munich (1999), Cologne/Bonn (2000), and Bangkok,Thailand- all people moving spaces.

“Architecture is all about going with your gut. I prefer when form follows force rather than function,” says Helmut Jahn. Jahn’s architecture shook and modernized a number of global cities, and with time and experience, what began as a rebellion against Mies’s “less is more” modus operandi, matured into unquestionably gutsy, design of towers, airports, convention centers, corporate

headquarters, and most importantly, public spaces.

Chicago’s unique architectural history and legacy continually evolved to globally influence the critical role that architecture and design played to identify urgent social issues and to apply cleaver thinking and problem solving for spaces. Exhibit design, like architecture, also evolved to focus on the desires of the attendees who experience the exhibit spaces rather than the look of the structure alone. The concept of experiential exhibit design evolved to encompass more than product demonstrations and a selling environment.

Twenty-five years into my career doing trade show marketing I became very interested in the international segment of our industry. I served as president of EDPA and then IFES to promote worldwide partnerships with global suppliers to share knowledge. In 1999 I had the unique experience to meet my hero- Helmut Jahn. The Munich Trade Fair opened an office in Chicago and I was invited to their grand opening. After speeches and grand standing we were invited to sample some German wine. I grabbed a glass, stood in the corner and was greeted with “so you design trade show exhibits?” It was Helmut Jahn! I was never so nervous. At the time our team was designing an exhibit for the Chicago Convention Bureau and mentioned this to Mr. Jahn. After our second glass of wine he leaned over to me and said-“Larry, I would like to design an exhibit”. I responded with - you are one of the top architects in the world, why would you want to design an exhibit? He slowly responded- “these buildings, they take too long. It is often years later that I see my work completed and my attention is now on a new project.” With an exhibit, you can design in January and see your work completed in May. Now this is satisfying! Exhibit designers today can whip through two designs a week. Those that sell can be seen completed (sometimes modified a bit) several months later with the focus of your design still fresh in your head. Seeing your ideas come to life is a gratifying experience! The only difference between building designs and exhibit designs is that many of Jahn’s buildings may be seen forever, where an exhibit design is seen for three days on a show floor, then gone. On to the next!

Jahn’s words have stuck with me 20 years later. What a blessing to have fumbled into the exhibit industry! It continues to evolve. I am so proud that our industry leaders at EDPA have supported formal exhibit training programs at Bemidji State (undergrad degree), and FIT (masters degree) to prepare exhibit designers, rather than learn as you go as in the past. In defense of exhibit designers of the past, education alone does not make for a creative designer, but the added training and exposure will surely help. I am constantly astounded to see the outstanding exhibit designs our industry produces on a regular basis. Helmut Jahn never completed his training degree at IIT in Chicago but through trial, errors, and golden opportunities, went on to be nick named “Flash Gordon” for his innovative thinking beyond the building design standards of the time.

We do not think ourselves into new ways to design, but design with a new way of thinking.