Brick of Chicago with Will Quam

Design Vault

In this episode of Design Vault, Doug speaks with Will Quam, architecture photographer, architecture writer, and researcher in Chicago, Illinois.

Visit glengery.com/design-vault to see photos and additional information as you listen along.

Will Quam lives in Chicago. He's currently writing a book for the University of Chicago Press on the history of brick architecture in the city.

He documents brick as a way to pay more attention to the world around him and encourages others to do the same. He believes it's been like learning a whole new language and a means to discovering great texts hidden in the buildings that surround him in his own words. Everything built is designed and has impact, good or bad. It's easy to walk by something like a brick building and pay it no mind.

But the world is so much more interesting when you ask the question, What is that and why is it the way it is? Above all, he believes nothing is boring and everything can be interesting and exciting, even bricks.