Coverings Offering Programs for Architects, Design

Alexandria, VA, Thursday, January 12, 2007--Coverings 2007 is living up to its promise to provide a rich conference program with numerous options for architect and interior design attendees. Internationally acclaimed, award-winning architect Richard Meier tops the impressive lineup of personalities who will be speaking when the premier exposition dedicated exclusively to ceramic tile and natural stone convenes April 17-20, at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. Meier is slated to speak on Thursday, April 19, 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., discussing several of his landmark projects as well as his experience working with tile and stone and the innovation that can be achieved through the use of these materials. The Getty Center in Los Angeles, Jubilee Church in Rome, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona are just a few of the designs in his extensive portfolio that have helped catapult him to international acclaim and earned him the most prestigious awards, including the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, the profession’s highest honor. “It is a coup to present Richard Meier,” said Tamara Christian, CEO of National Trade Productions, the company responsible for managing Coverings, who also does double duty as show director. “But, he is just the tip of our continuing education iceberg. We have filled the four days of Coverings with more than 14 seminar sessions specially developed for the interests of architects and designers. The caliber of the presenters is matched only by the diversity of topics. What’s more,” she noted, “every session is free, and most qualify for CEU credits from AIA, ASID, IIDA, NKBA or the State of Illinois.” Other speakers of note who’ve been enlisted for the A+D seminar track include: Leatrice Eiseman, one of the world’s leading color experts who is returning to Coverings as a unanimous favorite among attendees; renowned trends forecaster Maxine Lauer, who will give a glimpse into design’s future and what role tile and stone can play; David Dahlquist, a nationally recognized public artist and teacher who is a partner with RDG Planning and Design; Nancy Epstein, who, as founder and CEO of Artistic Tile, has a huge and lesson-filled success story to tell; doyenne of design editors, Marian McEvoy, who currently is a contributing editor at Domino magazine and will help lead a discussion among other top name editors on “How to Get Published;” and, Karen Ami, executive director of The Chicago Mosaic School, who will moderate a panel on future trends in mosaic usage with architect David Ling, mosaic artist Sonia King, and, Roy Knight, FAIA. Additionally, according to Christian, with sustainability increasingly integral to architecture and interior design, there is an entire “Green Building Track” of Coverings sessions being offered. Intended to cut across all interest groups, there are close to a dozen different seminars on the schedule that will tackle the “green building” topic from a variety of perspectives, with titles such as “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Creating Luxury for Your Clients with Green Products,” “How to Contribute to Green Building with Recycled Flooring,” “Eco Décor: Ecological Design and Decoration,” and “Going Green Is Easier Than You Think.” “Coverings seminars have always rated high as a draw for the design professionals,” she said. “But, for 2007, we’ve ramped up the program so that more than ever before architects and designers will have an abundance of choices, each session as valuable as the next. “Their greatest challenge at Coverings will be,” she continued, ”juggling a schedule that lets them attend all the seminars appealing to them plus devote adequate time on the show floor with our 1,200 exhibitors to see and meet all those they potentially want to do business with.”

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