Organized by the Northeast Chapter of the Association for Preservation Technology in association with Wank Adams Slavin Associates (WASA) and Cooper Union, the Louis Sullivan Terra Cotta Symposium commemorated 150 years since the birth of the architect Louis Sullivan. Presentations focused on the technology and early manufacturing period of terra cotta in the United States from the 1850s onward; Louis Sullivan's role in the evolution, development, and use of terra cotta throughout the 20th century; and the continuing evolution of conservation practice and techniques for the care of terra cotta today. The symposium was held at Cooper Union, one of the oldest known structures in the United States using terra cotta.
Building Conservation professor and consulting engineer Donald Friedman presented "Terra Cotta As Structure." Other presentations and speakers included:
- "Growing Up Together: Louis Sullivan and the United States Terra Cotta Industry" by Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian for Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
- "Terra Cotta: Its Evolving Technology & Unique Application" by Susan Tunick, Friends of Terra Cotta
- "Louis Sullivan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art" by Morrison H. Heckscher, Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing Metropolitan Museum of Art
- "Angels Repaired: The Bayard-Condict Building" by Stephen Gottlieb and Norman Weiss (both formerly with WASA)
- "Terra Cotta: The Numbers Game" by Michael Y. Ahearn, Seaboard Weatherproofing & Restoration Company
- "The Recrowning of Louis Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott & Company Store" by Gunny Harboe, Harboe Architects
- "Cleaning Terra Cotta in the New York City Subway Stations: Making Informed Choices" by Mary Jablonski, Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation
- "Terra Cotta Restoration: Where We Are and Where We Are Going" by Stephen Kelley, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates
- "Blackfriar's House in London: Cathodic Protection of Carraware in the United Kingdom" by Paul Noyce and Peter Gibbs, Electro Tech
