E. Alfred Picardi Papers

Correspondence, photographs, printed matter, personal and project papers documenting the career of the engineer Egidio Alfred Picardi. His achievements as a civil engineer included the design of the solar telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona and tenure as chief engineer at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, where he introduced the shell structure concept in high-rise building design as originally proposed for the John Hancock Center. Picardi left SOM in 1967 for Perkins & Will, where he helped design the Standard Oil of Indiana building in Chicago (now the Aon Center). View finding aid. Collection access:Collections may be accessed in the Franke Reading Room of the Research Center at The Art Institute of Chicago, by appointment only. For further information, consult the FAQ. Finding aids by subjectBrowse all finding aidsBrowse images and mediaOral histories Contact the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:archives@artic.edu