Join AIA Cleveland for an immersive, hands-on evening with the visiting sculptors and mold makers of Buffalo Architectural Casting.

For more than 30 years, Buffalo Architectural Casting has restored and replicated historic architectural ornament across the country, mastering plaster, stone replication, and today’s high-performance systems like GFRG and GFRC. For one night, they’re bringing that craft to Cleveland.

What to Expect

5:30 PM – Doors Open

Sign in, enjoy food and drinks, and connect with fellow architects.

Intro + Hands-On Casting

Cast your own piece of architectural ornament in a historic travertine finish. Learn about gypsum systems, reinforcement, anchoring strategies, and how ornament evolved as the skyscraper transformed American cities like Cleveland and Buffalo.

Presentation + Case Studies

Explore the history of architectural ornament, from antiquity to the rise of the steel-frame tower—and examine contemporary fabrication methods that support durability, fire performance, preservation fidelity, and façade safety.

Guided Sketching Session

Sketch large-scale sculptural works, including classical and Art Deco forms, to study proportion, detail, and stylistic language. Drawing becomes a tool for seeing: understanding how ornament integrates with structure and scale.

Cleveland is one of the cities where the skyscraper was born. As buildings rose, ornament adapted, becoming lighter, safer, and more integrated into new structural systems. Yet its meaning endured. From the Guardians of Traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge to the lions, wreaths, and figures that adorn our façades, ornament continues to shape our city’s identity.

This is not a lecture you sit through.

You’ll pour. You’ll sketch. You’ll ask questions.

And you’ll leave with your own cast piece of architectural ornament—and a renewed appreciation for the craft embedded in our built legacy.

Space is limited. Register today.