American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Logo
Back to Events

The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon

Wednesday, October 29, 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (PDT)
Category: Community Partner
Menu
Photo Credit: William Zbaren

Join the authors of The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon to discover the unsung architect of the Wrigley Building, Charles Beersman who was born and raised in San Francisco. Beersman was a protege of Julia Morgan for whom he worked and who likely paid the tuition when he studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania under her friend Paul Phillipe Cret.

In addition to the fascinating life story of Charles Beersman, the authors Robert Sharoff, Tim Samuelson and photographer William Zbaren uncover the many influences of his work on the Wrigley Building including San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Morgan’s Los Angeles Examiner building among many others.

At the book’s heart are the intertwined stories of William Wrigley Jr., the larger-than-life founder of the chewing gum empire, and Charles Gerhard Beersman who together brought the building to life. Through meticulous research and spectacular photography, the book unearths a century’s worth of architectural, social and business history, shedding light on many aspects of the Wrigley Building for the first time.

The authors also reveal how the Wrigley Building remains the most recognizable building in Chicago, a century after it was completed.

Books will be available for purchase. 

William Zbaren

William Zbaren is a professor of architectural photography at the Illinois Institute of Technology and a photographer with an eye for architecture. He is the creator of images for books and major publications that convey the sense of buildings with the same impact as actually being there—and often directing the eye to qualities that have been over-looked. With Robert Sharoff, he is the co-creator of seven books relating to cities and urban architecture. These include John Vinci: Life and Landmarks, Last Is More: Mies, IBM, and the Transformation of Chicago, and American City: St. Louis Architecture: Three Centuries of Classic Design.

Robert Sharoff

As a writer on arts and culture, Robert Sharoff’s approach to his subjects gains additional depth from his years of experience as a newspaper reporter. Portraying his subjects with unflagging insight, he also deploys a good reporter’s instincts for digging deeper and getting the correct facts. In addition to the seven books created with William Zbaren, Sharoff is a prolific writer for the New York Times, Chicago magazine, and other publications.

Tim Samuelson

Tim Samuelson is the director of the Chicago Architectural Preservation Archive and has served as Chicago’s cultural historian since the late Lois Weisberg—then Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs—created that position for him in 2002. A city treasure in his own right, Samuelson has been involved in local preservation efforts for nearly his entire life, and played a significant role as part of the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks in the 1980s. In 2015, Landmarks Illinois named Tim himself a “Legendary Landmark.”