The final event of the trip was the fourth triennial International Congress on Construction History, held in Paris and bringing in nearly 400 scholars from around the world. The Congress was quite selective this year, and the papers that I saw all reflected that, including the eight that I had the pleasure of shepherding through two sessions on concrete.

Best of all? The home base for the event was at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts on the Left Bank. Great neighborhood–our hotel was a short, patisserie-heavy walk away–and the place echoes with all kinds of architectural ghosts. Students there seem to have a healthy skepticism, though, regarding the place’s history:

Super pleased with the official announcement on the last day that the Fifth Triennial Congress will, in fact, be in Chicago in 2015. We have some work to do to live up to the job that the Paris crowd managed, but we’ll do our best…