ertai nment

Chicago H

Aric Lasher's architectural career
has taken a turn toward television.

A

SUZANNE CHESSLER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

ward-winning architect
Aric Lasher has stepped
outside reality's portal
to explore the world of
make-believe.
After eight years of
planning high-rise
buildings, resident the-
aters and luxury homes, he
accepted an assignment as
set designer for "The Un-
touchables," a TV series be-
ing produced in Chicago.
Mr. Lasher, who grew up
in Huntington Woods and

who soon will be moving into
a film and video production
curriculum at the Universi-
ty of Southern California, is
intrigued by the task before
him.
"It is a fascinating transi-
tion because it takes advan-
tage of all my skills as an
architect," said the 31-year-
old Cornell graduate, who
attended Berkley High and
United Hebrew Schools.
"There are all kinds of as-
pects of the real world which

have to be simulated to
varying degrees."
Mr. Lasher was recom-
mended for the Paramount
Pictures project by a former
employer, who previously
had selected him as archi-
tect of the Steppenwolf The-
atre, a 500-seat, Chicago
structure. Now in the midst
of creating two kinds of sets
— those built from scratch
on a sound stage and those
manipulated from existing
locations — he is having

some very different experi-
ences.
"Architecture is a very
slow process, and for the
most part, you're dealing
with the commercial mar-
ketplace," explained Mr.
Lasher, who has won the
New York Society of Archi-
tect's Matthew Del Gaudio
Medal for excellence in total
design.
"You're trying to extract a
meaningful environment or

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