“Chicago’s one of the rare places where architecture is more visible.”
– Frank Gehry
One of the best reasons to visit Chicago is the architecture. So much of the city is a work of art, and there are plenty of tours around the Windy City to keep a visitor busy for days. Within the downtown area, there is a lot of beauty from early 20th century buildings to more modern residential high rises — the buildings highlight different styles, time periods, and government regulations. Of course, there’s more to enjoy outside the Loop, but that’s the central focus of tours.
There was plenty to gawk at on my first day wandering around and getting my bearings. It was, however, more difficult to identify the buildings or learn their history without a tour — it was enjoyable nonetheless, particularly as the weather was pleasant. I generally feel like a tour on the first day in a city is a great way to get oriented, but I made do with museums and a map.
And this is where the Chicago Architecture Center cruise tour comes in. There are other tours, but this is the only one with guides from the Architecture Center to provide in-depth information on the buildings along the river. It’s a great experience to get oriented in the city, but the tour wasn’t running on my first day, which was also the best weather during my stay.
My friend and I picked up our tickets at the dock on Whacker. It is a reasonable price for such an informative tour — $54 for almost two hours on the river learning architectural history of Chicago. And we had enough time to walk around a bit before heading back for our tour.
The tour headed into the heart of the city with explanations of architectural styles and what to expect along the way — the guide was an architect with in-depth knowledge and was open for questions at the end of the tour. All the information can be overwhelming, and it might be a good idea to take notes.
The main historical point about what made Chicago different from other major cities in the US stems from the Chicago fire in 1871. Because of the way the city was set up at the time, the fire did not destroy industry — the workers could continue their jobs without moving. This also provided an opportunity to reinvent the city as the downtown was devastated. This is why there are wide alleys for dumpsters (better than the piles of trash on the curb you find in NYC). This also attracted more architects in the early 20th century.
More recently, Chicago has continued to reinvent the downtown neighborhood. There are a plethora of modern residential buildings, particularly near Millennium Park. The reasoning was that the city didn’t want a business district to become a ghost town after work hours (it’s still rather quiet though). With all the residential buildings came schools and some entertainment, which still needs to expand to reach the desired development result.
As we watched both sides of the boat and gazed at the River Walk, which we learned was mandated by the city for all new buildings and renovations, we could see the workday life — offices, cafes, and shops with views of downtown. The boat ducked under trunnion bascule bridges, some of which are no longer operating, which made for some interesting angles and pictures. The more impressive of these bridges are right by the most impressive works of architecture — the Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, and Marina City. The smaller of the bridges were mostly for trains.
There were some interesting buildings — some were interesting because of the construction method, which was not apparent to people like me, while others had a unique appearance. While it wasn’t our guide’s favorite, I liked the brutalist architectural style of River City apartments built in 1986 (and seeing the interior pictures online makes it more interesting). Of course, River City is overshadowed by the more prominent brutalist structures of Marina City.
As the boat made a U turn by Goose Island (not the brewery) to head toward Lake Michigan, we were given a better view of Willis Tower, which should always be called Sears Tower despite the bankruptcy.
The tour ended in time for lunch, and it’s in the perfect area to try that Chicago food staple deep dish pizza. Pizzeria Due, the second location of the supposed original deep dish pizza, is a short walk from the cruise dock. It was better than I had expected — I didn’t realize it was a crispy pie-like crust.
After the cruise, my friend and I headed through the city for one more stop that was on my list. Despite living in the Chicago suburbs for so much of her life, my friend had never visited the Rookery. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got there — I only knew that the lobby was open to the public and a tour was required to see anything more (no tours fit my travel schedule). It was an spectacular surprise.
This building, which isn’t as impressive from the outside, is beautiful inside. The lobby is an atrium with ornate staircases and lighting. I was in awe staring at the details around me.
The Rookery was originally designed by John Wellborn Root, who used a steel frame for this skyscraper — a structural method that wasn’t yet commonplace. The exterior is a work of masonry design common among buildings at the time, with more steel and ironwork for the interior.
That interior metalwork creates a spectacular atrium that is both open and warm in a chilly Chicago. The original lighting was replaced with a design by Frank Lloyd Wright — for those familiar with his work, the light fixtures will immediately bring the architect to mind.
If I were to return to Chicago, I’d try to book a tour of the Rookery — I want to see more of this building and its details. Of course, there are many more great works of architecture in the city that I’d love to see; four days was not enough to see everything I wanted.
