The Chicago Architecture Center

A description of a visit to the Chicago Architecture Center (and an architectural boat ride). An insight into the city landscape, but is the Center itself maybe more of a marshalling point?

The Chicago Architecture Center

The Chicago Architecture Center is a relatively small institution with a big history. Chicago is, after all, an important city in architectural terms. It was here, as well as in New York, that skyscrapers first emerged. In Chicago this was partly due to historical accident. In 1871, much of Chicago burned down in the Great Chicago Fire (unfairly ascribed to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, who was not to blame). The original city was made mostly of wood (oh dear). The rebuilt city began to make use of new technology allowing taller buildings with a steel frame. The world’s first skyscraper was the ten story Home Insurance Building which opened in 1885.

The Chicago Architecture Center came a little later. Via a movement which coalesced around saving Glessner House for posterity. Originally called the Chicago Architecture Foundation, they began walking and boat tours early on. They also run educational programmes, and an Open House Chicago weekend (not unlike Open House London). They moved into their current building in 2018, part of Mies van der Rohe’s Illinois Center. Van der Rohe is an important architect in Chicago, and in terms of the modernist/international style. He arrived in 1938 fresh from the Bauhaus School, but developed his modern steel and glass style here in Illinois. Once you’ve see a couple, you can soon spot ‘a Mies van der Rohe’.

As well as being a base for tours of various kinds, the Chicago Architecture Center has exhibitions, information on buildings, building history and building styles, and a scale model! So checking out this spot was high on our Chicago list. Again, you have to remember I brought my very own urban geographer along. Read on to find out more about how we enjoyed it.

A Model City

For a city where architecture is so important, I found the Chicago Architecture Center surprisingly small. It almost feels like it’s the place to book your tours, with some exhibits thrown in because that’s what’s expected. There is an upstairs space with large-ish scale models of buildings and temporary exhibitions, and a downstairs space with a scale model of the city and some historic information. The downstairs involves a video that starts every 20 minutes, so we started upstairs and time our trip downstairs to start at the appropriate time.

The current temporary exhibition is Energy Revolution. It’s all about how building smart can help support climate and sustainability objectives. Because it turns out all those modernist glass-fronted buildings are pretty terrible for the environment… Older brick buildings which regulate heat etc. are much better, as are some contemporary alternatives. All this and more I learned in Energy Revolution. As exhibitions go it didn’t quite work for me though – very text heavy compared to the number of objects on view.

Much better in my opinion were the models. I loved the building models upstairs, and the model of the city downstairs. Tablets on either side give lenses through which to view the city, while interactive lighting during the video shows things like the extent of the 1871 conflagration. The permanent exhibition downstairs was also quite text heavy, but well laid out and interesting. I read about historic moments, communities, planning and building styles, and more. It was a great foundation to go out and see the city at large and some specific buildings on my trip to the University of Chicago campus the following day.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Energy Revolution on until 17 October 2022

A Riverboat Cruise

I would highly recommend pairing a visit to the Chicago Architecture Center with a riverboat cruise. I wouldn’t recommend doing it in the rain like we did. There were interludes where it was ok, but a lot of it was a bit miserable. There are plenty of options and touts out on the main tourist streets, so you don’t need to book in advance.

If you do book online, be careful who you’re booking with. I had intended to book the boat tour associated with the Chicago Architecture Center, but mistakenly followed the top link and booked instead with Chicago River Boat Architecture Tours. This wasn’t a bad thing – they were very professional and informative and are possibly the only company who start around the corner on a separate branch of the river, necessitating a brief flirtation with Lake Michigan. It just wasn’t what I had intended. Plus you save on Chicago Architecture Center entry if you buy both from them!

But anyway. It’s a great trip, and highly recommended. We walked around the city at street level later in our trip, but it was hard to see as much as we did in 90 minutes on the boat. You see the central city and head up both directions of the river in turn. Mostly guides have some sort of architectural education or connection so are passionate and well-informed. Aside from the rain, I enjoyed our trip immensely and would recommend the experience with Chicago River Boar Architecture Tours.