Chicago has the world’s greatest skyline. Yes, it’s a bold claim, but it’s rare to find anyone who will manage to go to Chicago and not be wowed by the buildings that dominate its centre.
Chicago skylineThe Loop – as Chicago’s central business district is known – is an absolute treasure trove of remarkable edifices. A few spill out further north of the ring of elevated train tracks that gives The Loop its name, stretching parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan, but the race for the sky is surprisingly enclosed.
You only need to go up to the top of one of Chicago’s tallest buildings to realise how compacted the city’s skyscraper scene is. There are generally two options here –with the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower is the tallest building in town (and, indeed, the Western Hemisphere) being the obvious choice. Sure, the observation deck is the highest point you’re going to get to in the city, but there’s a strong argument to say that the one at the John Hancock Center is a better bet. The Hancock Center is one of those buildings that is to the north of The Loop, and therefore offers better views of everything to the south of it. It also offers pretty sensational views out over Lake Michigan. Whichever observation deck you choose, though, you can see how remarkably flat the buildings seem once your eyes diverges from The Loop.
View of Chicago from John Hancock CenterBut Chicago’s architecture is best explored by getting in amongst it and gazing upwards. I could happily just saunter around in the city centre for days, getting a cricked neck and possibly being run over due to not looking where I’m going. However, whilst this approach allows you to appreciate the obvious highlights, a good guide can show you the equally fascinating detail. For example, the likes of the Trump Tower – with its gleaming curves – and the Chrysler Building-esque Two Prudential Plaza are immediately striking. They’re obvious stand-outs due to shape and height, but a walking tour lets you in on the less immediate gems.
Trump TowerThe Historic Chicago Loop Tour doesn’t concentrate so much on the biggest skyscrapers, but their forerunners. And at the same time it explains why Chicago became such a fertile breeding ground for those with grand designs. The modern city was born out of tragedy; in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire wiped out 17,000 buildings and left thousands homeless. Given that most of the city was built from wood, this was an accident waiting to happen, but the devastation did leave a blank canvas in a city that was becoming the transport hub between the East and West coasts of the US. In came the architects who wanted to make a name for themselves – and at a time when new innovations were opening up intriguing new possibilities.
The key idea was using a steel skeleton rather than load-bearing masonry. This meant that buildings could gain extra height without needing prohibitive amounts of extra width. It’s thought that the long since demolished Home Insurance Building was the first to use this concept, although many others in Chicago subsequently jumped on board. Perhaps the most interesting one in terms of historical transition is the Monadnock Building at the corner of W Jackson Street and S Dearborn Street. The seventeen story building is split into two halves, although not a lot of people notice this. The Burnham and Root-designed northern half was completed in 1891 with the traditional load-bearing masonry structure. The southern half uses the steel frame structure – the walls are considerably less heavy – and was completed just two years later.
The Monadnock building is a great example of what became to be known as the ‘Chicago School’ of architecture. Buildings said to be in this school don’t have a rigid blueprint, but they do tend to have recurring commonalities. One is that the function of the building defines its form. Hence, you’ll notice that the lowest two floors in many Chicago skyscrapers have a different look to the higher floors. The bottom two floors are generally designed as retail space and tend to have larger, often bottom to top windows. Above these two floors come the offices and apartments, usually with distinctive ‘oriel’ (bay-style) windows that give a bit of shape to an otherwise monotonous giant. The windows tend to be split into three panes – one large, singular sheet of glass flanked by two smaller ones where a window can be opened halfway up. The buildings are often clad in terracotta too – although you might not notice it with some of the paint jobs.
Marquette building MosaicTwo of the most magnificent buildings included on the tour are the Marquette Building and the Rookery - and both illustrate the value of not just looking at Chicago’s skyscrapers from the outside. The Marquette Building is a Chicago School classic – the bottom two floors, the windows and the browned terracotta exterior are all present and correct – but it’s the interior that truly wows. Inside is a fantastic mosaic depicting the expedition of Jacques Marquette – one of the first Europeans to venture into the region – through the Great Lakes area in the 17th century.
Light court in The RookeryThe Rookery is even more exciting once you enter. Originally built by Burnham and Root, the ‘light court’ inside got its masterful working-over courtesy of Frank Lloyd-Wright. The white marble, Persian-style gold engravings and beautifully-proportioned spiral staircase make it something of a masterpiece – and the amount of small detail makes The Rookery a wonderful place to poke around in and investigate.
That Chicago has so many bona fide classic buildings is what makes it such a great destination for architecture lovers. For every strict Chicago School building, there is something dazzlingly different. The Smurfit Stone building is often nicknamed ‘The Diamond’ due to its unusual slanting roof, the Tribune building looks rather like a Gothic castle in parts and the Harold Washington Library seems to nab ideas from just about every architectural style imaginable. It’s a fitting addition to a skyline that the rest of the world should be mighty jealous of.
- David Whitley
Editor’s Note: David stayed at the Talbott Hotel, which combines old-school atmosphere and classic furnishings with multiple high-tech touches, before moving on to The Elysian. The Elysian is a real luxury treat, where stylish suites include their very own fireplaces. He was a guest of the City of Chicago.
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