Architectural, Cultural sights in Chicago
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
University of Chicago
Some universities collect football championships. The University of Chicago collects Nobel Prizes – 80-plus so far and counting. In particular, the economics department has been a regular winner. Merton Miller, a U of C economics faculty member and a prize winner himself, explained the string of wins to the Sun-Times: ‘It must be the water; it certainly can’t be the coffee.’
reviewed
-
B
Robie House
This masterpiece is the ultimate expression of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School style, and it’s often listed among the most important structures in American architecture. The low horizontal planes and dramatic cantilevers were meant to mirror the Midwestern landscape, and they’re ornamented solely by the exquisite stained- and leaded-glass doors and windows. At the time of research the house was undergoing extensive restoration, which had disrupted the tour schedule, so call ahead.
reviewed
-
C
Astor Street
In 1882 Bertha and Potter Palmer were the power couple of Chicago. His web of businesses included the city’s best hotel and a huge general merchandise store that he later sold to a clerk named Marshall Field. When they later relocated north from Prairie Ave to a crenellated castle of a mansion at what is now 1350 N Lake Shore Dr, the Palmers set off a lemminglike rush of Chicago’s wealthy to the neighborhood around them. The mansions sitting along Astor St, especially the 1300 to 1500 blocks, reflect the grandeur of that heady period.
reviewed
-
D
Supreme Life Building
The Supreme Life Building, a 1930s office building, was the spot where John H Johnson Jr, the publishing mogul who founded Ebony magazine, got the idea for his empire, which includes Jet and other important titles serving African Americans.
reviewed
