Chicago’s skyline is hard-pressed to find a competitor. But, for intrepid travellers from Canada, some only accustomed to Toronto as the Big City, Chicago comes across as a comforting destination — a taste of the familiar plus an opportunity to revel in some of the richest architecture in North America.
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“It’s almost like a laboratory for different ideas about innovation in architecture,” says Jason Neises, v-p of tours for the non-profit Chicago Architecture Foundation. The foundation offers more than 80 different tours. Guides take scores of architecture fans through the city explaining the structural marvels.
“Visitors from out of town say ‘gosh, I wish we had done this in our city. I wish we had preserved some of our landmarks,’ ” adds Neises.
Chicago shares some similarities with Toronto — both are nestled on the banks of a Great Lake and both have streets laid out on a grid, making it easy to scurry about the bustling streets. But the breadth of architecture sets Chicago apart, offering travellers a tapestry of historic towers and new architectural wonders.
“The form of Toronto and the form of Chicago are very similar. They’re both cities planned and developed during this industrial period,” says Richard Sommer, dean in the faculty of architecture at the U of T. “But the buildings (in Toronto) are not of the same calibre and probably many of them have not been maintained.”
In the past, Toronto professors have accompanied students to Chicago to take in the “cornucopia of architecture.” He says it’s the No. 1 destination for architectural tourism.
It’s easy to understand what he means. From the 1925 gothic revival Chicago Tribune building to the corn-on-the-cob like towers of 1965 Marina City, each building represents a distinct snap shot of innovation. Many famous structures emerged after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire razed the city, destroying 18,000 buildings. The fire left a blank canvass and almost 15 years later the city saw its first skyscraper. Chicago became a boom town in the late 19th century, growing faster than any other city. With limited amounts of real estate, architects needed to build and build tall.
“They were looking at how to make a building that was taller than five or six storeys, how to use steel skeleton framing to make tall buildings stand up,” said Neises.
From these developments emerged the precursors to the modern skyscraper. The Rookery, one of the first, was completed in 1888 and partially redesigned by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905. After the Second World War, architects from Europe descended on city, bringing new ideas about modern architecture. The modern era brought some of the most iconic buildings, which have become synonymous with the city. The Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, was built in 1973 and stands 442 metres. The distinctive x-braced, 100-storey John Hancock Center also pops out amidst the cluttered skyline.
Today, buildings such as the 92-storey Trump Tower and Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park offer contemporary examples of Chicago’s design dominance.
“People really appreciate how much Chicagoans care about architecture,” said Neises. “It’s almost like it’s in their DNA to appreciate this and celebrate it.”
For Sommer, architecture in Toronto is catching up to the windy city. He says some of the more recent has even been better than what a visitor can see in Chicago. But Chicago’s historic buildings and architectural legacy remain incomparable, and worth a visit.
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