Until now, many tourists who visit Chicago will not miss seeing its spectacular skyline composed of neoclassical, Art Deco, Bauhaus, modern and even futuristic styles.
If it is your first time to come to Chicago and you are interested in its architecture, then Chicago Architecture Center CAC is a place you must visit. In 2018, the Chicago Architecture Center just moved into a separate new building on the Chicago River. Previously, it had been located beside the old Glessner House built in 1886. Dan, who is in charge of public relations, is very excited about this change, which allows CAC to have a larger space and more high-tech equipment to display the architectural scene of Chicago and the world.
Chicago is a well-deserved world metropolis. Picture James Steinkamp; Courtesy of CAC
What shocked me most in the Architectural Center was the Chicago city model on the first floor, which consists of a city sand table and a projection screen. Although sandboxes are not uncommon, the unique feature here lies in its interesting interactivity, which makes the huge and densely packed sandbox visible at a glance for the first time. Visitors can control the lighting of the sandbox through the touch screen to display the Chicago city outline in different periods. They can also select more than 4,000 Chicago buildings and obtain corresponding information on the large screen. The
sandbox can even accurately display the origin, spread and scope of the Chicago Fire of 1871 in an interactive way. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. Without the fire that destroyed most of Chicago, there might not have been the massive reconstruction that followed.
Chicago model, including almost all the information about Chicago architecture. James Steinkamp; Courtesy of CAC
The second floor of CAC displays major skyscraper models around the world, from the world's first skyscraper, the "Home Insurance Building" in Chicago. , to the world's tallest building under construction, the " Jeddah Tower " in Saudi Arabia, including the CCTV Building in Beijing. Next to the model there are also detailed instructions on the building's design concept, construction parameters, construction process, etc., which can fully satisfy the curiosity of skyscraper enthusiasts.
And the most popular project here is undoubtedly its "Chicago River Architecture Tour" . Tourists boarded the "First Lady Cruise" from the cruise terminal in front of the CAC. The one-and-a-half-hour Chicago River tour started from the bustling Michigan Avenue, sailed into the mouth of the Chicago River where it empties into Lake Michigan , and then from another A river return trip. Along the way, the rows of buildings on both sides of the bank were dazzling, but the volunteers were eloquent and talked almost without stopping for 90 minutes.
Taking a cruise on the Chicago River is a repertoire of Chicago. CHICAGO FIRST LADY CRUISE
Under the narration of volunteers, you can not only learn about the history of almost every building along the river, the history of different neighborhoods along the Chicago river, and the relationship between the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. The great influence on the lives of Chicagoans can also be noticed in many details that are difficult for ordinary tourists to notice. For example, on the roof of the Montgomery Ward Company Building, there is a bronze statue of the goddess named "Enterprising Spirit". She holds a double snake staff, a symbol of commercial prosperity, and has stood at the top of the building since 1928. Since the end of the 19th century, three goddess statues have been cast in Chicago and placed on the roofs of skyscrapers. The first two do not exist today, and only this "enterprising spirit" still stands facing the wind.
"Enterprising spirit", if you don't pay attention, you will be ignored. Tu Qian Chengxi
Willis Tower is almost a must-see for every tourist who comes to Chicago. Everyone is directed at this skyscraper located 103 Come to the Skydeck on the first floor.
From its completion in 1973 (when it was the headquarters of Sears Department Store) until the opening of the Malaysia Twin Towers in 1998, the Willis Group Building maintained its status as the "world's tallest building" for 25 years.In 2009, Skydeck also underwent a round of renovations. The newly added glass platform is 1.3 meters wide and looks like a floor-to-ceiling "bay window" protruding from the surface of the building. It is made of glass on three sides, making people feel like they are standing 412 meters above the ground. Now it may be the most popular place to check in on social media in all of Chicago. Staff told me that even though it costs $24 for a photo, people still enjoy it. In addition, "American Idol" was filmed here, and it was also a filming location for "The Dark Knight."
It will be scary to walk on this piece of transparent glass at first. Everyone will first cautiously stretch out their feet to test, and then try to boldly walk on the entire platform. Soon, though, you'll find it's so reliable that you'll be sitting, jumping, and even lying down with all of Chicago at your feet.
Take a selfie on the glass platform and give full play to your creativity Picture Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower
The design and construction of the glass platform took a full year. The contractor, MTH, is also a famous Chicago landmark, the "Cloud Gate" located in Millennium Park. builder. A total of 1,500 pounds of glass was used to build the glass platform, with each glass wall and floor using three layers of glass, each half an inch thick. According to official data, each glass platform can bear a weight of 10,000 pounds.
If the " Chicago School " formed in the early 20th century conquered the city of Chicago and you can see their works in every corner (such as the Willis Group Building above), in the suburbs of Chicago, there is another The style of architecture took a different approach, that is, the Prairie School. Frank Lloyd Wright, the most famous architect of the Prairie School, was also a Chicago native. The "Robie House" he designed is also one of his most classic designs and still stands in a corner of the University of Chicago.
The horizontal extension is the first impression of Robie House. Picture James Caulfield
This residence, which still seems to be timeless today, was designed and built between 1908 and 1910, more than a hundred years ago. Its emergence at that time shocked European architects on the other side of the ocean. Therefore, it is often called the cornerstone of modern architecture.
Looking from a distance, the first impression of Robby's house is its horizontal spread: the extremely low and flat eaves create huge overhangs, and although the windows are large, they are completely hidden under the eaves. In addition, the exterior walls are made of slender Roman bricks, and even the brick joints are reinforced horizontally with white lines. All of this is to lay out the horizontal visual effect, which is the so-called prairie style, which is Wright's imitation of the wide areas of the American Midwest. The result of a rolling landscape. At the same time, he also wanted to confront the vertical Gothic architecture that was prevalent in Chicago at the time.
The interior space is very transparent. Picture James Caulfield
After entering the house through the hidden entrance, I found that the main room of Robbie House is not as low and cramped as it appears from the outside. On the contrary, the interior roof has a huge horizontal overhang, and almost all rooms are connected. Wright drew on traditional Japanese architectural methods and used screen-style unenclosed walls instead of real walls to isolate the interior space. Give the entire space a sense of flow. The large area of colored glass ensures good light transmittance.
Wright's home design at that time was very pioneering. Picture Qian Chengxi
The few furniture in the residence were all designed by Wright, which was both beautiful and trendy and practical at the same time. Unfortunately, the Robbies only lived here for fourteen months before they moved out due to financial problems. In 1926, it was sold to the Chicago Theological Seminary by its then-owners, and has remained vacant or used as a warehouse. During this period, it faced the crisis of being demolished several times.
French stained windows are also a major feature of the Robbie House. Picture James Caulfield
Today, the Robbie House is protected under the management of the Wright Conservation Foundation and is open to the public. In March 2019, the Robbie House just completed a major renovation that cost a total of 11 million US dollars. This renovation has completely restored it to the way it was when it was first built in 1910. The furniture is in its place, even the small The small bathrooms all look modern and comfortable.One hundred years have passed. Although this building that was built for residence has only been used as a residence for only a dozen years, at least today it has been reborn in another way.
