Architectural Tours in Chicago

Chicago was formed in 1833 and lies between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watershed. It is an important center for finance and business and tops the list of Global Financial Center. There are various architectural and historical monuments, which also includes the nation’s tallest buildings. The Willis Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower are the tallest building in the city. During your architectural tours in Chicago, you can visit the Fine Arts Building, the Chicago Building and James Charnley House.

Famous Archaeological Landmarks

James Charnley House

James Charnley House is one of the ancient buildings, built during 1892. The building is internationally known for its architectural brilliance, located at Gold Coast. You cannot miss the opportunity of visiting this place during architectural tours in Chicago. The architecture of the building has modern art work and is one of the important residential commissions of Louis Sullivan. This ancient house also shows the contribution of Frank Lloyd Wright who was a draftsman and designer. Now the building is the national headquarter of the Society of Architectural Historians.

Marshall Field Building

As the original building was destroyed by fire, the third building, belonging to Marshall Field And Company was built in 1892. It is a twelve storey granite building, which is a commercial style building. The building is designed by Daniel Burnham and is one of the ancient skyscrapers. During 1978, this building was known as National Historic Landmark and it was renovated in 1990.

Manhattan Building

The Manhattan Building is one of the oldest existing commercial buildings, which was built by William LeBaron Jenney, who was an eminent architect. Apart from that there were various other architects who helped in the construction were D.H. Burnham, Louis Sullivan and William Holabird.

The building was constructed during 1889 to 1890. It was the first sky scraper in the region which had 16 stories. The architectural style which was used in this building was later used by the Chicago School of Architecture. Even though changes were made, the original building is still intact and is visited by a number of tourists.

The Rookery Building

Built in 1888, the Rookery Building is one of the most ancient buildings, which was named in honor of the City Hall. It is an office building, which is 11 storeys tall and was designed by the famous architectural firm named, Burnham and Root. This building is a national historic landmark and has some unique structural features. The ground floor of the building was remodeled in 1905, by installing urns, rails and light fixtures.

Few other heritage and architectural buildings, which you can visit during your architectural tours in Chicago, is mentioned below:

• Auditorium Building
• Reid Murdoch Building
• Old Colony Buildings
• Chicago Public Library

Last updated on 21/9/2010