Unlike Friday, Saturday was a very chilly day to be outside! But we're glad we braved the weather. The tour was 90 minutes long, covered lots of information on Chicago architecture, and included a great tour guide. He is a volunteer and a member of the local architecture club.
We learned a lot about the city's history and saw some impressive structures that included Gothic, Art Deco, Modern, and Post Modern styles.
The tour was packed. Unfortunately we were unable to sit by each other :(
Our terrific tour guide. He talked non-stop for 90 minutes and that was a good thing.
There's Mica! We barely got to the boat on time (we were actually running for about a mile) so we couldn't sit next to each other.
Behold, the Trump Tower (third tallest building in USA)!
Notice all the different styles of architecture. Here you can see Art Deco stye: lavish ornamentation, bold geometric shapes
Obvious Gothic style with the spires and intricate designs
Shiny gold thingy top (I wasn't paying attention at this point)
Look, a fire boat! (By now my ADD has kicked in a little)
One of two buildings by an architect who believed that buildings should reflect nature (no hard edges or angles). The first several floors are for parking. Looks like a giant honeycomb to me.
Definite post modern design with glass, steel, and bold continues lines.
"A tale of two buildings" our tour guide would often say.
The architect for this building wanted to mimic the curve and color of the Chicago river. This has been voted the most liked building of the city.
Another shot of the green building. You can see the Sears Tower in the back.
Famous Chicago newspaper, one of two remaining papers in the city.
The river house complex is riddled with triangles and was designed by an architect known as the "triangle man" (which makes me think of a song).
Spongebob?
This is where I work two days a week. The Civic Opera Building houses both the Lyric Opera Company and multiple business suite offices. Definite Art Deco style.
This building was designed right near the end of the modern period. The architect included a curve to help it stand out from the usual blocky modern buildings.
Another organic apartment complex with an added marine harbor.
I really like this dark building with 3-D texture popping out from the facade. It reminds me of the game Plinko from the Price is Right. I just want to climb to the top and drop a huge coin down through the blocks.
Beautiful Citibank building in the rear.
This mammoth-sized building, the Chicago Merchandise Mart, has 4 million square feet, was built in 1930, had its own zip code until 2008, and is considered a leader in energy and environmental design.
Not sure what this is but you can see Art Deco and Gothic styles next to each other.
Another "tale of two buildings". Both apartment complexes that were finished within a few years of each other. The one on the left has ground level parking that is surrounded by brick walls. The one on the right instead surrounded the ground level parking with town homes. Smart idea!
I love this building. It's a round-edged triangle shape that is right on the riverfront.
The last 10 minutes of the tour we went downstairs to warm up. Besides the typical Chicago weather, we had a wonderful experience!
BTW, the tour guide informed us that the Sears Tower was actually renamed to be the Willis Tower. He doesn't like the name so he would refer to the building during the tour as the "building-formerly-known-as-the-Sears-Tower".
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