One of the things one does in Chicago is to take one of the several river architectural cruises. This was absolutely obligatory for us, and, when the temps were forecasted to reach the 40s December 17th, we seized the day. The tour, by Wendella, was excellent, the guide apparently a professional actor, quite knowledgeable about architecture and Chicago history and also quite entertaining. Skyscrapers originated in Chicago with the first uses of metal skeletons. Chicago School skyscrapers were relatively low-down, but were fully ornamented, so to speak, from the ground up, affecting beaux-arts, neo-Gothic, or whatever guises the architects proposed. They are beauties. Alas, they are a bit hard to see nowadays, many torn down, nearly all the survivors surrounded by the ugly glass and steel boxes of the mid-20th century. Mies van der Rohe is not our favorite architect. But the tour was great.
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| 35 East Wacker, one of the great old ones |
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| Tribune Tower |
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| Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower |
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One of the Wendella boats like we rode (sailed) in; the chameleon-like river
was actually brown that mid-December day |
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I'd guess the Tribune Tower was the most heavily sculpted
and ornamented, bottom to top... |
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| The St. Regis (and neighbors) |
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| Glass and steel, yes, but shapely, sculpted, interesting |
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| Many, many works in progress |
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Headed downstream to the Lake...Navy Pier...fun for the kiddies...
next time or maybe next life... |
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Back up-river...Marina Towers, 300 North State Street, Brutal;
the first 19 stories are the parking garages |
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| Merchandise Mart; largest building in the world, for a time |
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At least the glass and steel uglies occasionally reflect something
interesting |
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| Civic Opera |
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| Riverside Plaza |
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A glimpse of the Willis (Sears) Tower, for a few years
the world's tallest |
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"If you can't put your building on the map, put the map on your
building," the guide said |
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River City...same Brutalist architect as Marina Towers (above)
right here in River City... |
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| Down in the RR yards...Rust Belt country |
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| Better view of Willis Tower |
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| Returning to base, a Chicago River view |
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| Pendry Tower, one of the old beauties |
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A last view of Tribune Tower...with the NBC Tower
to the right |
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| The InterContinental |
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| With its unmistakably Egyptian markings...hmmm |
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| Also, the Burberry, with its signature plaid markings |
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Celebrating at Lou Malnati's, home of the original
Chicago deep-dish pizza |
Addenda...walking to our next destination, we happened by the Pendry building and stepped in for a nosey...just as gorgeous as we'd imagined...
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| Entrance |
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| Elevator doors used to be works of art... |
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| Lobby ceiling |
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| Gingerbread model ('twas the season) |
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