Semifinal: Vote for the Most Beautiful Places in Chicago

The votes from round one of our Most Beautiful Bracket Challenge are in, and Ping Tom Park, Unity Temple, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, and Tribune Tower have all advanced to the semifinal! Fans of BAPS Mandir really came out in support of their favorite beautiful place, with more than 11,000 votes cast in its favor!

As a reminder, this competition started with eight of the stunning locations Geoffrey Baer visits in The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago, where he talks to the creators, enthusiasts, and other experts who share how these places came to be and why they are meaningful. Stream the show.

Here are the results from round one:

Ping Tom Park: 2,158 (67%)
Steelworkers Park: 1,040 (33%)

Unity Temple: 1,944 (59%)
St. Regis Chicago: 1,365 (41%)

Tribune Tower: 1,794 (52%)
The Rookery: 1,688 (48%)

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir: 11,202 (95%)
El Centro: 557 (5%)

Semifinal: Voting for the semifinal is now live and will end on Saturday, March 11 at 2 pm.

Final Round: Voting will begin on Monday, March 13, and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at 2 pm. We’ll announce a winner Wednesday afternoon!

For our next match-up, we’ve got Ping Tom Park vs. Unity Temple. Want to get a better look at these places? Watch Geoffrey’s interview with Ping Tom Park landscape architect Ernie Wong at this link. He also visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Oak Park.

Our second matchup is Tribune Tower vs. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. Want to get a better look at these places? Geoffrey took in all the delightful details of Tribune Tower, and he also traveled to Bartlett, Illinois, to see the BAPS Mandir in person.