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Architecture

Fourteen Remarkable Libraries in the Chicago Area

Geoffrey Baer

Ever since the opening of the Central Library, now the Cultural Center, in 1897, the Chicago area has built some remarkable libraries, as Geoffrey Baer explores. 

Geoffrey Baer Explores Chicago's Beautiful School Architecture

Geoffrey Baer

There are plenty of beautiful schools to be found in the Chicago area, from the grand edifices of the nineteenth century to modernist masterpieces. Geoffrey Baer highlights a few noteworthy ones.

Geoffrey Baer on 'The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago 2'

Daniel Hautzinger

In The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago 2, Geoffrey Baer explores more eye-popping places around Chicago, and the stories behind them. He spoke to us about the new special.

Geoffrey Baer's Open House Chicago Picks for 2023

Geoffrey Baer

Open House Chicago is back, allowing you to peek inside buildings across Chicago. With more than 170 sites to choose from, Geoffrey Baer has fourteen recommendations for unique places to visit. 

The Many Colorful Uses of Medinah Temple, Soon to Be a Casino, Over the Years

Daniel Hautzinger

The Moorish Revival building in River North was initially built for the Shriners, but has seen a circus, demolition threats, the Dalai Lama, an early MLK Day celebration, a Bloomingdale's, and more over its more than century of existence. 

The Eye-Grabbing Architecture of Chicago's College Campuses

Geoffrey Baer

If you're in search of beautiful buildings, the biggest bang for your buck is to explore Chicago-area college campuses, which have noteworthy structures within easy walking distance of each other. Geoffrey Baer highlights a few. 

Geoffrey Baer on His Upcoming Special 'The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago'

Daniel Hautzinger

In his newest special, Geoffrey Baer explores The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago, from gilded lobbies to verdant parks and eye-bending skyscrapers to glorious sacred spaces. He discusses the project, and what he loves about Chicago. 

Tour the Often Overlooked Architecture of Chicago's South Side in a New Documentary

Daniel Hautzinger

"This is a city that does pay attention to its architecture, but often the architecture of the South Side is ignored,” says Lee Bey, the host of a new documentary exploring the architecture of the South Side.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Little-Explored Welsh Roots and His Green Architecture

Daniel Hautzinger

The Welsh architect Jonathan Adams believes that the proud Welsh heritage of Frank Lloyd Wright's maternal family influenced his philosophy and architecture, a claim Adams explores in a documentary and book. Plus, he discusses Wright's ahead-of-its-time attention to nature. 

Revisiting the Biting Articles That Branded Chicago the "Second City"

Daniel Hautzinger

Seventy years ago, the New Yorker writer and New York City native A.J. Liebling published a series of articles about Chicago that saw the city as a "not-quite-metropolis" imbued with a "collective sense of disappointment." Was he right?

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Home and the Prominent Chicago Architects Who Shaped It

Daniel Hautzinger

Take a look at Orchestra Hall's more than 100-year history and the prominent Chicago architects who have shaped and renovated the home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, at a time when the New York Philharmonic's newly redesigned hall is receiving all the attention.

A Conversation with Architecture Critics Blair Kamin and Lee Bey on Their Upcoming Book

Daniel Hautzinger

The Pulitzer Prize-winning former Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin has a new book out featuring photography by his one-time competitor Lee Bey, architecture critic of the Chicago Sun-Times. They discussed the book and equity in urban design and architecture.

Geoffrey Baer's Open House Chicago 2022 Picks

Geoffrey Baer

There are more than 150 sites across Chicago and some of its suburbs taking part in Open House Chicago this year, so Geoffrey Baer shares some of his favorites to help you plan your own excursions.

11 Latino Architects Whose Work Can Be Found Around Chicago

Daniel Hautzinger

In a year where two icons of Chicago's Latino community became official landmarks, explore other works by architects of Latin American descent that can be found in and around Chicago. 

Seven Prominent Sites That Illustrate Islam's History and Future in the Chicago Area

Daniel Hautzinger

The Chicago area has been a center of Muslim movements that catered to African Americans, such as the Nation of Islam, as well as a new home for Muslim immigrants from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa, and other parts of the world.
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