DK Travel : Chicago : Architecture

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Ogilvie Transportation Center

Rising 40 stories in waves of glass and steel is this striking 1996-rebuilt commuter train station (aka the Northwestern Station). Its streamlined façade mimics a vintage luxury train.
One North LaSalle

This 1930-built, 49-story building was Chicago’s tallest for 35 years, and is one of the city’s best surviving examples of Art Deco architecture.
Reliance Building

Daniel H. Burnham’s stunning glass-and-white-glazed-terra-cotta building (1895) is now the Hotel Burnham.
Reliance Building

The steel skeleton on this 1895-built skyscraper allowed it to be wrapped in glass. It offers an excellent example of the Chicago window, which is characterized by a bay window placed between two narrow, double-hung windows – a signature feature of the Chicago school of architecture. Occupied by the Hotel Burnham the interior sports replicas of original features.
Santa Fe Center

Daniel H. Burnham designed this elegant high-rise in 1904: its carved building signs are from Chicago’s days as a railroad hub. The ground level houses the Chicago Architecture Foundation (see Chicago Architecture Foundation Shop).
Sears Tower

This soaring tower, built in 1974 as the headquarters of retailer Sears Roebuck and Co. (who have since moved out), can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. Its Skydeck affords sensational views (see Sears Tower & its Views).
The Rookery

One of the earliest remaining skyscrapers, this 1888 Chicago landmark combines traditional wall-bearing and newer steel frame construction. The latter made it possible for its architects, Burnham and Root, to design an open interior, with office spaces set around a central light well.
Walter Burley Griffin

Another Prairie–style architect (1876–1937) with a namesake historic district on Chicago’s Southside.
William Holabird & Martin Roche

This influential team (Holabird 1854–1923; Roche 1855–1927) developed early Chicago-style skyscrapers including the Marquette (see Marquette Building).
William Le Baron Jenney

The “father of the skyscraper” (1832–1907) who designed the first all-metal-framed structure in 1885 (see 1885: First Skyscraper).