Brief Guide to the Architecture of Chicago, Illinois

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Updated November 25, 2017

Chicago, Illinois is known for its architecture and has long been connected with some of architecture's most important names—Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe, and Holabird & Root. Follow these links for a virtual tour of must-see architecture in Chicago.

Must-See Buildings in and around Chicago:

Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower)
Auditorium Building, Adler & Sullivan
The Manhattan Building
Farnsworth House (near Chicago)
The Old Colony Building
The Marquette Building
Leiter Building (II) (Sears, Roebuck & Company Building)
The Robie House
The Rookery
The Arthur Heurtley House
Frank Lloyd Wright Home
Frank Lloyd Wright Studio
Frank Lloyd Wright's First Prairie Style House, the Winslow House, 1893
Frank Lloyd Wright Pre-1900 Queen Anne Style Houses
Frank W. Thomas House
Nathan G. Moore House
William Winslow Residence
Jay Pritzker Music Pavillion by Frank Gehry
Aqua Tower by Jeanne Gang, 2010

Famous Chicago Architects:

Chicago Before the Internet:

Today we think nothing of shopping online. Ever hear of Amazon.com? What Amazon offers is a catalog of things to buy that can be shipped to your home. Before the digital revolution, the catalog of things was printed on paper, mailed to homes, and family members would circle items and turn down page corners for the treasures that they wanted. The "Wish List" in the "Wish Book" was the old Shopping Cart.

Chicago was at the hub of the American Industrial Revolution—skyscrapers were being built and a great network of rail lines converged in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. The US Postal Service delivered mail by rail to remote and rural locations. Sears, Roebuck & Co., based in Chicago, delivered everything else—including jewery, farm equipment, groceries, and the precut supplies to build entire homes.

Browse our reproduced catalog pages from Sears and other mail order companies in Bungalows by Mail, Index to Selected Floor Plans. The competition became fierce, and marketing tactics became familiar to what we know today. Through these pages, we begin to see how modern Chicago became so quickly.

Learn More About Architecture in Chicago:

What is the Chicago School? Skyscrapers with Style
Chicago Architecture Foundation
Site includes a virtual walking tour past famous skyscrapers.
Chicago Architecture and Design by Jay Pridmore and George A. Larson, Abrams, 2005
Chicago Architecture and Design, 1923-1993: Reconfiguration of an American Metropolis, edited by John Zukowsky, Prestel, 2000
Chicago Architecture: 1885 to Today by Chicago Architecture Foundation (C.A.F.), 2008
Chicago (America the Beautiful), Firefly, 2009
AIA Guide to Chicago by Alice Sinkevitch, 2004
A View from the River: The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise by Jennifer Marjorie Bosch and Hedrich Blessing, 2008
Lost Chicago by David Garrard Lowe, University Of Chicago Press, 2010
Cool Chicago by Kathleen Maguire, Pavilion, 2014
The Encyclopedia of Chicago edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Reiff, University Of Chicago Press, 2004

Plan Your Chicago Architecture Visit:

For excellent tours of Chicago architecture, visit the National Register of Historic Places. You'll find maps, photographs, historical information, and travel recommendations.

Choose a Historic Chicago Hotel:

If you'd like to stay in a historic landmark building, you'll be interested in the following hotels.

Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel. Built in 1927, the centrally-located 14-story hotel is known for its lavish Crystal Ballroom.
Deer Path Inn. Located 30 miles north of Chicago in Lake Forest, this stately Tudor is modeled after a 15th-century English Manor House.
The Burnham Hotel has taken over the historic Reliance Building, one of Chicago's early skyscrapers, completed in 1895 and fully remodeled in the 1990s

Look for Special Offers in Chicago:

For special offers and helpful visitor information, explore the goChicago pages here at About.com.