This extraordinary tour by deluxe motor coach traces the Chicago career of the 20th century’s most influential Modernist architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, including a selection of his most important buildings and an extended visit to Farnsworth House, considered by many to be the iconic masterpiece of the Modernist movement.
Our first stop is 860-880 North Lakeshore Drive, the buildings that launched the modern skyscraper, and the neighboring Esplanade Apartments. We enjoy views of 330 N. Wabash - formerly known as the IBM Building (the last project directly supervised by Mies) - and the Federal Center complex on the way to our next stop, the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Here we see the beautifully restored Crown Hall and IIT Commons (Mies’s first “clear span” building); plus two recent and remarkable additions to the campus: Helmut Jahn’s State Street Village and McCormick-Tribune Campus Center by Rem Koolhaas.
Then on to Farnsworth House, designed by Mies as an idyllic retreat on the Fox River and jointly owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Landmarks Illinois. The tour is led by CAF docents, with Landmarks Illinois docents guiding at Farnsworth House, and includes a gracious lunch at Mio Amore Italian Steakhouse in Plano, Ill.
For information on arranging a tour for your group of 10 or more, click here.