Virtual City Walks: International Edition

Register now to visit six global cities on Saturdays beginning January 30, 2021. Each virtual tour in this inaugural series begins at 11am Central Time and is led by representatives from leading architecture organizations and AAO members AIA New York / Center for Architecture, Boston By Foot, the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) in Prague, the Chicago Architecture Center, the Danish Architecture Center and the Los Angeles Conservancy. Visit or revisit these spectacular cities in the safe hands of local experts and guides who know their streets the best, enjoying their surprises and architectural icons, both contemporary and historic.

All six tours will be held online via Zoom and are open to registration only as a complete series via Eventbrite for $60 plus processing fees, AAO and CAC members $48 plus processing fees.

Please note that if you plan to purchase tickets for someone else, Eventbrite sends automated emails to all registrants immediately. If you intend to give Virtual City Walks as a gift, contact mfichtner@architecture.org for assistance before proceeding.

SERIES SCHEDULE

Chicago: City of Architecture

Saturday, January 30 at 11am Central Time
Produced in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center

Chicago is the quintessential city of modern architecture and home to a stunning, instantly recognizable skyline, where a single city block can contain more than a century of architectural innovation. See the CAC’s “Building Tall” exhibit before venturing outside for a virtual walk along the Chicago River with CAC docent Mary Jo Hoag, pausing to explore Aqua Tower (Studio Gang, 2009); Trump International Hotel and Tower (Skidmore Owings & Merrill, 2009); AMA Building, formerly IBM Building (Office of Mies van der Rohe, 1971); Marina City (Bertrand Goldberg, 1967); and the famed Tribune Tower (Howells & Hood, 1925) whose international design competition shaped the look of cities worldwide.

Boston: Reinvented

Saturday, February 6 at 11am Central Time
Produced in partnership with Boston By Foot

District by district, Boston has continually remade itself since its founding in 1630. Join guides from Boston By Foot for this virtual tour as they uncover some of the city’s most surprising layers of architectural evolution. Visit a lively new linear park where an elevated highway once cut through the city. Explore new commercial and residential districts that replaced maritime buildings along the waterfront. In this city of prestigious universities, see a new collection of striking academic and research buildings. Combined, these vignettes provide a glimpse into Boston’s past, present and future-in-the-making. Highlights include Boston City Hall (Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles, 1968), John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse (Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, 1999) and the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building (Mecanoo and Sasaki Associates, 2015).

Prague: Old Meets New

Saturday, February 13 at 11am Central Time
Produced in partnership with the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP)

In Prague, Renaissance and Baroque landmarks effortlessly shake hands with contemporary, Modernist and Brutalist creations. Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) architecture critic Adam Gebrian leads this virtual exploration into Prague’s richly historic layers, starting with the Sweerts-Spork Palace, an 18th century Baroque edifice with two radical reconstructions (Josef Gocar, 1920s and Stanislav Fiala, 2017). Continue on to the Federal Assembly National Museum, originally a stock exchange (Jaroslav Rössler, 1928) and later home to the Communist Era parliament. Along the riverfront, explore galleries and cafés tucked inside old, circular ice vaults (Petr Janda, 2019). The tour ends at CAMP headquarters, housed in a Modernist cube within the shadow of a Gothic monastery.

New York City: SoHo Cast Iron Historic District

Saturday, February 20 at 11am Central Time
Produced in partnership with AIA New York / Center for Architecture

The New York neighborhood of SoHo—short for South of Houston Street—has a long history of inspiring the city’s creative communities. The same spaces that were factories in the 1950s are now home to photo studios, fashion houses and art galleries. AIA New York / Center for Architecture and Arthur Platt, AIA lead this virtual tour focusing on breakthroughs in 19th century building prefabrication, hard-fought preservation campaigns, the adaptation of manufacturing “lofts” into artists’ spaces and SoHo’s current mix of luxury residential and retail. Highlights include the Haughwout Building (John P. Gaynor and Daniel D. Badger, 1857); the Little Singer Building (Ernest Flagg, 1904); 101 Spring Street (Nicholas Whyte, 1870, reimagined in 2010 by Architecture Research Office as a studio and residence for Donald Judd); and XOCO 325 (DDG, 2016), a modern intervention approved within the landmark district.

Los Angeles: Vintage Cool

Saturday, February 27 at 11am Central Time
Produced in partnership with the Los Angeles Conservancy

Pink hotels and swimming pools. Convertibles and “Googie” diners from the Space Age. Palm trees and endless freeways. Citrus and celebrities. Yes, the urban fabric of Los Angeles includes examples of all of these but is much richer and more varied than stereotypes suggest. Throughout its history, L.A. has encouraged architectural innovation, creative design and lavish development, creating stunning (if polarizing) results. Discover a different side of Tinseltown on this virtual tour led by Los Angeles Conservancy staff members Sana Ahmed, Alex Inshishian and Bruce Scottow. Explore rebellious icons including the Pacific Design Center (Cesar Pelli and Norma Merrick Sklarek, 1975−2011); Los Angeles Theatre (S. Charles Lee and S. Tilden Norton, 1931); Bradbury Building (Sumner P. Hunt and George H. Wyman, 1893); and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites (John Portman & Associates, 1976).

Copenhagen: Scandinavian Cool

Produced in partnership with the Danish Architecture Center

Please note: In light of recently enacted COVID-19 restrictions across Denmark, Virtual City Walk Copenhagen: Scandinavian Cool, originally scheduled for January 23, must be postponed to a later date. Copenhagen currently remains in this six-city tour package, as we hope restrictions will be lifted in time to offer it on Saturday, March 6. Updates will be provided via this webpage as well as in emails to all those currently registered for Virtual City Walks: International Edition.

Denmark’s capital ranks high among the world’s most livable cities. Join guides from the Danish Architecture Center to discover the sustainability, bike routes, playgrounds and revitalized harborfront that make Copenhagen so surprising and special today. Virtually explore four of Copenhagen’s most exciting new buildings and public spaces: Copenhill, a waste-to-energy power plant topped with an urban ski slope (Bjarke Ingels Group / BIG, 2018); Nørreport Station with parking for 2,500 bicycles (Cobe, 2015); Park ‘n’ Play, the playground and fitness course high atop a parking garage (JAJA Architects, 2016); and BLOX, DAC’s home along the harbor (OMA, 2018).

Virtual City Walks: International Edition tours are led by representatives from Association of Architecture Organization members AIA New York / Center for Architecture, Boston By Foot, the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) in Prague, the Chicago Architecture Center, the Danish Architecture Center and the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Top photo: Virtual City Walk “Los Angeles: Vintage Cool” includes the Pacific Design Center, 1975−2011, by Cesar Pelli and Norma Merrick Sklarek. Photo by AI Seib, courtesy of AAO member organization and virtual tour partner the Los Angeles Conservancy.