Tour
Chicago’s First Skyscrapers
Chicago is home to some of the world’s earliest skyscrapers. Get an up-close look at these 19th Century marvels, learn about innovations used to build them and discover how they transformed Chicago into a center of skyscraper design and engineering.
Premier tour*
This walking tour includes 7 of the 9 skyscrapers of the submitted UNESCO World Heritage “Early Chicago Skyscrapers” application. Highlights include Burnham and Root’s Rookery (1888), a transitional building with a Moorish and Romanesque exterior and a stunning interior atrium re-designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Adler and Sullivan’s Auditorium Building (1889), a masterpiece of acoustical and structural engineering; and Holabird and Roche’s Marquette Building (1895), an outstanding example of the metal frame expression with traditional details and decorations.
Notes:
- Many tours sell out. To guarantee your space advance reservations are strongly recommended.
- Ticket price includes entrance to the Chicago Architecture Center within 7 days of your tour. View the CAC's hours.
- This tour meets at 410 S. Michigan Ave., outside the Fine Arts Building.
*Premier tours are free for Deco members and above. Learn about our membership levels.
Highlights of this Tour
The Rookery
209 S. LaSalle St.
When completed, the Rookery was thought to be the largest and finest office building in the United States…
Manhattan Building
431 S. Dearborn St.
Chicago’s Manhattan Building is a fascinating surviving example of an early skyscraper from the late…
Monadnock Building
53 W. Jackson Blvd.
As you pass by the Monadnock Building in Chicago’s Loop, you may not recognize it as a transitional…
19th-Century Commercial
Style
Architects working in the late 19th Century were not approaching the design of tall commercial office…
beam
Term
a horizontal structural member that supports a load
Burnham and Root
Architect/Firm
In the decades after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root changed the…
column
Term
In architecture, a column refers to a vertical structure that supports a load. It can be freestanding…
facade
Term
the front of a building
Holabird and Roche
Architect/Firm
The Chicago firm of Holabird and Roche is well-known for designing some of the world’s first skyscrapers…
load-bearing construction
Term
a method of building done by stacking one brick or stone on top of another; each brick or stone carries…
masonry
Term
unit blocks of stone, brick, or concrete used for construction
terra cotta
Term
Latin words for "cooked earth"; a building material such as a tile piece; terra cotta is made from moist…
Marquette Building
56 W. Adams St.
The Marquette Building stands as an ideal example of a speculative 19th-century commercial office building…
Auditorium Building
430 S. Michigan Ave.
When business and the arts collide, beautiful architecture can emerge.
Harold Washington Library
400 S. State St.
When it comes to Chicago’s iconic skyline, it isn’t always easy to make a mark and stand out from…
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