Chicago

Brief information

Chicago stands on Lake Michigan and reads as a city that has constantly remade its own form. Its growth began with its advantageous position between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, but its current image largely emerged after the Great Fire of 1871: destruction spurred new construction, and the building boom turned the city into one of the centers of American architecture.

What matters here is not only the height of the buildings. Chicago built the world's first skyscraper, and later the city addressed less spectacular tasks that are nevertheless visible in the way the place is organized: because of pollution in the lake, the Chicago River was reversed away from the lake and connected by a sanitary canal to the Illinois River. So the city should be understood as a system in which skyscrapers, water, transport, and parks grew out of practical decisions.

What to notice first

It makes sense to compare three types of urban details. The Chicago Water Tower on North Michigan Avenue is a rare surviving trace of the pre-fire city: it was built in 1867, survived the 1871 fire, and is connected with the water supply of Chicago's northern part. The shoreline parks along Lake Shore Drive show another principle: an early development plan required the lakefront strip to remain free of construction, so a chain of open spaces appeared between the lake, the business districts, and residential areas.

Millennium Park adds a modern layer to this logic: it is built on the roof of a rail yard and a covered parking garage. There you can compare the polished steel of Cloud Gate, which distorts reflections of people, the sky, and skyscrapers; the glass towers of Crown Fountain with LED faces of residents; and the curving stainless-steel surfaces of the Pritzker Pavilion. These details show Chicago as a city where an engineering problem often becomes public space.