UIC Campus History: Part 1
Walking on the manicured lawns of the UIC campus, it’s easy to forget that this venue for higher education was not always here. Before I dig into to Brutalist architecture in Part 2, let’s talk about UIC campus history and this Chicago neighborhood. From the early 1900s through the 1960s, the area between Halsted, Roosevelt, […]
Explore Chicago’s Historic Polish Neighborhood
I’m a first generation Polish-American living in Chicago, and I’d like to take you around the old Polish neighborhood This city, of course, used to have the second-largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. So I feel pretty qualified to tell you a little bit about Chicago’s Polish neighborhood. It’s the area around Milwaukee, Ashland and […]
Chicago Architecture’s Second Life: The Never-Ending Story of Architectural Relics
Architectural relics are the fragments of modified or demolished buildings. You can find these displayed in museums, classrooms and lobbies throughout the city. Despite being an impassioned architect and architectural historian, I am actually not appalled by this removal or displacement of architectural pieces. The shelf life of more modern buildings is simply not forever. […]
Wild Things and Civilized Architecture in Lincoln Park
Lions and liveliness and tranquility, oh my! You can find that in the Lincoln Park Zoo the surrounding neighborhood. We always delight in bringing guests up to the zoo and Lincoln Park’s charming green spaces on our Chicago Highlights Detour 101 Bus Tour. Meet Klaudia My name is Klaudia Siczek, and I’m delighted to be […]
Historic Bar Tour Makes for Good Times
Bar tours of any kind are an all-around fun experiences. You get to meet new people, see new things, and drink! When I started as Editorial Intern for Chicago Detours, I came on the Good Times Historic Bar Tour with my boyfriend and found that this walking tour of Chicago is all that and more. […]
Frederick Law Olmsted’s Riverside: the First Planned Suburb
When I think of “planned community,” pristine lawns, curving curbs, and happy little driveways come to mind. Maybe it’s even a “gated community” with three or four house designs repeated along the block. Interestingly the roots of the ‘burbs came from mastermind of landscape design Frederick Law Olmsted (think 1893 World’s Fair or NYC’s Central […]
A Brief History of Living in the Loop
Most of us think of downtown as a place for big business and shopping, but a few people actually live downtown. Inspired by the construction of the new Waterview Tower climbing to the skies near the river, I decided to explore a history of residential architecture in the Loop.It’s a topic that comes up fairly […]
Chicago Architecture and Ideas on Preservation
A sad truth about buildings is that they often come down. A great architect can build a great building and a savvy developer can buy it, demolish it and build a new one. In Chicago, with all our wonderful architecture, this is a song well sung. Thinking on this idea of preservation, I decided to […]