The 2015 edition of Chicago’s annual architecture festival was more popular than ever. Open House Chicago, the October 17-18 event orchestrated by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, offered up a cornucopia of architectural treasures for visitors to see up close.
The Foundation provided us with the final statistics for this year’s OHC:
- There were 85,000 attendees.
- They made 320,000 visits.
That is a 13% increase in traffic over the 2014 event when 75,000 attendees made 285,000 visits. Even more impressive, this year’s numbers represent an increase of nearly four times the number of visitors during the inaugural OHC in 2011.
According to the Foundation, the busiest sites this year included the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (8,264 visitors), and the Aon Center (8,176 visitors). The biggest draw was the Chicago Architecture Biennial (with 10,747 visitors). While OHC is over until next fall, the Biennial continues through January 3, 2016.
During OHC, more than 200 locations in 20 different neighborhoods are open to the public, at no charge. They include every imaginable architectural style and structure, from private clubs to residences, offices, hotels, theaters, architecture studios, schools, places of worship, manufacturing plants, and government buildings.
The Chicago Architecture Blog will continue featuring noteworthy locations from the 2015 OHC in the coming weeks.