With more and more people rediscovering their combs, re-learning how to put on pants, and creeping outside again, there is a window of opportunity afoot: The gap between Chicago awakening from its quarantine sleep, and the arrival of tourists from other somnambulant cities.
The Chicago Architecture Center (111 East Wacker Drive) is among the city’s attractions that plan to open up again next week. So this may be the time to get in to see what’s new before things go back to normal.
The Center will open next Friday (July 3, 2020) at 10:00am. After that, it will be open Thursday through Monday from 10am to 4pm. However, the design studio and lecture hall will remain closed.
One of the biggest draws of the Chicago Architecture Center is its model gallery. When the doors open again, there will be three new Chicago models, and four from other parts of the world on display:
- Jahn’s 1000M, currently on a construction pause down the street
- Rafael Viñoly Architects’ NEMA Chicago in the South Loop
- Studio Gang’s Solstice on the Park down in Hyde Park
- Büro Ole Scheeren’s King Power MahaNakhon in Bangkok
- SOM’s Tianjin CTF Finance Centre in Tianjin, China
- Handel Architects’ Sendero Verde in New York
- C.Y. Lee & Partners Architects’ Taipei 101 in Taipei
In addition, the great big Chicago model has had 30 of its buildings updated, including the Ace Hotel, and the Willis Tower podium.
If all that inside action is no longer to your taste, the CAC is still operating fifty walking tours around the city. And if even that level of socializing still gives you the heebie jeebies, you can arrange a private tour for just you and your family members for $180 ($135 for members).
