One Final Look Inside Noble Square’s Saint Boniface Church
For close to a decade we’ve been telling you about the saga of Saint Boniface Church in Noble Square. Completed in 1904, shuttered in 1990, since then it’s watched both its convent and school fall to the wrecking ball. Over the years, there has been lots of talk about turning the building into something more than it currently is, and in the last few years that notion gained steam with Stas Development’s plan to turn...
What Summer Looks Like in Chicago: 2018 Edition
About a decade ago we ran a series of articles showing the rooftop pools of various buildings around downtown Chicago. It was a great taste of urban life during the lazy days of the year. Now that the first full week of summer is here, we present a selection of photos from around the city showing updated views of the parks, roofs, balconies, pools, and other places where Chicagoans spend their free time in the sunshine. Be sure to...
Road Trip to Chicago’s Gritty, Colorful Past
It’s hard to escape Chicago. It doesn’t matter where you go on this big blue marble of ours, Chicago seems to follow us around. Museums in Seattle feature items salvaged from demolished Chicago buildings. Las Vegas has dozens of Chicago eateries, including Al’s Beef, Garrett’s Popcorn, and a second Giordano’s location under construction. Asia is dusted with Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grills. Tokyo has...
CBRE Urban Photography Contest Now On
There are almost as many photographers in Chicago as there are sights to photograph. So if you’re a shutterbug at heart, here’s a chance to prove your stuff. Global real estate giant CBRE is now accepting entries for this year’s urban photography contest. Of course, choosing a favorite photograph is like choosing a favorite child. The good news is that you can enter up to 24 different photos. Chicago was not...
Eight Weird And Wacky Facts About The Newberry Library
Books often hold mysteries and strange facts, but the library buildings holding them are generally less interesting. Not so with Chicago’s stately Newberry Library at 60 West Walton Street. The Newberry Library has some very interesting architectural elements, and wealthy benefactor Walter Newberry—who gave the library its name—well, let’s just say that his life ended in a manner worthy of a book. I learned these true tales of the...
Frozen Chicago From Above
Thanks to Spy Tim for dropping a link in our Tip Line to this video by Soaring Badger Productions taken by one of those toy quadcopters. It’s a tour of the downtown Chicago shoreline on a frosty frosty Chicago day. Quadcopters were all the rage this past Christmas, and high quality videos are starting to flood the video sharing sites. Expect to see a lot more of these sort of videos. It’s a nice video, with lots of...
Best Places to View the Chicago Cityscape
Home to the first skyscraper, Chicago, Illinois, set a precedent of what can be accomplished with imagination, perseverance, and a little bit of iron and steel. Architectural visionaries and engineering geniuses pioneered the way, creating the blueprints of what is now Chicago’s remarkable cityscape. Here at Expedia Viewfinder, examining and learning about architecture is one of our favorite ways to explore any location. Because its...
Your OHC Photos: Lombard Spy Matt
Lombard Spy Matt was in attendance at Open House Chicago this past weekend. He’s also among the shutterbugs who sent in their photographs from the Chicago Architecture Foundation event for us to share with you. Enjoy the show below. And if you have any pictures to share, e-mail them to...
Your OHCPhotos: Logan Square Spy Daniel
Logan Square Spy Daniel was first out of the box to share his Open House Chicago photographs with us. It’ll be a few weeks before all those sign-in sheets are tallied and the Chicago Architecture Foundation can figure out how many people attended this year’s event. Last year was 55,000. This year’s goal was 60,000. Check out Daniel’s photos below. And if you have any pictures to share, e-mail them to...
Slice of Life: Bright Lights, Big City
As much as we dread Chicago winters, they make for spectacular nighttime skyline shots. What? An architect in Houston once explained to me that skyscrapers in Chicago tend to be brighter than those in southern, warmer cities because those buildings use glass that is designed to aggressively keep the sun and heat of the day out. The result is dimmer office building windows at night, and less pretty nighttime skyline photos. This...
