Tours
Green in the Loop 1909-2009 architecture walking tour
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Daley Plaza, Washington St & Dearborn St (meet at Picasso sculpture)
Contact us to arrange a tour for your group
Introduction
Buy tickets
A city is made of more than monuments
What can I expect from this tour?
Tour details
Testimonials & Shoutouts
Your guide
Press
Related posts
More gratuitous architecture photos
The view skywards from the Blue Line stairs at Jackson and Dearborn Streets.
Introduction
While Chicago makes strides toward the future to become a green city, what did green mean a century ago?
In the early 20th century, architects and engineers did not depend entirely upon the highly advanced technologies we take for granted today. While newer advances such as electric light, elevators, and steel were increasingly used, buildings still relied heavily on tried and true engineering, design, and planning principles - locally-sourced materials, balancing structural redundancy with efficiency, on-site or local power generation, naturally lit and ventilated spaces, and civic responsibility.
Learning from past achievements will help illuminate the way toward truly sustainable cities.
(Please purchase tickets by 5:00pm the previous Friday.)
Tickets are $15.00 each and can be purchased online via PayPal
Image source: Google Earth
A city is made of more than monuments
These buildings are worthy of study.
Why?
Because they still stand.
They still stand because they were well-made, they work, and we love them.
These are testaments to their value.
From buildings designed by some of the world’s greatest architects to lesser-known gems, however, it is important to understand how a living city works (and worked) by learning about buildings in the fabric of the city of which they are a part, rather than as isolated monuments.
The dramatic entry to the Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago in view of railway lines, a trace of Chicago’s 19th century origins.
What can I expect from this tour?
This is not an exhaustive historical tour.
Names of architects, exact dates, exact building weight and height… all fun facts, but not the point. Those may be found online or any number of excellent publications on Chicago architecture.
You will not be quizzed.
This is not a test.
This tour is about experiencing buildings in their context, seeing how they are used, have been adapted, and imaging how they once were and might be again.
My intent is for you to leave this tour with a greater appreciation for the fundamentals of what make our buildings relevant.
Buildings you will visit include:
Carson Pirie Scott & Co.
Chicago Cultural Center (form. Chicago Public Central Library)
Monadnock Building
Railway Exchange (Santa Fe) Building
Hotel Burnham (form. Reliance Building)
Don’t forget… we won’t ignore the present city while touching upon the past.
Contemporary buildings and spaces visited will include:
Art Institute new addition and southwest garden
Bank One building and plaza
Daley Plaza
Harold Washington Library Center
U. S. Post Office - Loop Station (incl. Alexander Calder “Flamingo” sculpture)
We look forward to having you along!
Tour details
Type: Walking
Skill level: Moderate (stairs, brisk pace)
Distance: 2 miles, approximate
Suitable for: Ages 12 and up
Duration: 2 hours
Limit: 30 people
Notes: Ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
Inclement weather cancellations or cancellation due to low attendance will result in a credit for future tours to registered ticketholders.
Please purchase tickets by 5:00pm the previous Friday.
Testimonials & Shoutouts
“Dave’s green architectural tour is like no other. On the tour I learned about the design of Chicago from an architect’s perspective and what we as a society need to think about if we want to develop a sustainable eco-friendly city. Dave is undoubtedly an expert in the design of green buildings and spaces, and the concepts he shares are interesting and thought provoking. Prepare to be inspired. It is a tour worth taking!”
- Tina from Chicago, IL
“It was pretty fun and always nice to learn a few more things about this fascinating city.”
- James from Chicago, IL
“That was the most fun walking tour I’ve ever been on. Amy dug it. She commented on the intimacy. It was like having a good conversation with old friends.”
- Mark from Aurora, IL
City of Chicago’s Official Tourism Site
Ideal Bite
Your guide
Practicing architect Dave Hampton, principal of Hampton Avery Architects and a co-founder of Urban Habitat Chicago will lead this tour.
His projects include the New Orleans Global Green Competition, the Bronzeville rehab, sustainable strategies for residences near Tokyo, living walls with Repkin Biosystems, the Red Line, Green Roof Initiative with the 48th Ward, and other high-performance, energy-efficient building retrofits.
Dave has presented lectures on topics ranging from the work of pioneering structural engineers to building deconstruction at venues such as the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago Department on the Environment, and the Chicago Center for Green Technology.
Dave holds a B. Arch from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech, holds architectural licenses in Illinois and North Carolina, is a LEED Accredited Professional, is a Passive House™ Certified Consultant, and is a leader in advocating for building deconstruction and materials reuse as an alternative to demolition in Chicago.
Press
Tour de Force, Ideal Bite
Time Out Chicago
Related posts
If the subject of this tour interests you, see also:
10 hopes for the future of Chicago sustainable design
Is Green Good Enough?
Case study: Mt. Airy Public Library
Green infrastructure
More gratuitous architecture photos
The new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
GAR Rotunda in the Chicago Cultural Center. The dome once brought natural light to lower floors with the help of glass blocks inset in the tile mosaic floor.
Natural light penetrates 6 floors down in the atrium of the oft-overlooked Delaware Building (you’d never know it by eating in the ground-floor McDonald’s).
Typical mixed-use building in West Loop/Greektown with wells on north side for natural light and ventilation. Architect and date unknown. Sorry… not on the tour, but it’s just a great example.
The lobby of The Rookery.