Chicago skyline guide Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
regional architecture
About Chicago skyline guide
SeeArchitecturefor more on Chicago's skyscrapers and some of their shorter, notable counterparts. In the late 19th century, Chicago's downtown was an ideal location for architects of ambition; theGreat Chicago Fireof 1871 had literally gutted the downtown area, creating a relentless drive to re-build and ample space in which to do it. Chicago's engineers solved the problem of the load-bearing wall, liberating structures from the limits of what a masonry foundation could support. Built in 1885, William LeBaron Janney's 10-story Home Insurance Building was the first to use a steel-frame skeleton to support its walls — at one-third of the weight of a structure using conventional means. Real estate prices and building heights soared in the years that followed, but the boom years of the 1920s f
Chicago skyline guide Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 4 sections including: