We had never visited Chicago before, but we felt a certain familiarity the moment we saw the city’s skyline taking shape across the darkening spring sky. The towering skyscrapers against the moonlight gave an indelible impression that we were driving towards Gotham City. Well, we didn’t see Batman this time around, but the Windy City will indeed double as the caped crusader’s home in the upcoming movie depicting his first year of crime fighting.
Movies, indeed, were the source of our awareness with the place: The Untouchables, The Fugitive, Road to Perdition, and, of course, Chicago. Those and countless other films were shot here for a reason—the place makes for an exciting setting, with its breathtaking scenery and even more dramatic history.
Chicago (Native American for “smelly onion patch”) began as an outpost in the prairie river area. The pioneer settler of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an African American from Sainte-Domingue (Haiti), built the first permanent settlement in 1779. After a great increase in population and trade, much of the city was burned down in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Legend has it that a cow owned by a certain Mrs. O’Leary’s kicked over a lantern and that began the whole blaze. As the city had been built mainly of wood, 17,000 houses were gutted by the fire in one night. The following day, instead of seeing only utter destruction, the city officials envisioned a blank canvass on which the best architects in the world could paint their ambitious designs. Indeed, the builders of the new city would soon give rise to a modern architecture that would influence the entire world.
The best way to take in the city is the Architectural Tour, conducted on a boat cruising the Chicago River—this is the river that is dyed green every St. Patrick’s Day. Not too long ago, it was nearly glowing green on its own thanks to all the pollutants that drained into the river. That was quite alarming since it drained into Lake Michigan. The solution was typical Chicago: reverse the direction of the river itself. An engineering project more massive than the digging of the Panama Canal was begun in 1900. After that, instead of letting its sewage and industrial waste flow east into the lake, Chicago began sending its sewage south into the Corn Belt.
More superlatives were also taking shape. The modern skyscraper was born here, as the conventional construction technique using load-bearing walls gave way to the load-carrying structural frame. Chicago’s John Root invented the caisson system of foundations, which made possible the modern skyscraper. The first one to be built was the Home Insurance Building, erected in 1885.
After this, the sky was truly the limit where construction was concerned. Higher buildings allowed large numbers of people to live and work in a limited area. Daniel Burnham’s Reliance Building of 1895 is one of the masterpieces of the Chicago School, and it was converted in 1999 into the hip new Hotel Burnham. Mr. Burnham was the co-author of the Chicago Plan, which laid out plans for the future of the city in 1909. He also drew up plans for the then colonial cities of Baguio and Manila.
Many prominent Chicago buildings are built right on the riverbank, including the massive Merchandise Mart, the world’s largest building when it opened in 1931. Shrewd business tycoon Joseph P. Kennedy snapped up the structure after the war just by paying its back taxes. The elegant Beaux Arts Jewelers Building stands on the south bank, capped by a domed rotunda that once housed Al Capone’s favorite speakeasy. Across that is the masterpiece of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the shimmering IBM Building. Mr. Mies van der Rohe favored restraint in design, famously saying that “Less is more” and “God is in the details.”
Chicago became home to the world’s tallest building in 1973 when the Sears Tower was topped off after three years of construction. Designed by architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it is still the tallest building in the world, when measured from sidewalk to the highest occupied floor (110th), and from sidewalk to the top of the roof. On a clear day, it does seem like you can see forever from your vantage point on the Sears Skydeck, 400 meters (one quarter mile) above the ground. Or at least as far away as four of the surrounding states.
Other influential builders were Louis Sullivan, a philosopher and romantic who advocated the idea of “form follows function.” Frank Lloyd Wright, who favored, open, deconstructed spaces, founded the “prairie school” of architecture. He built many residences whose horizontality evoked the breadth of the prairies.
On the shores of Lake Michigan are the Shedd Aquarium, proclaimed to be the largest indoor aquarium in the world, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum and Navy Pier. Any of those sites are worth a few hours of touring. The streets near Lakeshore Drive are also home to the campuses of Loyola and Northwestern Universities, two of the country’s most prominent schools.
Chicago is home to quite a varied range of performing arts as well. We experienced a performance of the extraordinary Blue Man Group. That was a journey to an alternate reality, often hilarious and always entertaining.
When the weather gods are in your favor, the city basks in glorious sunshine. Even then, this is not called the Windy City for nothing. Walking around the wide basin of the Soldier Field stadium near Lake Michigan, it took a mighty effort just to stay upright. Wind chill factor plunged the pleasantly cool temperature to a biting iciness that was merciless on the hands and ears. We thought Detroit was cold!
Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile is known for its high-end establishments like the Louis Vuitton flagship store, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the opulent Drake Hotel. The 1925 Tribune Tower, with its flying buttresses and Gothic detailing, houses the editorial offices of Chicago’s morning newspaper. With the Tribune Tower marking its southern end, the Mag Mile’s northern area is dominated by the John Hancock Center, its steel cross-bracing also designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
No visit is complete without sampling great food, and our hosts obliged with generous servings of deep dish pizza. It’s quite different from New York Pizza, as it’s quite heavy on the tomato sauce and much more of a mouthful. Though Detroit deep dish didn’t stand much of a chance, a Detroit import, heavily influenced by New York, is the best in its field. That would be The Cheesecake Factory, with its sumptuous entrées and sinful Godiva cheesecake.
We left the city the same way we entered—driving on the elevated highway, gazing at the moonlit skyline. This time though, we understood more of how the city was built, and went away even more impressed.
The river flows the wrong way; change its direction. They build high; you build them higher. As Sean Connery said in The Untouchables, “That’s the Chicago way.”
By Jason Ang | Photos by Jason Ang
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