Steel, Stone, and Ego
After the Great Fire, Chicago handed the keys to a bunch of ambitious architects and said — fix this. What followed was a century of skyscrapers, scandals, and egos the size of the buildings themselves. You'll meet the man who invented "form follows function" and died broke, a political dynasty that turned one building into a fifty-times fortune, and an artist who REALLY wishes you'd stop calling his sculpture "the bean."
Start This ExperienceWhat You'll Experience
A taste of what you'll hear
10 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.
"Look at this ridiculous building. It looks like a tiny castle that got lost on its way to medieval England and ended up on Michigan Avenue."
"The Rookery. Completed in 1888. One of the oldest standing high-rises in Chicago, and the site of a tragedy that changed American architecture. This building was designed by two partners — Daniel Burnham and John Root."
"This is a bonus stop for architecture nerds, and if you've made it this far, you probably qualify. The Monadnock Building is one of the most important buildings in architectural history, and it looks like a very large, very serious brick."
Part tour, part game
Most of what you hear is true. But we slip in a few things that aren't. At the end, there's a quiz — can you tell which facts were real?
It makes you pay attention. And it's way more fun than just listening.
Have questions? Just ask.
Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.
Ready?
Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.
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