The Gwen: How the Carved Relief Frame Is Actually Made
A hotel on North Michigan Avenue in a 1920s building with a sculpted limestone facade and an upper terrace.
The Blackstone: Working a Building With Two Vocabularies
A 1910 Beaux-Arts hotel on South Michigan Avenue, with period public rooms and contemporary renovated interiors.
Virgin Hotels Chicago: A Venue of Small Rooms Rather Than Large Ones
A hotel in a 1928 Loop office building, with a series of smaller event spaces and a rooftop bar.
The Robey: How Light Moves Through a Narrow Tower
A 1929 Art Deco tower at the Wicker Park six-corners junction, with upper-floor rooms and a rooftop.
The Waldorf Astoria Chicago: A Walled Courtyard in a City
A hotel in Chicago's Gold Coast with a private walled entrance courtyard and French-influenced interiors.
Lincoln Park Zoo: Reading a City Park Hour by Hour
A zoo set within Lincoln Park, with a lily pond, historic brick animal houses and the skyline rising behind the trees.
The Chicago History Museum: Making the Glass-Dome Frame
A museum on the southern edge of Lincoln Park, with a stained glass dome, mosaic floors and park frontage.
The Palmer House: How the Frescoed Ceiling Frame Is Actually Made
A grand hotel in the Chicago Loop, known for its frescoed lobby ceiling and sweeping staircase.
The Drake Hotel: A Grand Ballroom and a Lake Michigan Window
A 1920s grand hotel where Michigan Avenue meets Lake Shore Drive, with ballrooms facing Lake Michigan.
The Chicago Athletic Association: Dark Wood and Stained Glass
A former gentlemen's club on Michigan Avenue, now a hotel, with wood-panelled rooms and stained glass overlooking Millennium Park.