Chicago at Two Levels
A self-guided architecture walk from the Tiffany dome to the Chicago River, with three photographs and places to pause along the way.
Start indoors under a glass canopy, then walk north on Michigan Avenue until the street lifts over the river. End on the south bank, where the same bridge looks like a machine. Three stops, all within downtown Chicago.
Start under the Tiffany dome
Enter the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E Washington Street, across from Millennium Park. Head to Preston Bradley Hall and stand near the center of the room. Follow one band of glass from the rim toward the center, then step back and find the same curve in the arches around the room. The view changes more from moving across the floor than from zooming in.
Admission is free. Check the city’s Chicago Cultural Center visitor page for access, hours, and closures.
Walk north to the DuSable Bridge
Return to Michigan Avenue and follow it north to the Chicago River. On the bridge, pause where you can see the Wrigley Building across the water. Look for the dark clock face against the pale terra-cotta tower, then look lower for the passage connecting the two buildings. It’s a good place to frame a tall building with some river in the foreground.
The bridge opened in 1920. Its two levels carry different streams of traffic, which is easier to see from the riverbank. Chicago Architecture Center’s bridge profile
Follow the south bank west
Return to the south end of the bridge and follow Riverwalk signs down from Wacker Drive. Walk west toward Wabash Avenue. Turn back toward Michigan Avenue when the bridge and the Wrigley tower fit in the same view. At water level, the bridge deck makes a horizontal line across a skyline of towers. Look under the deck for the steel truss as you pass.
For a photo, try the view east after the building lights come on. The cover photograph shows how the sky, windows, and reflections can hold three different colors in the same frame. Check the city’s Riverwalk information before heading down.
Photo credits
Cover, Chicago River toward Michigan Avenue at blue hour, NorbertNagel. The cover uses Wikimedia’s resized image and may be cropped by the page layout.
Chicago Cultural Center Tiffany Dome Design, Lauramckenziewaters. Displayed from Wikimedia’s resized image.
Chicago River and Wrigley Building – 01, NorbertNagel. Displayed from Wikimedia’s resized image.
All three photographs are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.