CHICAGO — The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), located at 111 East Wacker Drive in Chicago, is pleased to announce it reopens beginning five days per week on Friday, July 3 at 10 a.m. Central Time.
The center’s spacious Drake Family Skyscraper Gallery reopens with seven new models on display, on loan from acclaimed design firms worldwide: 1000M (JAHN, est. completion 2022), Tianjin CTF Finance Centre (SOM, 2019), King Power MahaNakhon (Büro Ole Scheeren, 2016), NEMA Chicago (Rafael Viñoly Architects, 2019), Sendero Verde (Handel Architects, est. completion 2022), Solstice on the Park (Studio Gang, 2019) and Taipei 101 (C.Y. Lee & Partners Architects / Planners, 2004, on loan from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago).
Credit: Michael Courier
In the Chicago Gallery, the center’s popular and interactive Chicago City Model Experience reopens with more than 30 updates to its more than 4,250 detailed, miniature buildings fabricated by Columbian Model & Exhibit Works, Ltd. including the Ace Hotel (GREC Architects, 2017) and Catalog in the new podium at Willis Tower (Gensler, 2020).
In addition, the CAC has reinstated nearly 50 options for CAC walking tours for members and the general public, each limited to a maximum of six attendees and available in three types: Public CAC walking tours, free to CAC members, $26 per person for non-members; My Social Circle private tours for “friends and family,” $135 per group for CAC members, $180 for non-members; and Architecture Conversations custom tours, created based on preferred locations and areas of interest and starting at $375 for two hours.
Select CAC walking tours began June 20 focused on city neighborhoods, near suburbs and downtown areas including Beverly, Chinatown, Evanston, Hyde Park, Kenwood and more. These tour offerings include Art Deco Skyscrapers: The Loop; Historic Skyscrapers; Evanston Along the Lake; Fort Sheridan; Fulton-Randolph Market: From Gritty to Gourmet; Lake Bluff; Navy Pier; Vice to Nice: Transformation of the South Loop; and White City Revisited.
Additional tours are available beginning Friday, July 3, departing from the reopened center at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. These downtown tour offerings include Chicago Architecture: A Walk Through Time; Mid-Century Modern; and Must-See Chicago.
Unlimited public CAC walking tours and center admission remain free to all current CAC members; CAC Live events online — featuring authors, historians, industry leaders and representatives from the CAC’s corps of more than 600 docents — continue through summer 2020.
All Chicago Architecture Center galleries and the CAC Design Store will be open Thursdays through Mondays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Center admission is free to CAC members and children ages five and younger, $12 for adults and $8 for students with a valid ID. The ArcelorMittal Design Studio and the Joan and Gary Gand Lecture Hall remain closed until further notice.
All center visitors and CAC walking tour attendees are prompted to acknowledge and accept the CAC’s COVID-19 safety policies supporting recommendations from public health officials and developed in accordance with the Protecting Chicago and Restoring Illinois frameworks. All visitors are asked to enter the center from East Wacker Drive and exit the center through the CAC Design Store into Illinois Center and the Chicago Pedway. Alternatives to cash for transactions are preferred but not required. Those arriving without an appropriate face covering may purchase one for $14 including tax. CAC safety policies are subject to change.
Tickets for all public CAC walking tours must be purchased in advance, online at architecture.org/tours. Those seeking reservations for My Social Circle private tours along existing routes, and for Architecture Conversations custom tours, are encouraged to email groupsales@architecture.org. Until further notice, walk-ups without reservations cannot be accommodated for tours not departing from the center at 111 East Wacker Drive.
Details regarding the reinstatement of Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruises aboard Chicago’s First Lady will be announced via separate release.
