This summer, I worked as an Exhibitions Intern at the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF). I had never been to Chicago before, so I spent my time in equal parts working on CAF projects, and trying to figure out what makes this metropolis of the Midwest tick.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation

As part of the MA program in Public Humanities at Brown, each student undertakes a practicum (work placement) over the summer. As a curator interested in urbanism and city planning, there simply are not that many institutions that reflect my interests, but the Chicago Architecture Foundation is one of the best. CAF is dedicated to promoting architectural innovation, high quality urban design, and vibrant communities throughout Chicago. Founded in 1966, the organization is best known for its expansive tour program—led by 450 volunteer docents—however, CAF’s scope has grown to include a range of excellent exhibitions and programs.

In my time there, I worked with the Exhibitions Pod of the Learning Department to reimagine the interpretation and wayfinding for the Chicago Model (seen below), and I participated in the interdepartmental “imagineering” phase of the upcoming Chicago: City of Big Data exhibition. I also developed CAF’s first digital exhibition interactives for the Chicago Model and the Next Stop design competition for Bus Rapid Transit stations in Chicago. Lastly, I undertook field research and designed exhibition strategies, templates, and mockups for a forthcoming community-based exhibition on Howard Street, the northern border between Chicago and Evanston, IL, as part of CAF’s Neighborhood Voices program.

My Adopted Neighborhood

Through the wonders of social connections, I was lucky enough to find a great sublet/roommate situation in the Ukrainian Village. The neighborhood’s scrappy, low-lying urbanism reminded me a lot of my time in Toronto. Although both Chicago and Toronto are usually identified by their skylines in popular media, outer neighborhoods like the Ukrainian Village and the nearby Wicker Park, or Palmerston-Little Italy and The Annex in Toronto, really defined my everyday life in both cities.

Cultural Institutions

Aside from CAF, Chicago has plenty of other cultural fare, as well as some of the most expensive entry fees I’ve ever encountered anywhere. Before this summer, I had never been to a museum that charged extra to see part of its permanent displays. Some museums cost close to $40 for an adult to get access to the entire regular museum, plus extra for touring exhibits.

Here’s the good news: some of the best institutions in the city happen to also be the most affordable—if not free. In particular, the Chicago History Museum, the Field Museum, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (free), the Chicago Cultural Center (free), the Newberry Library (free tours), and the Lincoln Park Zoo (free) offered some of my most memorable experiences in Chicago.

Architecture

You can’t talk about Chicago without talking about architecture. From the Beaux-Arts on, it seems like Chicago has one or more world-class examples of nearly every major architecture movement, and the talent that has called Chicago home is stunning—from Daniel Burnham to Louis Sullivan to Frank Lloyd Wright to Mies van der Rohe to Faziur Kahn at Skidmore Owings and Merrill whose brilliant engineering enabled the rise of supertall skyscrapers like the Sears Tower or the Burj Khalifa.

Below is just a sampling of some of my own favourite buildings, with a bit of a bias toward modernist concrete structures, as always.

Public Art & Public Spaces

When cities look to remodel a public space, they look to Millennium Park. I’m still not sure if I’m a convert of Millennium Park and Grant Park as a whole, but I will admit it’s impressive. As a tourist, I enjoyed the shared optical illusion of Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, the balance of playfulness and community pride in Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, and the lightweight monumentality of Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

But as a resident? I’m not sure I’d really use it. It was crowded, and full of strangers. There’s a lack of good local food and local businesses. It’s unique in some senses, but in other ways it feels like an open-air shopping mall—so overwhelming and manicured and safe.

I love greenspace, but Grant Park occupies over 80 downtown blocks worth of land without providing much everyday utility, in my opinion. One of the great things about New York’s Central Park is that despite its immense size, you can find a diversity of everyday uses both inside the park and on every side of it, as well as a network of useful paths that allows people to pass through the park as part of their daily routines. Grant Park, on the other hand, seems to rely heavily on attraction and spectacle.

Despite it’s fame, I think Chicago has many better, smaller, more useful public spaces than Grant Park, including the South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago—a great place for a quiet lunch or late afternoon read (if you work at CAF).

The Water

The other opportunity Grant Park misses out on is Lake Michigan. Despite appearances on a map and any claims to the contrary, Grant Park is not a waterfront park, nor does it offer reasonable access to the water. South Lakeshore Drive cuts off a small strip of land by the lake throughout the downtown, and once you get to the strip, there isn’t much to do.

Luckily, the areas both north and south of the downtown Loop pick up the slack. From the rolling coastline near Museum Campus or the Lakefront Trail north of Navy Pier you can find great views, amenities, institutions, and of course, access to the lake. The Chicago River also has plenty to offer, including cruises, parks, waterside restaurants, and some beautiful bridges.