On Friday, the Chicago Architecture Center will officially open its new home at 111 E. Wacker. You never heard of the Chicago Architecture Center? Not to worry: it’s our good old friend the Chicago Architecture Foundation, formerly housed in the Santa Fe Building at 224 S. Michigan. CAF has given itself a new name to go with the new digs.
That would now be the CAC River Cruise—more impressive than ever, given the new crop of towers along the banks of the Chicago River and Mayor Emanuel’s Riverwalk, pretty as a good pedicure, nestled at their feet.
A quick perusal of CAC’s website suggests that most walking tours are now $26, with some at $20. Also, most two-hour walks have been shortened to 90 minutes (And many tours had to be rerouted, since their starting point is now nearly a mile north of where it used to be.) You don’t have to be a curmudgeon to conclude that’s less tour for more money, but O’Connell says it’s a case of less is more: feedback has indicated tour fatigue after the hour-and-a-half mark.
There’s irony in this, but CAC can’t take the credit—er, blame—for altering this Miesian design: another stalwart Chicago architectural firm, Goettsch Partners, enclosed Mies’s “porch” at the direction of the building’s owner, who was offering it for lease as a retail site before CAC came along.
