Water and Steel

Chicago has a lot of tourist activities, but only one of them has been recommended to me by more than one city native: The Architecture Foundation River Cruise. Having tried to go once earlier in the summer only to arrive to sold out tickets, this time I planned ahead (a little bit). I snagged nine of the last ten tickets available for the time that we wanted, and our group proved just as lucky with the weather.

It was hard to believe our guide’s insistent claims of Chicago’s river-hating past with the water and the buildings along its banks looking so gorgeous. But, as she would remind us countless times throughout the tour, indeed, Chicago did not always appreciate its waterway. She also seemed determined to drill into our brains the idea of contextualism (yep, just as I suspected, Microsoft Word doubts the legitimacy of this word as much as I did). She used it to refer to the architects’ practice of mimicking the river’s qualities in their buildings’ designs. I remain unconvinced of all that, but it didn’t take fancy words or knowledge of architectural schools to recognize that Chicago’s river area has some of the most outstanding urban architecture around.

The tour was definitely an interesting way to see an area of the city that I hadn’t really explored yet, and it was undeniably informative. Perhaps, a tad too much so. I was expecting more entertainment, more stories behind the structures, rather than a mere litany of architecture firms, styles, and materials used. Nonetheless, on a nice day, it’s a pretty pleasant way to check out the downtown, and pick up a little cocktail party fodder while you’re at it.