Take a look at the "big picture"

Every once in a while it’s good to take a step back and look at the “big picture”, right? I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. Now, it may have taken until the final few tours of the Around Chicago in 85 Tours challenge, but I think I found the tour that really looks at the “big picture”: Skyscraper Walk Thru Time.


Skyscraper Walk Thru Time tour group

As I’ve taken all these tours I’ve often heard other tour-goers struggle with the timeline—“wait, so this building was designed just before that building?”, “which building is older again?”—and I can completely understand their confusion. Not only do different architectural styles blend and merge, but it isn’t like buildings from the same era are clustered together on city blocks. The Loop is a mix of styles and eras. Getting a firm grasp on “what came first” can be difficult.


The Berghoff Buildings

Difficult unless you’re on the Skyscraper Walk Thru Time tour.

Full disclosure here: I had already visited every building on this tour and was frankly pretty familiar with every building on this tour. If I had to do the Around Chicago in 85 Tours Challenge all over again (don’t hold your breath), I would have done this tour in the beginning (unfortunately for me, the Skyscraper Walk Thru Time tour was created midway through the challenge so I wouldn’t have been able to take it earlier anyway).

But my point is that this tour is a great way to get the “big picture”. And, I dare say, this tour was an “aha” moment for me because it made everything fall into place. Pam, our docent for the tour, did an excellent job not only telling us about the buildings on the tour but also of how those buildings relate to each other and how a building’s style or design built upon those of the past. Now I can see how the Berghoff Buildings, the Marquette Building, the Federal Center and Trump Tower relate to each other. I don’t know if it’s human nature or if I’m having a slight bout of OCD, but the chronological order of this tour really appealed to me.

Skyscraper Walk Thru Time is a great introductory tour. It will really lay the foundation for future tours and, of course, it gives the "big picture" of Chicago architecture.

Thank you Pam for a great tour. And thank you to the Twitter, Facebook and blog followers who joined me!

Visit http://bit.ly/btWcri for upcoming departure dates for the Skyscraper Walk Thru Time tour, and visit www.architecture.org/tours to see our complete tour schedule.

Then get on out there and get touring!

There's no shame being a tourist in your own city.

See you around town!
Jennifer