Architecture trip to Chicago (Illinois and Wisconsin): Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe

Join us for this trip guided in French and proposed by Le Journal de l’Architecte in collaboration with Artchitectours.

Dates to be confirmed soon.

We offer you the possibility to visit monuments of great architects such as Mies van der Rohe or Frank Lloyd Wright while enjoying this city full of surprises, the current cultural capital of the United States.

Frank Lloyd Wright is the forerunner of the term “organic architecture” or building in the natural environment. Since the beginning of his career, he has rejected the neo-classical and Victorian styles that prevailed at the end of the 19th century. He has always opposed the imposition of a style, convinced that the form of each building must be linked to its function, the environment and the materials used in its construction. Another of his other fundamental contributions to modern architecture is the free plant, with which he created impressive spaces that vary from season to season. This concept can be found in the prairie houses in Illinois. After developing his art in several destinations; he moved to Wisconsin, where he built his own house “Taliesin” and a school inspired by the master-disciple relationship.

Program:

DAY 1:

International flights from the different destinations of the participants.

DAY 2:

Arrival in Chicago. Welcome at the airport by our Artchitectours guide and departure by private bus to the hotel, the Congress Plaza Hotel.

Walking tour of the second largest business district in the United States after Manhattan. We will discover the following buildings:
– The auditorium building, designed by architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan.
– The Railway Exchange building designed by Frederick P. Dinkelberg of DH Burnham & Company in the Chicago style.
– Reliance Building designed by Charles B. Atwood from Daniel H. Burnham’s studio.
– The Federal Center of Chicago now called the Kluczynski Federal Building, by Mies van der Rohe.
– Monadnock Building. The north half of the building was designed by Burnham & Root, the south half was designed by Holabird & Roche.
– The Rookery, designed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root, The Rookery was remodeled in 1905 by Frank Lloyd Wright.
– The Sears Tower, designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineers Srinivasa and Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Welcome dinner and introduction of the participants in the typical historical restaurant of the city Gino’s East – South Loop. First night in Chicago.

DAY 3:

We will visit the University of Chicago, one of the most prestigious and influential universities in the world. Among its alumni and professors there are no less than 89 Nobel Prize winners. We will walk around the university campus, including the following landmarks: Rafael Viñoly’s Booth School of Business, Eero Saarinen’s Law School Library, SOM’s Regenstein Library and Murphy and Jahn’s Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, among others.

In Hyde Park we can see a historical house, considered one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s greatest achievements, the Robbie House, built between 1906 and 1909. Afterwards, we will have the opportunity to attend Gospel singing in the Apostolic Church of God.

Then we will see the Illinois Institute of Technology, designed in large part by Ludwig Mies Vander Rohe and awarded by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). We will visit it from the outside. Some of the world’s most famous buildings, designed by legendary architects, are located on the IIT’s main campus in Chicago. The Crown Hall, a national historic monument of glass and steel, a marvel of engineering and simplicity designed by former IIT professor and Dean of Architecture Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The subway passes through the McCormick Campus Tribune Center designed by Rem Koolhaas.

We will be able to visit the Adler Planetarium from the outside, the first planetarium in the United States, built in 1930. It is located along Lake Michigan and offers a beautiful panoramic view of the city.

To conclude the day, we will have dinner on the 70th floor of the sumptuous Cité restaurant, with a breathtaking view of the lake and the city.

DAY 4:

We’ll take a private bus to Oak Park. This small town contains several architectural works of the movement called “Prairie School”, including the Unity Temple, Wright’s house and studio, as well as some private homes. We will be able to visit the Unity Temple inside with a specialized guide. The first public building built by the architect F. Ll. Wright, this church that he called “my jewel” was considered revolutionary at the time for its cubist style, very different from the places of worship of the time.

We will also take a tour of the interior and exterior of the F. Ll. Wright Home & Studio with a professional guide. The architect was 22 years old when he decided to borrow $5,000 from his employer to build this house.

Then we will go to Racine to the F. LL. Johnson Wax headquarters. Wright’s Johnson Wax headquarters was designated a national historic monument in 1976, a distinction given to national historic landmarks. The building was for the architect “an experiment in design and construction”. We will visit the Wright Administration Building, the Research Tower and the Norman Foster Fortress Hall, a completely transparent oval building.

We will also be able to visit the Wingspread House. This house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Herbert Fisk Johnson, President of the S.C. Johnson. Today it is used as a conference centre.

At the end of the day, we will travel to Spring Green, Wisconsin, where we will stay at the House on the Rock Resort.

DAY 5:

In Wisconsin, we will take a tour inside and outside Taliesin, the house, studio and summer residence of F. LL Wright. Taliesin was Wright’s primary residence as a mature designer, and the valley was his inspiration and lifelong laboratory for architectural design and innovation. Taliesin, in its three iterations (1911, 1914, 1925), represents the most complete embodiment of Wright’s philosophy on organic architecture.

We will have a moment to eat at one of the Center’s restaurants while admiring the natural landscape.

Then we will travel to Illinois for the night.

DAY 6:

Departure to Ruth Ford’s house, where we will have a private tour with the owner of the house, the architect Mr. Sidney Robinson.

Start of the exceptional visit of the Ruth Ford House by Bruce Goff. This architectural work has the shape of a three-story dome.

Departure to Plano, beginning of the interior and exterior tour of the Farnsworth House designed and built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Guided tour of the house by an official guide, 20 minutes inside the house and one hour outside accompanied by an expert from the foundation.

After the tour, departure to Chicago. Jazz night at Andy’s Jazz Club.

DAY 7:

Departure of the one and a half hour cruise on the Chicago River, during which we will see from a different perspective no less than 30 buildings in Chicago.

In the afternoon we will visit the Art Institute to admire its new wing designed by Renzo Piano. It is the second largest art museum in the country after the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and houses one of the most important art collections in the United States. The visit will be followed by the Millennium Park, A. Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, the J. Pritzker Pavilion, the F.O. Gehry Walkway and the Chicago Cultural Center at Sepley, Rutan and Coolidge.

Visit the exterior of several buildings of more than 50 floors such as the Aqua Building by Loewenberg and Studio Gang, the Marina City by B. Goldberg, the IBM Building by Mies van der Rohe, the Trump Hotel and Tower by SOM, the Lake Point Tower by J. Heinrich and G., the Schipporeit Tower on Lake Point and the apartments by Mies van der Rohe on the lake shore.

To end this day, you can watch the sunset from the Hancock Tower. At a height of 310 meters, from the top of the 94th floor, you can enjoy a show that promises to be magnificent.

DAY 8:

Free day to enjoy the city of Chicago at your convenience: Chicago architecture foundation, several museums, shopping, etc.

DAY 9:

The hotel concierge will take care of the bags. Free morning to improve your knowledge of Chicago’s architecture.

Departure by private bus to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Return to the cities of origin.

End of the trip.

*Program subject to change.

More information (price, registrations, booking conditions): caquino@artchitectours.fr