Yesterday, after our lovely Austrian breakfast we went downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center, the main downtown information hub for tourists, to ask some questions about the Pullman Historic District, a planned industrial community, built in the 1880s by industrial magnate George Pullman, creator of the famous Pullman sleeper cars. We figured this would be an interesting place to visit since it brings together architecture, social and industrial history, and it would really give us insight into one of the most interesting personalities of Chicago's history.
To get more information about this neighbourhood we talked to one of the volunteer greeters who staff the Chicago Cultural Center and offer their local expertise to visitors free of charge. The Chicago Greeter program today offers 150 greeters speaking 20 languages and the Greeter program is one of the best ways of getting to know the city through the eyes of a local resident.
As a matter of fact, I had registered electronically for a Chicago Greeter Tour prior to my departure, but something had gone wrong with my registration and as a result I was not assigned a greeter. The good thing is that the City of Chicago also offers "InstaGreeters" - local volunteers / experts who take people on downtown walking tours without the necessity of a prior registration.
This is how we happened upon our very own personal InstaGreeter tour: Chicago Greeter and local expert Don talked to us a bit about the Pullman Historic District, but the more we talked, and the more he saw that we were really interested, he asked us whether we wanted a 20 minute tour of the Chicago Cultural Center. Considering that this is a Chicago landmark we readily agreed.
The Chicago Cultural Center was originally dedicated in 1897 as the city's original Public Library. It is an impressive limestone-faced building with intricate details, marble staircases, patterned ceilings, beautiful floor mosaics and two impressive stained glass domes. The cupola on the south side of the building is the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome.
Today the Cultural Center houses one of the city's Visitor Information Centers , various galleries, exhibition and meeting spaces, the Landmark Chicago Gallery which displays photographs from the permanent collection of Chicago landmarks, the 294-seat Claudia Cassidy Theater as well as the Studio Theater and various other facilities. You can even get married inside the Chicago Cultural Center.
Designed in the beaux-arts style by the Boston firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, the Chicago Cultural Center was completed in 1897 and dedicated as the city's original Chicago Public Library. Completed at a cost of nearly $2 million, this remarkable monument was inspired by the neo-classical style of the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893.
To start off, Don told us that the name of the city of Chicago is an Indian word for "stinky onion swamp". He also explained that Chicago is a city of superlatives: 3 of the world's 10 highest buildings are located here. Chicago is also widely considered to be the birthplace of modern architecture and a living museum of architecture, showcasing some of the world's most famous architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Gehry.
Chicago likes to do everything big. The world