Chicago Architecture Tour: New Buildings

Discover the latest architectural developments in Chicago on a walking tour with the Chicago Architecture Center. Explore new buildings, their impact on the city, and compare them to older structures. Support education and community engagement by purchasing tickets.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Chicago Architecture Center - Start at the Chicago Architecture Center. Introductory remarks.
    Note: stop durations are estimates.
  • Pioneer Court - Discuss some buildings surrounding Pioneer Court
  • Tribune Tower - Discuss recent renovations and additions to the Historic Tribune Tower.
  • Optima Signature Apartments - Discuss trends in…
What's Included
  • Admission to the Galleries of the Chicago Architecture Center.
  • Narration by a professional and certified guide.
What's Not Included
  • Coat check
  • Hotel pick-up or drop-off
  • Storage for luggage or strollers
Additional Information

Take a 90-minute journey exploring the glittering new additions around Chicago Architecture Center, particularly focusing on construction elements and their contribution to the cityscape.
‘What’s New’ showcases some of the newest enhancements to the structural environment around the Chicago Architecture Center. This pedestrian exploration centers around…

Location
Chicago Architecture Center
East Wacker Drive
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(68 Ratings)
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Maps310022
Jul 13, 2025
New Chicago architecture - Our tour guide Mary Jo was very informative, she speaks with the architects about their buildings for a personal insight. Learning about how the new architecture builds off the old, how it impacts the neighborhood and the skyline is impressive. I would recommend this tour to anyone.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
326bonb
Jun 30, 2025
Walking tours with Chicago Architecture Center - Great tour. Learned a lot, and had a wonderful time! Tour guide Mary Jo was very knowledgeable, personable, and enthusiastic. Highly recommend it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alejandrodw6521dx
Jun 5, 2025
Amazing walk! - Fantastic Walking Architectural Tour with Paul Paul was an outstanding guide—knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about Chicago’s rich architectural history. He brought the city’s iconic buildings to life with fascinating stories and insights, all while keeping the tour well-paced and enjoyable. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a local, this tour offers a fresh perspective on Chicago’s skyline. Highly recommended! Alex
Review provided by Tripadvisor
144marjorieh
Apr 14, 2025
New Insights!! - We had a wonderful tour experience led by Paul S. of “What’s New” in Chicago architecture. I appreciated the breadth & depth of information shared and the “stories” presented about the architects, buildings, and community spaces viewed. Great tour for Chicagoans, as well as visitors to city. Learned a lot!
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Inna
Mar 31, 2025
What’s new walking tour from CAC with Paula - This tour started at Streetsville with Wrigley and Chicago Tribune buildings and covered new builds. Paula knew so much about architecture, history, story of each building, sustainability. Cannot recommend this tour enough.
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Mobile06107291269
Dec 30, 2024
Take a tour with Paul and learn about new Chicago! - We loved our rainy tour with Paul! He was able to answer all our questions and had a grat outlook on a less than ideal Chicago day. Highly recommend!
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Trip08806856623
Dec 12, 2024
Amazing. - We all had a great tour. Learned lots. Mary Ann was excited to teach us about her city. Chicago is an amazing place will return one day.
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Davidfe6747uu
Nov 23, 2024
An Entre to Chicago's Loop - Took the Chicago Architecture Center's 90 minute walking tour entitled "Loop as Lab" with guide Karen. An excellent, highly enjoyable tour of the center of the city with background history on the planning behind many of the city's most interesting downtown buildings, A wonderful complement to the Architecture Center's crown jewel.....which is the not be missed river architecture cruise.
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G3256ghcarolp
Nov 14, 2024
Seeing past and future in the present - Mary Jo led our tour of “What’s New”. It was an engaging and informative 90 minutes in which we learned how the current trends in architecture both draw upon and also depart from trends of the past. The tour area, North of the river and East of Michigan Avenue is architecturally rich: historically it housed the first non-indigenous settler and in the present day, demonstrates forward thinking elements, including environmental, in building design and use of materials. In one view you can see representations of every important architectural period in between. I wholly recommend this tour experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Arwestphoenixarizona
Oct 23, 2024
Really - try not to miss!!! - We took an excellent tour with Mary Jo on October 16th. She was very knowledgeable and presented an abundance of information in a clear, easily understood manner. She was attentive to all of the people and answered all questions with what seemed like genuine interest. She demonstrated good humor and a love of what she did. We have been on many CAF tours and we are never disappointed . This one, however, went beyond.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $35
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).