America is full of towns known for their historic architectural sights, places where people can trace the contours of manmade structures, ponder their designs, and speculate their histories. But standing alongside great architecture is only part of it. To truly experience a place, you must look beyond the tiny print of your guidebook and see these structures with new eyes-a local's eyes.
Chicago, Ill. When it comes to showcasing America's finest collection of architectural accomplishments, Chicago is arguably at the top of the list. As far back as the turn of the 20th century, the Chicago School and the likes of Frank Gehry gave rise to one of the world's most influential skylines. Since then the city has worked diligently to maintain its longstanding reputation.
And because the architectural abundance of this historic city can be a bit overwhelming, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers a long list of guided tours to enlighten your architectural curiosities. CAF offers tours by foot, bike, bus and boat, but their finest tour is a riverboat cruise through the heart of the city. Chicago's First Lady fleet explores 50 of the city's most architecturally noteworthy buildings-including Tribune Tower, Marina City and 35 East Wacker Drive-all from the unrivaled perspective of the Chicago River.
The Chicago area also offers the world's largest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural creations. Nearby Oak Park, where Wright lived and worked for the first 20 years of his career (1889-1909), is home to 24 of these creations. Whether in Oak Park or Chicago, The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust is the best source for daily walking tours.
New York, N.Y. New York City's rich mixture of cultures along with a long history of imaginative thinkers has led to an equally rich collection of architectural styles. It seems everywhere you turn in this city another variety towers over you. There's the Art Deco style of Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building; the Gothic style of the Woolworth Building; the Neo-Roman New York Stock Exchange building; and the green design of the Condé Nast Building; not to mention the brownstone row, Tudor Revival and Victorian-style homes found throughout the residential areas.
Overwhelmed yet? Don't be. Levys" Unique New York will explain everything on their architectural highlights walking tour of this great melting pot. No one is more knowledgeable or more entertaining when it comes to explaining the complexities of New York than fourth-generation New Yorkers Mark and Matt Levy and their team of guides.
Afterward, step aboard a Classic Harbor Line yacht to circumnavigate Manhattan while sipping champagne and listening to Members of the American Institute of Architects" New York Chapter narrate the story of NYC's skyscrapers, parks, monuments, waterfront architecture, and all the bridges and tunnels along the way.
Savannah, Ga. When you're fed up with the big city, head south to Savannah, Ga., where carefully renovated architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries abounds. Savannah's Historic District, including parts of the original town plan from 1733, is a National Historic Landmark. Here you'll find the Green Meldrim House, where during the Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman set up his headquarters before gifting the city of Savannah to President Lincoln. The house is full of unusual architectural features, including an entrance consisting of three sets of doors, beautiful oriel windows and silver-plated hinges and doorknobs throughout the house.
Savannah's neighborhoods are a textbook of architectural charm like the Federal style of the Davenport House, built in 1820, and the ornate Victorian style of the Magnolia Place Inn. Fully restored houses like the Andrew Low House are time machines to a period when a house's design was a work of art. The Owens-Thomas House, built around 1817 and complete with a carriage house, is flawlessly preserved English Regency architecture, while visitors to the Gingerbread Historic House, built in 1899, will see the best of Steamboat Gothic architecture.
But Savannah and its buildings offer little more than sightseeing strolls and photo opportunities without a knowledgeable guide to open the door to Savannah's rich and singular history. Jonathan Stalcup at Architectural Savannah is just the kind of guide who can entertain and inspire your sense of wonder, all without overloading you with bland historical jargon. Best of all, the tour's size is always limited to a small number, so your Savannah experience will be an intimate one.
San Francisco, Calif. San Francisco offers visitors a long list of architectural wonders beginning with the characteristic Golden Gate Bridge, the towering Transamerica Pyramid, the green architecture of the city's federal building and the Beaux-Arts style of City Hall. But dig a little deeper and you'll strike gold with the Victorian-style Conservatory of Flowers, the Beaux-Arts style War Memorial Opera House and the breathtaking magnificence of Grace Cathedral.
Surrounding these giants of architecture are neighborhoods showcasing Victorian architecture in the flat front and slanted bay Italianates, dating back to the 1870s; San Francisco stick-style houses with their decorative mill work and trim, dating back to the 1880s; and the eccentric tower and row styles of the Queen Anne, which began appearing in the 1890s
But to gain more than just a list of dates and vocabulary, walk a while with the city's leading expert, Rick Evans, on his San Francisco Walking Tour through the city's financial district, where he'll teach you about the city's many modern and historic gems and rooftop gardens and a wealth of secrets and stories you'd otherwise miss. Then step out on his newest architectural walking tour of Chinatown.
Remember, you can travel and simply see a place, but to travel well, you must experience the richness of that place. Too often we drive through towns with our faces pressed against windows and stroll the streets whipping our heads from side to side, trying to make sense of it all before turning to the next spectacle. But what, we ask, are we really seeing? Go explore America's architecture, but don't miss the real beauty of these places and their structures. Follow in the footsteps of a proud and passionate local who knows the stories, the histories and the secrets, and return home with more than just pictures.| by Kyle Whitecotton |
