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The boxy art deco, modern and post-modern skyscrapers of Chicago convey more authority than the shoulder pads of a 1980s power suit. Cathy Adams is, ahem, blown away by the impactful architecture in the ‘Windy City’

Experiences CHICAGO

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The Loop owes its name to the L train (slang for ‘elevated’). All Chicago’s L trains circle the Loop at some point on their route, and some pass within a few feet of the buildings.

A 90-second lift journey takes you to the viewing platform of Chicago’s chunky Willis Tower. A few more steps and you’ll reach its star attraction, a glass

box suspended four feet out over South Wacker Drive. Look down for an aerial view of 103 floors of air, while on a clear day you can see four separate states on the horizon.

Formerly the world’s tallest building, the Willis Tower – or the Sears Tower, as it’s still known to many US Midwesterners – is now nowhere near the height of the super-tall, peacocking structures in the Middle East. But that’s OK. It’s part of Chicago’s landscape, where in one panorama you get a Lego-esque line-up of 19th- and 20th-century architectural movements. It’s a bricks-and-mortar paean to a city constantly reinventing itself.

Start with the Loop – or downtown – which is Chicago’s financial heart, with its clutch of skyscrapers along the Chicago River and the shore of Lake Michigan. The district is a roll call of the most important movements of the past 100 years, with modernism, post-modernism and art deco bumping up against one another. And if you thought Mies and Le Corbusier were luxury

kitchenware brands, hook up with the Chicago Architecture Foundation: it runs cruises down the river, with guides pointing out the importance of gargantuan art deco landmark Merchandise Mart, the mammoth post-modernist glass wall of the Trump Tower and the boxy black lines of the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive apartments. Chicago’s skyline is fastidiously pre-planned, and every structure has been designed to fit seamlessly into the city’s built environment.

Chicago isn’t just about the buildings, though. Board the elevated ‘L’ train, which rattles ten feet above the Loop, or wander the area’s wide corridors to find public art installations. Alongside the brilliant Art

Institute – which includes the seminal American Gothic by Grant Wood, a collection of impressionist paintings and a modern wing

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, often known as the Bean by locals, opened in 2006; Lincoln Park’s Nature Boardwalk; the Lake Michigan shore; an art installation at Fulton Market Kitchen

ARCHITECTURE CHEAT SHEET

PRAIRIE STYLEFrank Lloyd Wright was famous for his prairie-style houses in the Midwest, and you’ll find them in Chicago suburb Oak Park. They are typically low-rise, with flat roofs and overhanging eaves to reflect the landscape of the American prairies.

ART DECOArt deco is everywhere on the Chicago riverfront – a giveaway is the armchair feature, with a huge setback midway up the building. Prime examples are the Civic

Opera House and the Carbide & Carbon Building, designed to look like a champagne bottle.

GOTHICOr neo-gothic, as it is in Chicago. A revival of the gothic movement, buildings feature buttresses, spires and decorative patterns. Compared with modernist architecture, it is ornamental – look for the Tribune Tower, which has buttresses at the top.

MODERNISMModernism is all about form following function. Made up of clean lines and sheets of glass, modernist buildings in the city typically look like black minimalist boxes. Conversely, Marina City’s wave-like cylindrical towers are also an example of Chicago’s modernist architecture.

POST-MODERNISM‘Contextual’ is the key word with post-modernist buildings – they’re designed to adapt to the environment around them. A good example is 333 Wacker Drive, which features a curved glass wall facing the Chicago River to reflect the bend of the running water.

MORE ARCHITECTURE...

CHICAGO’S SKYLINE IS FASTIDIOUSLY PRE-PLANNED, AND EVERY STRUCTURE IS DESIGNED TO FIT IN SEAMLESSLY

Photograph by NiKreative / Alamy; 2014 Clayton Hauck

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Randolph Street is also known for food. The annual Taste of Randolph festival showcases the city’s best food alongside music acts. The Kaiser Chiefs played last year.

conceived by Shard architect Renzo Piano – is a collection of street art that ranges from Anish Kapoor’s iconic, bean-like Cloud Gate and Frank Gehry’s wiry Jay Pritzker Pavilion to the abstract Chicago Picasso outside the Daley Centre. The latter is a huge metal sculpture that looks either like a horse or a duck depending on how you come at it.

It’s on the fringes of the city that things are changing fast, particularly in the West Loop area. The former meatpacking district of Fulton Market retains its gritty industrial feel, with low-slung lofts and

warehouses, murals, and – the ultimate sign of gentrification – a new Soho House in a refurbished six-storey belt factory. Bars and restaurants are opening here faster than the lift ride up the Willis Tower and the area is starting to host the tech millennials, as Uber and Google ink leases in the district. Plus, some of the city’s best nightspots call Randolph Street home (tip: try the CH Distillery, the city’s first vodka distillery with a cocktail bar attached).

Chicago’s green lung, Lincoln Park, has been given a design shot in the arm by local architects. The park’s curved, wave-like pavilion is used for open-air yoga sessions, and sits alongside the Nature Boardwalk. The patio of the park’s Brauer Café – two miles north of downtown – may be level zero, but from here the skyscrapers and tower blocks along the Lake Michigan shore peek out over Lincoln Park’s groomed pond. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright said Chicago was the “most beautiful great city left in the world”. Whether you view it from 103 floors up or with your feet on the ground, it’s easy to see what he meant. eMy America Holiday offers four nights at the five-star Palmer House Hilton from £995pp on a room-only basis, including return flights from Heathrow with British Airways. Call 020 8290 9797 or visit myamericaholiday.co.uk/chicago-holidays

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINKBEATRIXThink huge plates of fluffy lemon pancakes, breakfast burritos and waffles – this West Loop staple is the place to go if you partied too hard in the meatpacking district the night before. Speciality coffee comes with huge tumblers of freshly squeezed juice, and the pastries are as big as your head.519 N Clark St, beatrixchicago.com

BALENAA super-local Italian in Chicago’s Old Town with an impressive cocktail list ranging from bitter negronis to saccharine-sweet daiquiris (try the strawberry no.1 with elderflower and prosecco). Dinner here involves the traditional middle pasta course – the pork ragù is thick and decadent – while mains range from bass to duck breast.N Halsted Street, balenachicago.com

FULTON MARKET KITCHENPop art affixed to the walls, tiled floors and spinning leather chairs might sound like they belong in a dodgy Route 66 diner – but Fulton Market Kitchen is anything but. Opened last year, it’s part of a growing trend in the meatpacking district for doing cool, creative things with food. Halibut comes baked in paper, and the brussels sprouts are laced with chili.311 N Sangamon St, fultonmarketkitchen.com

RIVER ROASTHome of whole chickens, bellinis and jazz at the weekends, River Roast offers views of the Chicago River and accompanying ‘scrapers from practically any seat. Come for the brunch: burritos, French toast with mascarpone, and rabbit and waffles – washed down with bloody marys.315 N LaSalle St, riverroastchicago.com

THE FORMER MEATPACKING DISTRICT OF FULTON MARKET RETAINS ITS GRITTY FEEL

ABOVE: View of Chicago and Lake Michigan from the 94th floor of the 1,127ft-tall John Hancock skyscraper, home to offices, shops, restaurants and a 360-degree observation deck. It took five million man hours to build

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Experiences CHICAGO