Chicago Architecture Foundation Reviews

What an amazing place! Just some models of buildings present and buildings to come along with the history and lay out of future plans, just amazing! Many, many thanks to Debbie Sherman-Rodak for everything you did to make my first venture to the windy city an absolutely wonderful day!

Great way to experience Chicago. Insightful guide. Great views. Enjoyable to have historical and architectural background of the City to stay off out body to Chicago. Thank you CAF! Keep up the good work.

We did the Architecture River Cruise and we cannot reccommend it enough!!! It is the best way to see the city. The boat is gorgeous and the guides couldn't have been any more informative- most of them are locals and architecture-buffs so they knew EVERYTHING! Highly reccommend thsi tour for everyone- we will definitely be doing it again!!!

Very cool. The storyline with the model city was great.

I highly recommend any of the architectural walking tours that they offer.

Really cool exhibits on the history of skyscrapers... and it's free!

I visited this venue on opening weekend and was impressed with the amount of historical information about Chicago! This is a must see for all Chicago visitors and residents.

Awesome new facility with lots of displays and visuals.

After taking a couple of tours, I recently became a docent (tour guide). the training is intense and the education excellent.

A quick-bite museum, good for about an hour. Has a scale model of Chicago s central area, with a brief video. Upstairs are large-scale models of famous skyscrapers around the world.

An architecture nerd s dream come true. I loved seeing all the models and reading the infographics, and I really learned a lot! The volunteers and staff were super friendly and had thoughtful suggestions, too. So worth it for the $12 price tag.

Loved to know best architectural properties built in early phase

the architecture foundation's store is on av michigan near millenium park. There you can buy some decorative articles and architectural books. Behind the store is a mockup of the city of Chicago. the site offers tours that explain the architecture of the city.

Love this shop. Have visited every time I m in Chicago. Great for gifts for adult and children alike.

This is a great shop especially if you are looking to buy very unique gifts to bring back for friends and family. In the back there is a door that leads to a model of CHicago. Must go!!

Great staff and customer service. Missed our appointment because of traffic and they were nice enough to bump us up one

So much history.....A great for any architect to visit

Didactic and very illustrative sample of the development of the city. Attentive and gentle staff

Very interesting and enlightening. Worth the trip and $37 investment.

Very open new space with an interactive exhibit and large scale models of famous skyscrapers.

Cool gifts though of course overpriced. Still, cool gifts you won't find elsewhere. Disappointed with the T-shirt choices lately though. Just take your chances and go visit!!

Born and raised in Chicago.. this tour will definitely open your eyes, and have more appreciation for the city and it's accomplishments.. Tour guide Ross, was exceptional!

For $5 you can adventure upstairs to see scale models of some of the world's skyscrapers with historical facts about how Chicago's skyline came to be. A full-scale of downtown Chicago w/movie explains this.

Took a walking tour of Chicago and got some history about various locations like the old library, the lakefront buildings, and the Palmer House Hilton hotel. I really liked that the tour included headsets to hear better, as I often have a difficult time hearing with a lot of background noise. Our guide was very knowledgeable and welcomed questions (also being able to answer most of them). I'd highly suggest it.

Very interesting museum. The history of Chicago from the architectural point of view.

Excellent walking and river tours of historic Chicago architecture

A visit here before or after an architectural tour ties in well.

A good place to see the architecture and the model of the city.

Love this shop for creative ideas and things they sell. It is always an inspiring and pleasant visit!

Make sure you take their river cruise, preferably the one starting at 7.30 pm. It's amazing!

They have a very cool video that plays along with their scale model of the city

If you're a Chicago historian, you'll love this place! It's amazing.

Excellent boat tour! Completed as a local tourist and found it both entertaining and very interesting. Can avoid Ticketmaster fees if you buys tickets in person.

Good overall experience. Learned a lot about the development of buildings and the city of Chicago in general. Helpful staff and educational exhibits.

You will learn alot about structural engineering. Good place to buy souvenirs for friends and family members ...

I've just seen the shop but it is amazing. Product are really expansive so I did not buy anything but I've spent an hour in the shop. Great stuff, great design, lots of amazing gadgets it's a place to go ! With a little bit of money its also a great place to buy gifts.

I did the Board of Trade tour with Docent Robin Simon, it was the highlight of my trip to Chicago. A must do, you won't be disappointed!

Great shop for gifts but a little pricy.
Go through the shop and in the center court of the building you can visit a full 3D model of Chicago with explanations of planned urban development and architecture ideas.
Opposite of the shop through the court yard is an architecture lab where participants can use white Lego bricks to design buildings.

I could not possibly imagine a better tour than this boat trip. All of the architecture of chicago is at your boat's whimsy.

Compleyed the architecture river tour. The tour guide was a volunteer who knew a ton of information. Well worth me money. The boat had bathrooms and a full service bar.

We've had a membership at CAC for several years. It's a great organization. Knowledgeable people, excellent tours, and great exhibits. This is one of the best ways to get to know Chicago.

Nice place,shows Chicago well. The double decker bus tour of architecture was great.

This place is fine. Try and do an architecture river cruise though

This was a great use of time and money. Our tour guide is a volunteer and he did a fantastic job.

The tour was fantastic. The docent was knowledgeable and gave a polished presentation. I would definitely take the tour (and the other tours offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation) again.

New location is convenient & outstanding. Opening exhibit is educational & well done. The new building provides a great view of the Chicago river & quick access to the historic boat ride tours. State of the art bathroom fixtures. I want one of those faucets. Discounted parking so visit their web site. Nice gift shop but it could use more educational products for children.

Great place to visit but the lines were extremely long.

Great (albeit smallish) museum that provides a terrific overview of how architecture shaped the city's past and present. I loved all the models, especially in the skyscraper exhibit on the second floor. Definitely worth the price to visit, though an even better deal if paired with a boat cruise or walking tour.

The twilight river cruise helped us feel like we saw all of chicago even though we only had 20 hours between flights. Thank you!

Strongly recommend their walking tours. They have plenty (visit them to see correct availability). We took a few (not even the most popular ones which were sold out) and very much enjoyed all of them.
The guides are very friendly and knowledgeable.

Chicago on a mockup ..... a whim of the Museum for this City Wonder.

I had a wonderful experience on the Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise. Our docent Lindy was spectacular, knowledgable, and an absolute delight. I highly recommend their 90 minute tour, which will leave no one disappointed. They have a full bar and restrooms in their air conditioned salon on the boat as well.

Totally worth the price. As great as our volunteer guide was, he refused tips; so be sure to give your guide a huge amount of appreciation I would definitely recommend anyone to take a visit.

Such a couple of interesting days spent at the center and on the tours. Buy a membership and admission is free , some tours are free and you get a discount at the gift shop. The volunteers are there to answer any questions and so knowable. The interactive model that they have of the city and the informative movie they show is a must see. What a gem Chicago has in the Architecture Center !

This is the first stop you should make..the tours are fantastic, whether they be boat, walking or just reading the literature. The store offers many wonderful things to purchase, and the staff are very helpful and friendly. The location of the shore now is great. Not very big, but very high quality, interactive exhibits. The guides were very friendly as well. Absolutely worth the money.

A special location. An interesting gift shop, buy tickets for tours, segway center and various events. Great for tourists and natives

I love taking the Brown Line around the Loop then when proceeding northwest it s like I m on a low flying balloon ride that courses through gentrified neighborhoods passing schools, churches and shops.

Awesome place
We visit Lego architecture had a lot of fun play with lego
When I'm in Chicago with kids we always came to build lego

I love Jesse he's so awesome. You should come and visit the amazing store and join their programs.

Great tours and a fun place to shop before or after a tour. The staff can be a bit ornery at the desk.

We took the Historic Treasures tour, which was really informative and fun. The center itself has a great gift shop and nice facilities as well.

If you are an architect or designer of any kind, this shop is going to love you

One of the best shops in the city for souvenirs. They have posters, trinkets, furniture, art, decorations, and baubles. I have bought and had framed a couple of their posters and keep them in my apartment. Great place to take home an upscale unique memory of Chicago.

They have a great model of downtown Chicago, and knowledgeable staff who are interested in architecture and easy to talk to.

Fun place if you are into history and architecture. Kids would most likely be bored.

You can lean a lot about Chicago joining a tour! Our guide was very informative and friendly. Highly recommemded.