Chicago Architecture Foundation Reviews

Highly recommended for those of us who like architecture without being architects.

The exhibitions that there are have very interesting information, not only of Chicago but of constructions and architects of other parts of the world.

The video of the history of Chicago with the giant model, and the effects that are produced on it during the documentary are impressive.

The gift shop knew how to have more original and varied things when I went in 2013 for the first time (it was another place).

A beautiful new location. Lots of tours. Definitely worth a visit.

Outstanding. Be sure to take a walking tour. Highly recommended.

Such a great museum here! Highly recommend the short movie. You can spend about an hour here so it's great if you need something short to do. Also, there are wonderful views of the city if the weather is cold or miserable.

Great tours of Chicago. Make sure to take the river boat tour to see a different side of Chicago.

The collection is impressive, the docents are rock stars, the model is a must-see. Tons of tours available here although pricey$$.

If you love architecture, this place is a must visit.

Chicago's architecture is first class, it follows that the Chicago Architecture Center honors that and shares it with the world.

Not really interesting stuffs... Far from being avantgarde

The Center is a great introduction to Chicago's urban design and architectural heritage. The scale model of Chicago's downtown, with overlays you can play with to better understand the different facets of the city, reminds me of New London Architecture's exhibit for London. Worth an hour of your time to absorb the whole Chicago context before doing some of the longer walking tours or river cruises.

Great tour! Its definitely an interesting perspective of the history and skyline of Chicago. We did quite a bit of research and read that this tour was the best of the 5-6 that are offered because they are part of the Chicago Architecture Center. Totally agree. Our docent, Mike the map guy was incredibly knowledgable and a great host.

Get there early, we boarded about 15 mins before the tour started. And people started lining up about 30 mins beforehand.

Drinks are available, as well as on board restrooms and an indoor area below deck. It goes rain or shine.

So many interesting things here! Plenty of reading about Chicago and unique design-y gifts

This is a gem of a little museum if you want to understand why the city looks like it does. The introductory video is *really* good. I just wish the exhibits were larger.

Great way to spend a little over an hour learning about architecture, both Chicago and around the world.

Fantastic architecture boat tour. It's a must do in Chicago

Very cool explanations. You could even make it bigger. Also liked the store

I'm from Chicago and know a fair bit of the city's history. Even so I found this tour very enjoyable and informative.

I took the Chicago River architecture tour. We went all the way from the mouth of the river all down Wacker Dr. Seeing the city's architecture, at night and from the river was a memorable experience.

They have some models of incredible famous buildings. And a room where you learn to design.

Their tours are amazing and well worth the cost. I don't even mind going on them repeated times with various friends that have never done the tour before.

if youre interested in a bit of chicago history and its architecture, the tour is a must!

The boat ride was fenomenal! Amazing architecture, never knew about Chicago. I would love to visit again!

Love this place because of the many exciting architecture building that they share information about.

The guides knew their stuff and kept the kids engaged the whole time.

They organise several architecture tours of the city, including the famous river cruise architecture tour. The books and gift shop has a large collection.

A fun store. Go see the Chicago model. Also cool that they have a Lego architecture program for kids.

DO purchase a ticket to take the architecture boat tour. You won't regret it!

The store is awesome, really cool products. The tours are as well some of the best in Chicago, from an architectural point of view, they are the best in town!

Very informative river tour. The guide had wonderful insight into all the incredible buildings shown around the Chicago riverfront. We lucked out with wonderful weather. The dock location was easy to get to.

A great place to buy Chicago and architectural themed products and to take architectural tours of Chicago.
Don't miss the scale model of Chicago in the lobby!

Great souvenir shop, nice place and a great organisation. Make sure your take a tour with them (boat or bus tours, or a free guides walking tour). Loved the tours!

Architecture Tours for all tastes in building design, killer retail sales floor, informed and fun dicent, reasonable annual membership costs. Love the CAF!

Outstanding, enjoyable boat tour . Narrator was EXCELLENT! Very worthwhile.

Don't miss the Chicago Model City by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The CAF hosts tours and events all year including the narrated Chicago River Tour (See photos below).

Also don't miss the one weekend a year in October when the Chicago Architectural Foundation hosts Open House Chicago. 200 buildings are often on the tour.

We took the walking tour about the Gilded Age and it was fantastic. Our guide was very knowledgeable, sharing many interesting facts about the history of the buildings and Chicago in general. She was friendly and very interactive, which I like. We visited several best buildings and she also pointed out interesting things about places along the way as well. I have lived in the Western suburbs for nearly twenty years and we visit the city often and watch a lot of PBS programs about the city, so we are well versed about Chicago. I still found this very informative, would definitely recommend this tour.

Take the Chicago Architecture Tour and see Chicago from the perspective of the Chicago River. The tour guides are excellent. They have in depth descriptions of the magnificent architecture that can be seen on a slow cruise of the river. It's compelling and inspiring to see how great architecture shapes a city.

I think everyone visiting Chicago should stop by. You can sign up for several tours, incuding the waterfront archetecture tour. There is also a gift shop that has some nice items but the prices are high. If archetecture is your passion this is definitely a place you want to see.

Came to see the new O'hare airport models, well worth the visit. Haven't been to rest of exhibits, but they seem cool.

A must see, regardless of whether you are a resident or a visitor to Chicago

Amazing boat tour! We had the most phenomenal your guide who was a wealth of knowledge and incredibly passionate. She met every one of us before we got on the boat and got to know where we were all from. The ride was relaxing with great views, and a bar downstairs to grab drinks and snacks. The highlight of our Chicago trip.

The only place to order the superb Chicago Architectural Boat Tour. At $45, it is worth every penny.

Stopped here for information on the open house Chicago tours. Stopped into the gift shop. Lots of interesting little gifts and architecture related things. There's more to do but we didn't have the time.

The best tour of the river, we spent 90 minute of joy. Nothing has been explained so well before.
I really really loved it!!

Offers nice walking tours to explore the history of the city. Also has a nice city model behind the store.

Great walking tour and Good model of Chicago with short video. Worth a visit

One of my favorite spots to take visitors from out of town. Their tours are also amazing!

Good place to see the huge model of Chicago city and to heard about the history of Chicago, the walks that start from here are very interesting also.

Excellent information on both Skyscraper development and the history of Building Tall in Chicago.

A good store if you are a fan of architecture but nothing useful if you are an architect, they have nothing that an architect can use in his profession

My wife and I went on the architecture boat tour and had a great experience. This was our first trip to Chicago and the knowledge and humor of the captain and volunteer tour guide was captivating and entertaining. We gained not only an appreciation for the beauty of this historic city, but respect for the work and vision it's architects and civic leaders. This tour topped our list of activities to do in Chicago. This is an experience you don't want to miss.

We went on three of their walking tours and a boat tour. All of the guides were knowledgeable, friendly, and articulate. If you're interested in architecture, you can't do better. Walking tours use headphones, so you can hear clearly over traffic noise and can spread out or lag behind a bit to take pictures without missing anything.

I went on the Art Deco Skyscrapers walking tour. Our docent was Pam. She was excellent! I will definitely do a different tour through the Chicago Architecture Center the next time I am visiting. What a great resource for visitors (and locals) to learn about this wonderful city. Another little tip, at the center where the tours start there is a gallery upstairs and downstairs with lots of interesting information...including a giant diorama of the city and a short film with Chicago history. I was glad I arrived 30 minutes early (by chance) to see the film and visit the upstairs and downstairs exhibitions.

What a delight!!! I walked in and fell in love with the place. The positivity and creativity in this place is riveting. We took the walking tour as we could not go on the bus tour. The center itself had amazing, very well thought displays and exhibits. The Jeddah Tower model was impressive. The message boards were very informative and structured. Chicago is the architects' wonder and has unbelievable architecture ranging from late 19th century to modern era. CAC has captured it all and are providing the link for the people and the history of Chicago. The volunteers love what they do and it was a pleasure to be here.

The full 3D map of Chicago and the video accompanying it are worth the admission price alone. This was an awesome way to start the boat tour and just an awesome place to learn about what makes Chicago so unique. Definitely a must see for locals and tourists alike.

We took a tour on the Chicago First Lady through the Chicago Architectural Center. It was fabulous. We had Cynthia for a docent during the ride, and as I told her afterward, I couldn't believe how many facts about these buildings she could remember. Plus she hardly took a breath for the 90-minute ride. (She told me what rigorous training the docents actually went through for 6 months!) I want to take this tour at least one more time, if not more. It was so much fun, I learned so much. Chicago is a gorgeous city, and you can see so much of it from the river.
Thank you CAC, and thank you Cynthia!!

Our son is an aspiring architect, and this stop by far was the highlight of his first visit to Chicago.

Always love going there. Exhibit is good and most staff members are very nice and helpful.

Added this visit on with the Architectural Cruise and glad I did. Well laid out exhibit and models on Chicago and noteable international skyscrapers. If you are wanting to be an architect, this is an inspiring place to visit. Worth the additional $5.

Great history for architecture buffs, nice video intro and exceptional displays of world's tallest buildings...the hour it takes to go through is worth the $12 admission!

Our guide, Margaret was exceptional. The sites were perfect. Margaret did a wonderful job of giving us insight on the buildings.she also gave us detail about persons involved with the building. It was not only a remarkable but it was an outstanding history tour

Getting ready for the big move to the great location on the river. Sales are hapening.

Went on the Chicago Golden Age tour one word, AMAZING!

A very knowledgeable place. Every kid in the Chicago area should visit here. Today I was here representing my engineering firm top discus engineering with young people. I had a great time answering questions and interacting with beautiful families. The staff there is very helpful and pleasant, and everyone had a smile on their face. Chicago had such fascinating architecture with a lot of history behind it. Please go and check it out.

Friendly staff and very interesting place! ! I strongly advise

Fantastic information on architecture with models, maps and more

The views from the Riverboat Tour were incredible! Great facts about the city and its skyline. Drinks and snacks available at concession. Worth the ticket and time.

Excellent place with great tours, affordable prices and the gift shop has a lot of unique items.

What a fantastic place!

Hidden away behind the main shop entrance is a free exhibition of a 3D map of the city - a wonderful insight into the layout and many superb structures of Chicago.

The shop out front is also excellent, with lots of interesting architecturally themed gifts and books, and very helpful staff always ready to answer questions, and inform about the various tours offered by the premises.

Worth a stop in!

Delightful charming very informative. Very positive

Mike was a great docent and Bob was so informative as well! Very knowledgeable!

The architectural cruise was led by our very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. For the hour and a half tour we were touring, we got more information on the architectural variety of the river's waterfront than could have been absorbed through a simple tour book. I would highly recommend it.

Always a joy to learn about the Wonderful Windy City

The boat tour is a very unique experience. Really cool way to see the city, learn some history and understand the architectural background of the buildings. The tour guides are great. Highly recommend doing this if you are visiting Chicago or even as a local.

Excellent! The work of the foundation, providing information tours and on site education is amazing!!

They have great souvenirs at their store. Inside is a cool city model of Chicago where you can see notable buildings such as the Water Tower Place and the Willis Tower. There are also nice projects from students from the Illinois Institute of Technology.