Chicago Architecture Foundation

Chicago, United States

4.7

Open now

27 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

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Telephone:
+1 312-922-3432
Website:
www.architecture.org
Address:
224 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60604
b/t Jackson Dr & Adams St
The Loop
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
520 ftAdams/Wabash
720 ftMichigan & Monroe
750 ftVan Buren Street
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Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Parking
Garage
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Chicago) 10:40 Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Tours, exhibitions, programs and events for all ages. Visit CAF on Michigan Avenue to view our 1,000-building scale model of Chicago, shop in our award-​winning store, or participate in a fun LEGO® building event in our ArcelorMittal Design Studio.

Choose from 85 tours by boat, walking, bus, or even L train, including the CAF River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady Cruises. Tours depart daily and are led by CAF’s expert docent guides.

Every fall, check out CAF’s free annual Open House Chicago festival. This year’s event is October 17 – 18, 2015.

History

Established in 1966.

1966: A group of Chicagoans came together to save H. H. Richardson’s Glessner House from demolition. The successful effort led to the founding of the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF).

1970s: CAF initiated its award-​winning volunteer docent education program and began offering tours, exhibitions and educational programs.

1990s: CAF moved to its current location, the Railway Exchange Building on Michigan Ave, and expanded its tours and exhibitions.

2009: CAF unveiled the Chicago Model, a 1000-​building scale model of downtown.

2011: CAF held the first Open House Chicago, a free citywide weekend festival.

2014: CAF debuted the ArcelorMittal Design Studio, a collaborative learning space for all ages with LEGO® bricks and other design tools.

Chicago Architecture Foundation also recommends

Chicago’s First Lady

223

reviews

Náutica

,

Visitas guiadas

,

Aluguer de barcos

Chicago Architecture Foundation says,

«Our partner in the river cruise, Chicago’s First Lady provides the vessels and the wonderful crew so our docents can work their magic.»

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27 reviews of Chicago Architecture Foundation

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Coventry, United Kingdom
We did the Must See Chicago tour which was brilliant. Or guide Mike was really knowledgeable, friendly and it was clear that he really had a keen interest in the architectural aspects of Chicago that he was talking about. It was interesting learning about the refurbishment of Quincy station which I don’t think I would have heard about without this tour. I’m just sorry that I hadn’t done more of the CAF tours before now!
Place rating: 4
Edgewood, Atlanta, GA
We went on the Architecture Tour by Bus trip while in Chicago for a long weekend. This is a great way to see a lot of sites in a few hours, and also pay the same as the shorter boat tour. The tour takes place on a charter bus, but there a few stops along the way (Robie House, IIT, a few skyscrapers downtown) where you get out and walk around.
The docent we had knew a ton of stuff and was able to give us a lot of in depth info not only on architecture, but the history of Chicago too.
Even if you’re not into architecture, this is a great way to see the city. It was one of our favorite things we did while in Chicago.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Chicago is an architectural treasure. It has many world-​class, innovative buildings, but I was clueless about many of them until I became a member of CAF.
Since joining CAF three years ago, I’ve turned into an architecture junkie of sorts. I always recommend the famous Chicago river cruise because it’s so much fun. It gives an overview of Chicago’s history, plus an introduction to many of the buildings you can explore later on other tours. The docents on the river cruise (and on all of the other tours) have a wealth of information to share.
I’ve taken over a dozen walking tours, including the Board of Trade, the Rookery, the Monadnock Building, the Cultural Center… and yes, even Trump Tower. My favorite bus tour is the Devil in the White City, about both the Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the doctor who was a serial killer (read the book first if you get a chance). Highly recommend the Holiday Lights heated trolley tour, which was a big hit with visiting relatives last Christmas season.
CAF has a great website with detailed information about all of their tours. There’s a fabulous exhibit and gift shop at their tour office on Michigan Avenue. And if you love architecture and design, you won’t want to miss Open House Chicago in the fall, which lets you explore 150 buildings across the city… and it’s free!
Place rating: 4
Salem, MA
I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago for the fourth time in ten years. ‘The Devil in the White City’ inspired my first trip, and it’s just about my favorite place to go for a four or five day getaway. On each visit I’ve taken CAF tours, the River Cruise three times. The cruise just gets better and better. This time we went in the later afternoon on a silver-​lined cloudy day, and the pictures are just gorgeous. Amazing guide, Connie. We took three other tours, two on the ground, one on the elevated. So much fun, that elevated tour, again with fabulous photo ops. All of the the tours were very informative, although I’ve been on a number of them before. There’s so much to talk about that no two guides ever give the same tour. My only complaint in any of this… it happened this year, and it’s happened before… some of the guides, certainly not all, fail to check to see if the whole group has made it across the street and they keep on going once across. I’m a little older, I don’t walk very fast, but I know the city well enough that I’m not going to get lost, or upset. But for someone who’s just arrived, I think this could be a pretty scary experience with all the traffic and all the city noise. That’s all… everything else good.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
My sister recommended their walking tours so we decided to do the «Chicago Masterworks, Connecting Old and New» It was easy to book online the day before and it started right here from the gift shop, which I always love to browse.
We were given headsets so we could listen to our tour guide. The lady we had was super friendly, informative, and entertaining. It was a 2-​hour tour looking at various types and styles of buildings nearby (both indoor and out). Walked into churches and inside buildings that we would have never considered going into on our own so I’m glad we did this tour. We also went into Millennium Park.
Since it was a nice warm day outside, it was a perfect day for a walking tour. Hope to try their other walking tours next time.
Place rating: 5
Houston, TX
Took the millennium park tour today with Heather. Excellent time spent walking all over the park sharing all of her knowledge and stories. An afternoon well spent and a must so if visiting or living in chicago!
Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL
[A review for just the CAF gift shop on South Michigan Avenue] The CAF gift shop proves not every design-​art-​architecture-​art gift shop has to be stocked with MoMA and Alessi junk. This gift shop is wonderful – tons of decorative objects from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, books, jewelry, posters, note cards, inspired household items and an amazing selection of fun and educational gifts for children to inspire creativity. My new favorite place for client gifts and personal treasures.
Place rating: 5
Zzyzx, CA
always the best. start your trip to chicago here. they have tons of tours, walking and bus, take as many as you can.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Our docent yesterday, Larry, for the Modern Sky Scraper tour was so interesting.
His stories & knowledge was by far the best I have encountered at the CAF.
Great job.
Place rating: 5
Skokie, IL
We’ve attended two incredible events held by the Chicago architecture foundation. First one was the Open House in October where we can see the certain areas of specific buildings that aren’t normally opened to the public. Second one was the Engineering Fest in March for children ages 5 – 12 where they learn architecture terms, see what parts make a building, design a building on paper, or construct one with Legos or metal pieces with nuts and bolts.
We had a blast at both events and am excited to see what else they have in store.
The building itself is beautiful with its glass ceiling in the lobby, an open atrium where you can see all the floors, the vintage decorated elevators, and pictures of other buildings and the miniature model of downtown Chicago in the lobby.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
This model city is awesome!!!
I wish they still had the giant graphs and maps of land parcels and the city grid system.
They also should add the proposed skyscrapers that will hopefully be added to the skyline (I.e.: wanda vista, river point, south roosevelt, etc.)
Place rating: 5
Cincinnati, OH
Awesome shop with really fun finds for building geeks of all ages and types of interest. Loved the cooking and cocktail section. Also the model in the foyer is a must see. Such a great way to visualize the city.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
This is the boat cruise to take if you are choosing among different options as it has the trained guides who will give you a great deal of information. We take family members on the First Lady when they come to town and it’s always a great time. You can buy tickets online and then go to the dock about 30 minutes ahead of the booked time to get on the boat. Don’t be late or else your seat won’t be as good. I would go during the warmer months so you can sit on top of the boat.
Place rating: 5
Arlington, VA
I’ve been to Chicago a few times and this is certainly my favorite store. I haven’t been on any of the tours so I cant speak to the quality of those. I’m one of those tourists who hates the word «Tourist». I walk by souvenir shops with a loud «nope» in my head. You wont ever find me wearing a chicago sweater, dangling a Las Vegas keychain, or drinking from an I heart New York mug. This place however, did the trick. It’s full of interesting gadgets that you never knew you needed but once you see, know you can’t live without. I could spend hours roaming this place.
On my most recent trip, I bought my toddler niece and toy goldfish that magically lights up when you place it in water. Does it have anything to do with Chitown? Absolutely not, but she got so excited that she only had a bite of dinner because she wanted to get back to playing with it. She also sleeps with it at night now. Why wouldn’t you prefer a stuffed animal to a rubbery/​plastic fish in your crib at night? I’m not sure, but I’m not going to stop her!
Thanks to the Chicago Architecture Foundation for making me a gift giving winner!
Place rating: 5
Washington, DC
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Chicago. The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise really sails through time. The volunteer docents don’t waste a breath highlighting the social and economic history behind the construction and location of the building. For architecture and history fans, naturally you’d appreciate this. For others, front row seats to the beauty and diversity of the buildings is worth the purchase especially in the spring when the weather is nice.
Place rating: 5
Sugar Land, TX
Went on a boat tour with another company (Seadog) and loved it so much I decided to do it again. Was expecting a lot of the same information I learned in the last tour to show up but surprisingly it didn’t. Saw many of the same landmarks as before but there was a lot of different information so that was a treat! I’m not sure if that’s something the companies plan. I was also super impressed when our guide told us that she was a volunteer!
We happened to stumble upon the Chicago Architecture Foundation Museum while looking for the Cultural Center. It was pretty neat but unfortunately the Lego area was closed when we went :/​All in all, I had a great time and ended up buying matching Chicago Architecture Foundation T-​shirts with my boyfriend!
Place rating: 5
Evanston, IL
Whether you lived in Chicago your whole life or you’re a tourist passing through, if there is anything you need to do while your in Chicago, CAF’s First Lady Architectural tours are one for the lists! The First Lady is a beautiful boat that delivers a 90 minute Chicago river cruise traveling through the heart of downtown Chicago. You can’t predict the weather here in Chicago but the day we went, the weather gods were smiling down on us! The views on this tour are picture perfect and there are tons of spectacular opportunities to get great pictures of the City and its Skyline. There are two levels, the lower interior deck and the upper deck. If you’re paying nearly $ 40.00/ticket why would you sit on the bottom deck? Take advantage of the great seats at the top and enjoy the view :)
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
This is for the review of the CAF store and the scale model they have in the building at 224 South Michigan.
The front of the store currently has some scaffold as the building is under minor renovations however the store sign is clearly visible as they have a temporary sign.
The store itself has a lot of souvenirs but by the entrance they have a lot of Chicago architecture and wall art which is a lot like what they have at the Tenement Museum in NYC. Lots of different books, skyscraper things and things like that while the south part of the store has puzzles, Lego, toys and books for the kids.
It’s a cool store. I love buildings, architecture and things of this nature.
If you take the door at the back of the store you will enter the building’s large middle open area where the CAF has a large 3D model of Chicago’s skyline. It was made with 3D printers and costs about 750k to make so far but most of the money has come from donations/​foundation etc.
I have to say this model is way cool and amazing. If you’re a fan of architecture and this sort of thing you have to see this model as it’s just something to see. I don’t know what the scale is exactly but Soldier Field looked to be about a foot long or more.
Place rating: 5
Providence, RI
Friends of ours told us to check out this river boat tour, rated by many as the best in the city. They did not steer us wrong. The architecture docent who gave the tour, had specifics of pretty much every signature building we passed by. She provided highlights for 90 straight minutes… she did not take a break…
She was amazing by providing historical, cultural and historical perspectives on areas and buildings in the area. From old to new… from designers to architects… from old renovations to new upcoming projects. Great !!
The boat has a snack bar, clean bathrooms and plenty of seating. Check it out…
Place rating: 5
Overland Park, KS
Our tour earlier today was the third we’ve done with this group over the past several years and we’ve enjoyed each one. The docents are very knowledgable about buildings along the tour and Chicago history. Today’s docent named the architect of almost every building she talked about, including those from other parts of the world, and referenced building in other parts of the world they worked on. How she remembered all of them I have no idea, but it was quite impressive!
They have a drink/​bar/​snack area available during the tour which was popular for not only for bottled water but also bloody Mary’s.
At the end of the 90 minute tour the docent went on to recommend other top attractions in Chicago for those visiting.
We love visiting Chicago and learning about this beautiful city. I would venture to say we’ll go on this tour again over the next few years!
Place rating: 5
Brookeville, MD
I have done the CAF boat tours many times and will do them many more. Yesterday I did their bus tour of Chicago neighborhoods. It was a great way to spend part of the day. It provided a good overview of the cities history and immigrant neighborhoods. The docent was very knowledgable and informative. And Chicago is such a beautiful city it’s just nice to ride around looking at it! One tip when sitting on top. Beware of low hanging tree branches! The tour guide was good about warning, but I was not paying attention and got a little whap in the face.
Place rating: 3
Tarpon Springs, FL
I didn’t use their service for tours, but I did/​do love their store. They have lots and lots of quirky little things. Many different artists and architecture related gifts available in the shop.
I love the play sets for kids and the jewelry for adults, amid the house ware items, you can find just about anything related to the architects in Chicago.
Place rating: 5
Oceanside, NY
I heard rave reviews about this tour from other visitors so my honey and I decided to go. We got our tickets through Ticketmaster which was a bit of a challenge. (At least on the mobile phone)
The Chicago architectural foundation is a nonprofit organization and has a docent, a volunteer, providing the tour. Our tour guide, Adrianne, was fantastic. Besides being out on the river moving slowly around On a comfortable river boat, our tour guide provided a wealth of information about the architecture, history and little known facts about Chicago. It was a fully enjoyable experience and one of the best that we’ve had in a long while.
Place rating: 4
Arlington, TX
When I told my friends I was visiting Chicago for the first time I kept hearing how I had to do the Architectural Boat Tour. I strongly encourage that you order tickets well in advance. We arrived in Chicago on a Saturday and the only tickets left during our trip were on our last day there. Tickets cost about $ 50 for an adult.
The boat is very open and has a nice bar and multiple tables on the first floor. My wife and I ordered our drinks and went to the top deck which had plenty of seating. The man giving the tour had a vast amount of knowledge and pointed out things on most buildings that I would’ve never noticed or paid attention to.
We had a great time and we both felt that we saw a great amount of the city and the different eras in which the buildings were built in. Chicago really is an incredible city with a long, interesting history. The boat tour ran about an hour and a half which was a little longer than I expected but we soaked in so much information during this time. I definitely recommend this to any tourist looking to learn more about the city.
Place rating: 4
Arlington, TX
My husband and I took the architectural boat tour. It was one of the things we were most excited about while visiting Chicago.
Our guide was wonderful. He was funny and very informative. You could tell he had a real passion for his job and it made our trip even more enjoyable.
It was a nice touch that there was a bar on board the boat to enjoy some adult beverages while we toured the city. The bartender actually makes a mean Bloody Mary!
I was a little worried as we were starting our trip because it had begun to rain and the forecast showed it only getting worse. We looked up the refund policy for weather and there are no exchanges or cancellations due to weather. They depart rain or shine. Which is fine because the boat does have an inside with tables but you go on the tour because you want to sit outside and see the sights. I understand they can’t control the weather and it is a business so they have to do what they have to do. They did sell ponchos at the bar for $ 3 which was nice to find!
Place rating: 5
Summit, NJ
Once you go down the slippery slope of 5 stars — it get’s easier! All kidding aside, this is a must do in Chicago. Luckily we had a clear sunny day. and a good tour guide — narrator. You’re on the river looking up and it’s a great way to see Chicago’s architectural
York may outshine Chicago architecturally but I am inclined to doubt it and anyway you can’t see what is in New York in the way that you can see these buildings on this tour. If your wavering, look for picture. That should hook you. After the fact, it dawned on me that I ‘d really written a review of the CAF boat tour but the building is worth a look.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
The kids had a blast last weekend when they had free hands on activities like building structures and creative arts. Awesome exposure to budding designers and engineers!