Open House Chicago returns this weekend with more than 170 architecturally, historically and culturally significant locations around the city open to the public.
The free festival hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center runs from Friday through Sunday and will feature more than 40 new sites.
“So many people have busy lives, they stay in their neighborhood and they know them really well,” said Eleanor Gorski, chief executive of the Chicago Architecture Center. “We want this to be a chance where people can feel like they can travel to other neighborhoods with a purpose to see our sites, and hopefully they’ll learn about that neighborhood.”
For the first time, the weekend will kick off with two parties Friday night, one open to the public at the center’s downtown building, and a second for members only held on the 33rd floor of Willis Tower. Visitors can explore the center’s exhibits for free the whole weekend.
Lauren Bakos, senior director of marketing for the center, said the center also has architects in residence from a Parisian architecture firm who will be holding office hours to speak with Chicagoans about their research project on repurposing high-rises. At the exclusive party, members will hear the debut of an original piece by local composers inspired by Willis Tower.
This year, the center is releasing a new interactive app to help participants create and share their own itineraries, find activities, search transit options and plan travel routes, among other features. Bakos said the app will also include a page called “Explore like a local,” highlighting small businesses around the neighborhoods.
“Another big goal of ours, and something we’d love to see, is if people are supporting these small businesses while they’re in their neighborhoods,” Bakos said.
At certain locations, Gorski said the sites will have “activations,” including a demonstration of woodworking techniques at a workshop in Pullman, and a sketching activity at an interior design center in Chatham.
Bakos said Open House is focusing on 22 neighborhoods so participants can visit multiple sites at once with less travel time. Gorski added that the center hopes to rotate through new neighborhoods each year to eventually highlight all of them.
A new addition to the site list this year, Uptown’s Riviera Theatre, will be open for participants to explore. The ornate theater, now a concert venue, was built in 1918 as a movie theater.
Some sites open this weekend date to the mid-1800s, including Jane Addams’ Hull House and the Church of the Holy Family.
Participants can also explore Walt Disney’s childhood home in Hermosa, which has been undergoing renovations, Bakos said.
Bakos said the center also collaborated with local celebrities, including Carol Ross Barney, an architect who recently won the AIA Gold Medal, to create their own itineraries, accessible through the app. Bakos said she’s excited to be able to help people who are unsure where to start by pointing to these.
“I can say, ‘Well, what are you interested in? Are you interested in seeing the work of famous architects? Are you interested in sites that have cultural significance? Are you interested in all these different themes?’ And then recommending an itinerary we built based on that and using these experts in those areas to help us,” she said.
The number of sites is up from last year’s 150 and from 100 in 2021, but still below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, the event featured 350 locations.
Last year’s event drew about 27,000 participants, Bakos said.
“If we hear from people that are out there that they tried something new, they went somewhere they’d always wanted to go or even somewhere they never thought of going, I think that would be really successful,” Bakos said.
