Chicago has long been an American design hub. Though its architectural history shines through (it is famously home to the world’s first skyscraper and a plethora of iconic towers that followed), its art, design, and furniture outputs have also been historically innovative. At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago-based architects like Frank Lloyd Wright designed decorative wood built-ins for private homes that dot the Midwest. In the 1930s, bent tubular steel furnishings were first mass-produced by Chicago’s Howell Company, setting off a design movement inspired by the International Style (think Mies van der Rohe) and securing the city’s decades-long reign as the furniture capital of the nation. And in 1937, László Moholy-Nagy established the New Bauhaus there, expanding its German principles into an interdisciplinary pedagogy that spread Modernism across the United States.
With such a legacy of makers, it is clear why some of the nation’s best designers have been born and taken root in Chicago. And since 2015, when the Chicago Architecture Biennial presented its inaugural edition, design professionals have had an additional reason to flock to the Windy City every two years. For those planning to attend the third installment, which opens September 19 and runs through January 5, Chicago is chock full of inspiration on and off the Magnificent Mile.
Sleep
The oldest hotel in Chicago is still one of its finest. The Palmer House, located in the Loop just a block from the spectacular Art Institute, originally opened in 1871 only to be lost to the Great Fire an unlucky 13 days later. It was swiftly rebuilt in 1873. This year the hotel underwent an extensive restoration, and guests can now revel in its renewed glory, including the 24-karat-gold winged angel candelabra lights by Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Grecian ceiling murals by French artist Louis Pierre Rigal in its historic lobby.
If the city’s vast trove of Art Deco work appeals, the Robey Chicago is an opportunity to rest your head in an architectural gem. Linking a 1905 former warehouse and a triangular 1929 skyscraper to create a 89-room property, the hotel features 180-degree views of the city, including its bustling Wicker Park neighborhood.
For a more contemporary stay immersed in local design, the recently opened Hoxton Chicago is a cool-kid boutique hotel on the site of a former meatpacking plant in the Fulton Market District on Chicago’s west side. While rooms exude midcentury vibes, artworks are curated by local gallery Johalla Projects.
Shop
Close by on Chicago’s Near West Side, a stop at the monthly Randolph Street Market is a must for vintage furnishings and flea finds. Designer Tiffany Brooks swears by it, though her go-to stall has always been South Loop Loft, a furniture and furnishings outpost owned by Beth Berke. “Every time I see them, I strike gold,” says Brooks. Now, with a physical showroom in the River West neighborhood, it’s even easier to get her “vintage ’80s fix.”
Chicago’s design district is also filled with sourcing treasures. For Brooks, antique and vintage shops the Painted Lady and Redefined Decor are a one-two punch on the same street: “I love grabbing painted Victorian furniture [at the former] and heading a few doors down to get some more soulful accents,” she says. And in Wicker Park, An Orange Moon is a must for its fabulous selection of vintage furniture in a showroom with a “cool hipster vibe.”
Windy City native Lynai Jones, whose home shop Mitchell Black Home Decor in Bucktown is a designer’s dream for wallpaper sourcing, is keen on shopping in the residential Lincoln Park, “swiftly becoming a shopping destination for home decor and furniture,” she assures. For handcrafted pillows, trims, and tassels in “the most luxurious fabrics found in India,” she touts Pyar&Co/Lil' Pyar. And for custom takes on classic furnishings, MegMade delivers top-notch refinishing and reupholstering services.
Do
One of the best ways to see a skyline is to take to the water. “We Chicagoans enjoy a plethora of architectural gems along our riverfront,” says Jones. To acquaint visitors, she recommends boarding one of the many architectural boat tours departing from Navy Pier (also one of her favorite Chicago icons) and then heading into the city’s smaller neighborhoods to discover more. If you have downtime, Hyde Park’s Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Robie House is a must-see, but the Biennial is also hosting several exhibits on offsite locations including the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum on the University of Illinois at Chicago’s campus to the Overton School in Bronzeville, the city’s historic black nexus.
Era-driven galleries, like the midcentury Matthew Rachman Gallery or the contemporary Volume, can also help satiate design inspiration hunger. The former pairs (and deals) vintage furniture with sharply curated design shows (last year’s Charlotte Perriand show was particularly illuminating for this writer). The latter allows today’s up-and-coming artists and designers to shine. Perhaps your next favorite is waiting in Chicago.
