August 6, 2025

5 Architectural Styles You'll Discover on Chicago's Waterways

Cruising along the Chicago River offers more than just stunning views, it's a journey through nearly 150 years of architectural evolution. From your vantage point on the water, you'll witness five distinct architectural styles that shaped not only Chicago's skyline but influenced urban design worldwide. Each style tells a unique story of the city's growth, innovation, and cultural development.

1. Chicago School (1880s-1920s)

The Chicago School represents the birthplace of the modern skyscraper and remains the city's most significant architectural contribution to the world. Born from necessity after the Great Fire of 1871, this style revolutionized urban construction with steel-frame buildings that could reach unprecedented heights.

Key characteristics include large windows arranged in horizontal bands, minimal ornamentation, and the famous "Chicago window", a design featuring a large central pane flanked by smaller movable sashes. From the river, you'll spot classic examples like the Rookery Building and the Monadnock Building, where architects like Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan pioneered the principle that form follows function.

2. Beaux-Arts (1890s-1930s)

As Chicago established itself as a major American city, architects began incorporating the grandeur of European classical architecture through the Beaux-Arts style. Chicago skyline tour by boat This movement emphasized symmetry, elaborate decoration, and monumental scale, reflecting the city's growing confidence and cultural aspirations.

The style features ornate facades, classical columns, sculptural elements, and impressive entrances designed to convey civic pride and institutional importance. From the water, the Chicago Cultural Center and Union Station showcase this style's emphasis on creating buildings that serve as urban landmarks and symbols of cultural achievement.

3. Art Deco (1920s-1940s)

The Jazz Age brought Art Deco to Chicago's riverfront, introducing a style that celebrated modernity, luxury, and technological progress. This movement perfectly captured the optimism of the 1920s and early 1930s, before the Great Depression temporarily slowed Chicago's architectural ambitions.

Art Deco buildings feature geometric patterns, vertical emphasis, metallic accents, and decorative elements inspired by machine aesthetics and ancient civilizations. The Chicago Board of Trade Building stands as the prime example visible from the river, with its distinctive pyramid top and elaborate facade that celebrates commerce and industry through architectural symbolism.

4. International Style/Modernism (1950s-1980s)

Post-World War II Chicago embraced the International Style, which emphasized clean lines, minimal decoration, and the honest expression of materials like steel and glass. This movement represented a dramatic departure from historical styles, focusing instead on functionality and universal design principles.

These buildings typically feature curtain wall construction, ribbon windows, flat roofs, and open floor plans that maximized flexible interior space. Marina City, with its distinctive corn-cob towers, exemplifies how Chicago architects adapted International Style principles while maintaining the city's tradition of architectural innovation and bold design statements.

5. Postmodern and Contemporary (1980s-Present)

Chicago's most recent architectural chapter combines historical references with cutting-edge technology and sustainable design principles. Postmodern and contemporary buildings often incorporate elements from earlier styles while introducing new materials, energy-efficient systems, and innovative structural solutions.

These structures feature mixed materials, varied textures, environmental integration, and designs that respond to both historical context and future needs. The Trump International Hotel and Tower and other recent additions to the skyline demonstrate how contemporary architects honor Chicago's architectural legacy while pushing boundaries in vertical construction and sustainable urban development.

A Living Museum of Architectural Innovation

What makes Chicago's riverfront architecture tour so remarkable is how these five distinct styles coexist and complement each other. Rather than replacing earlier movements, each new architectural era built upon previous innovations while responding to changing social, economic, and technological conditions.

From the water, visitors can observe how architects in different eras solved similar urban challenges, maximizing natural light, creating flexible interior spaces, expressing civic pride, and establishing Chicago's identity as a center of architectural excellence.

Experience this incredible architectural timeline firsthand with Tours & Boats' Chicago's premier architecture boat tour. Our expert guides will help you identify these five architectural styles and share the fascinating stories behind each building's design and construction. Discover how Chicago became the world's architectural laboratory and see why the city's skyline continues to inspire architects and urban planners around the globe.

Peter Drake is a Chicago native, writer, and self-proclaimed architecture nerd who’s been exploring the city’s streets, stories, and skyline for over 20 years. He founded All About Chicago to share honest, firsthand insights with travelers who want more than just a checklist experience. When he’s not digging into local history or hopping on a river cruise, Peter’s probably hunting down the city’s best Italian beef or debating whether it’s worth the hype.