Page 81 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guides - Chicago

Near North ❮❮ 79

John Hancock Center
1
MAP L2 • 875 N. Michigan Ave.
• Observatory open 9am–11pm daily,
Adm., DA • Signature Room open
daily, DA • www.johnhancock
centerchicago.com
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
designed this 1970 landmark using
the signature Xs on the facade as
cross-braces to help the 1,100-ft
(335-m) building withstand the winds
coming off Lake Michigan. Soak up
the view from the 94th-floor
observation deck or drink it in from Magnificent – or Mag – Mile
the Signature Room restaurant and
Magnificent Mile
lounge directly above. Many say you 3
get a better view from here than Whether you’re a shopper or
from the South Side’s Sears Tower – not, this store-lined strip warrants
and the lines are usually shorter too. a visit if only to get a feel for the
commercial pulse that seems to
Merchandise Mart
2 keep Chicago humming (see pp32–3).
MAP K3 • 222 W. Merchandise
Museum of
Mart Plaza • DA 4
This massive two-square-block Contemporary Art
edifice houses Chicago’s premier MAP L2 • 220 E. Chicago Ave. • Open
interior design trade showrooms. Tue–Sun 10am–5pm (to 8pm Tue)
When completed in 1930, the four • Adm (free on Tue) • DA
million-sq-ft (390,000-sq-m) building • www.mcachicago.org
was the largest in the world. Today, it One of the country’s largest collec tions
is second only to the Pentagon in of international contemporary art,
size, and is still the world’s largest the MCA has over 6,000 objects, from
commercial building. The Chicago painting and sculpture to pho tography
Architecture Foundation (see p63) and video installa tions. In summer,
offers a 45-minute guided tour, which the sculpture garden and displays of
is a great way to get to grips with this performance art on the front lawn
daunting building. enhance the experience.

The impressive stairwell, Museum of Contemporary Art

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