WGN News Blog

A bird's eye of the Chi, without leaving the ground

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This Wednesday, the Chicago Architecture Foundation is showing off its latest project - a scale model of the loop down to the smallest window. More than 1,000 buildings were created using a new three-dimensional computer generated printing process called stereolithography. Each building was designed in a computer, then spit out of a special machine overnight. Repeat a few thousand times.

I was a little bit skeptical heading to the exhibit. After all, I work in Chicago every day. What could I possibly learn by looking at the city as a smaller scale model? Well, you really get to see how many buildings are jammed next to each other, which leads to a deeper appreciation of how architects have to consider their surroundings. Furthermore, the exhibit adds a lighting display that simulates all hours of the day, which showcases how important shadows are when looking at our urban landscape.

If you want to check it out, here's where you can find it:

The Chicago Architecture Foundation
224 S. Michigan Ave.
Admission is free
The exhibit runs until November 20th
architecture.org has information about all of their other tours and programs

The Chicago Tribune has more about the exhibit. You can read William Mullen's article here.