Chicago Loop, Chicago

Federal Center

This plaza includes Mies' Dirksen Federal Building and Kluczynski Federal Building (built eleven years apart), with a low-rise post office enveloped in their sleek black lines

Monadnock Building

Named appropriately for a mountain in New Hampshire, the Monadnock was the last tall building to be supported by its own walls (not a metal frame, although the 1893 addition by Holabird & Roche does use one)

Metropolitan Correctional Center

While not very tall, this 1975 brutalist structure is one of the most distinctive and curious in the Chicago skyline

Chicago Board of Trade Visitor Center

This monumental 1930 building is an Art Deco masterpiece and dominates its surrounding streets like no other in the Loop

University of Chicago

Marquette Building

It's partially obscured by renovations, but this first-wave skyscraper still makes an immediate contrast with the modern Federal Center across the street

The Rookery (Chicago)

The Rookery is gorgeous to the point of absurdity, with delight to be found in details in the rustic lower walls and the triumphant upper walls

Federal Reserve Bank Money Museum

Currency wonks can study various denominations and practice counterfeit detections

Chase Tower

Located at the exact epicenter of CTA's Loop transit system, this 850ft building is distinctive for its vertical curve

LaSalle Bank Theater

Another Broadway in Chicago theater