The Mayor’s Office of Special Events presents the city’s seventh annual Great Chicago Places and Spaces festival, a weekend celebration of local architecture and design, offering more than 150 free tours by foot, bus, el, trolley, or boat, all led by architects, docents, and other aficionados. Seats for Friday’s “Great Chicago Conversations” program are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tours take place on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22, rain or shine. Tickets (with a limit of two per tour and two tours per day per person) are available at the Chicago Architecture Foundation ArchiCenter, 224 S. Michigan, on the day of the tour, also on a first-come, first-served basis; registration begins at 7:30 AM. Meeting locations will be given upon receipt of tickets. (“Great Interiors” tours require no tickets, as shown below.) For more information call 312-744-3315 or 312-744-3370 or see www.cityofchicago.org/specialevents.
Chicago’s World Fairs Walking tour featuring Northerly Island, Jackson Park, and Midway Plaisance, led by CAF docent Bill Hinchliff. 9 AM (3.5 hrs.)
CTA Rail Stations El tour led by CTA traffic engineering manager Ron Weslow. 9:15 AM (2.5 hrs.)
Photographing Millennium Park Walking tour along the Michigan Avenue street wall en route to the park, led by CAF docents. Bring your own camera. 9:30 AM (2 hrs.)
Austin Village Walking tour led by members of the Austin Schock Neighborhood Association. 10 AM (2 hrs.)
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City Hall Rooftop Garden Walking tour led by Michael Berkshire of the Mayor’s Office for Green Initiatives and landscape architect Astrid Haryati. 10 AM (30 mins.)
Historic Homes of Prairie Avenue Trolley tour featuring the Clarke and Glessner houses, led by Glessner House Museum docents. 10 AM (2.5 hrs.)
