As its first architectural biennial opens to visitors, David Whitley is blown away by the Windy City's landmark buildings and more modern innovations.
Travel essentials
Why go now?
The inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial (chicago architecturebiennial), a celebration of all things architectural and a showcase for new ideas in building design, kicks off on Saturday in this city of staggering buildings, and runs until 3 January 2016.
It follows a blizzard of new hotel openings and unveilings of ambitious public spaces, the latest of which was the Bloomingdale Trail (the606.org) in June. Running through the northwestern 'hoods of Bucktown, Logan Square and Humboldt Park, the converted freight train route is Chicago's 2.7 mile-long answer to New York's High Line elevated public park.