Check Out Local Architecture With 'Open House Chicago' Self-Guided Tours

Open House Chicago is still happening in 2020, but because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, participants will be on their own.

The annual event that typically offers an insider look at 100 of the city’s most impressive architectural structures will transition to a virtual format with the Chicago Architecture Center app, which became available Wednesday (October 14) and directs users through Chicago neighborhoods.

Participants can choose from more than 50 self-guided explorations — viewing more than 100 unique landmarks — beginning Friday (October 16) and running through October 25, according to ABC7Chicago.

For its 10th anniversary, the festival will span 10 days rather than its usual weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday (October 15).

“Part of the vision for these trails is like an art museum because you can rent a headset and someone will narrate to you what it is you’re looking at,” Zachary Whittenburg, a spokesman for the Chicago Architecture Center, told the Sun-Times. “We are looking at neighborhoods like galleries and framing the buildings as the sculpture in a gallery, so when you get to a specific location, a few minutes of audio will play from a subject expert telling you what it is you are looking at.”

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