In part due to Instagram, architectural tourism has never been bigger. Few cities anywhere in the world can compete with Chicago for architectural splendor and variety. It’s river architecture tour is considered a must-do—even by travel snobs. Wright, Burnham, Sullivan, Gang, van der Rohe, S.O.M, Gehry, and Bofill—all have iconic buildings here. But for us, the most visually alluring period of skyscrapers is Art Deco.
That’s why this week’s selection for Just Booked (our twice-monthly showcase for coffee-table books that focus on some aspect of travel) is Robert Bruegmann’s Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America published by Yale University Press.
The book is, quite simply, fantastic. It’s a deep dive into not just the explosion in Art Deco architecture, but also its effects in fashion and industrial design. Some pages will leave you wistful for masterpieces that have been destroyed, while other hidden gems highlighted in it will have you adding them to your architecture bucket list.
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Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America. Edited by Robert Bruegmann. Published by Yale University Press. (On Amazon for $47.75)
