Open House Chicago

" The Chicago Architecture Foundation presented the third-annual  Open House of Chicago: a free , citywide festival that offers behind-the-scenes access to more than 150 buildings across the city. Urban Sketchers Chicago planned a sketch crawl around this event. My first stop was the Lyric Opera House was built with Art Nouveau and Art Deco ornamentation."
I sketched this building from the stage. It looks like a hamburger to me, it may be I was hungry. This one of the fastest sketches I have ever done, 30 minutes or so.

We walked to the next building, the "Chicago Temple, the first United Methodist Church, the oldest congregation of Chicago. It is the tallest church in the world at 568 ft." We took 2 elevators. The chapel is rather small but beautiful. It's surrounded by stain glass windows, you cannot see outside if the window is closed. It was too crowded so I sketched this one from outside.

We continued and finished our sketch crawl at the Palmer House. "This opulent hotel has been a Chicago mainstay since before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The current Palmer House features a gilded lobby designed in the French Empire style with a formal staircase and Tiffany light fixtures." This is a detail of the lobby, view from the mezzanine near the electric stairs.

Every quote is source from a Special Advertising section produced by the CAF.