From skyscrapers that touch the clouds to complex details tucked into every street corner, Chicago is a paradise on earth for anyone who adores architecture, history, and art. Here’s a sneak peek into what makes this city so spectacularly beautiful.

A Mix of Different Styles in The Same Skyline  

One of the first things I noticed about Chicago is how effortlessly it blends architectural styles. Greco-Roman, Art Deco, Modernism, Post-Modernism, they’re all here, often sharing the same skyline.

Imagine seeing classical Greco-Roman columns standing proudly next to the sleek lines of Modernism or catching a playful Post-Modern twist as you turn a corner. This effortless coexistence of styles makes every walk through Chicago feel like a curated tour of design history.  

Art Deco: Elegance in Every Detail

Art Deco buildings are scattered throughout the city, each one a masterpiece of symmetry and craftsmanship. These structures draw your eyes upward with complex designs, rich materials like marble and granite, and industrial accents of steel.  

One highlight was the Tiffany glass dome, a breathtaking piece of artistry. Every piece of glass was hand-crafted to fit its steel grid, with soft, delicate colors that give the appearance of a painted masterpiece. Even the smallest details, like grates and grills, showcase a level of craftsmanship that’s rare to see in modern styles.  

Sculptures That Bring Life to the City

Chicago’s streets and parks are populated with civic sculptures that give the city a unique personality.  

– Picasso’s last civic sculpture is bold and enigmatic, inviting interpretation.  

– Calder’s Flamingo brings a playful burst of energy to a bustling square.  

– And then there’s Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (affectionately called “The Bean”), a reflective wonder that perfectly captures Chicago’s skyline and invites interaction from every visitor.

These sculptures don’t just decorate the city, they improve it, adding character and moments of surprise around every corner.

Quirks and Surprises  

Chicago also has its share of architectural quirks. Take the Chicago Tribune Building, for example. Captain McCormick, with his peculiar sense of humor, incorporated stones stolen from archeological sites around the world into its façade. From pieces of the Colosseum to fragments of the Great Wall of China, the building is a patchwork of global history—a playful yet thought-provoking touch.  

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House  

A visit to Chicago wouldn’t be complete without seeing Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, a classical Prairie-style masterpiece.  

Wright’s design perfectly melts into the surrounding landscape, using horizontal lines and earthy tones that reflect the Midwest’s natural beauty. Every detail, from the gates to the window grills, showcases Wright’s meticulous attention to form and function. Walking through the house, you can feel how Wright dreamt of not just a home, but a way of living in harmony with the environment.

A Conversation Between Old and New  

One of the most striking examples of Chicago’s architectural brilliance is the contrast between the Art Institute of Chicago and its modern addition across the street. Built nearly a century apart, the contemporary design pays tribute to its historic neighbor while staying true to its own unique identity. It’s a perfect metaphor for Chicago itself, deeply rooted in history but always looking ahead to the future.

Why Chicago is a Must-Visit for Architecture Lovers  

Chicago isn’t just a city for architects or designers, it’s for anyone who appreciates beauty, history, and creativity. Every building, sculpture, and detail tells a story. It’s a city that invites you to slow down, look up, and marvel at what humans can create when art and engineering come together.  

So, if you ever find yourself in Chicago, take a stroll. Let the city’s architecture guide you, surprise you, and even inspire you. Trust me, it’s an experience you’ll never forget.

The post A Walk Through Chicago: Architectural Marvels at Every Corner appeared first on Suvarnarekha Design Consultants.

While presenting a conceptual design for a farm resort in a village outside Hyderabad, we did some studies on the traditional village houses of Andhra.

Vernacular Village Houses

The open courtyard is a familiar feature even in Andhra. Additionally, homes in this part of the country would also have large halls running through the length of the house. Traditional homes in this region, probably owing to the influence of kings who ruled here, show an appealing mix of Muslim architecture, along with local architectural flavours. Use of black slate stone, arches in the house or carved screens and even Urdu calligraphy, are common sights.

Chuttillu or Middillu are circular-clustered homes that you could see in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh. While traditional homes are giving way to modern homes, the use of red bricks, teakwood and elaborately decorated entrances, are still preferred by many households.

Bhawanti Houses

The weaver’s houses from Telangana follow a chitrasala, layout with three sections in the front and the rooms at the back, housing a courtyard at the centre. Usually built of bamboo, Palmyra as beams, and roof tiles in a semi-circular shape. According to economic conditions the house might have an enclosed garden area.

While vernacular houses usually only refer to climatic conditions, the houses in the south depend largely on the economic factors of the families. The use of local materials and labour must have made things cheaper and more feasible. Their livelihood and jobs are very visible from the architecture. The house shapes the people and is shaped by the people.

Cob homes

This quaint little village had these beautifully layered walls of cob commonly used in the all the houses in the village.

Walls are otherwise typically plastered with lime inside and left with a mud render on the outside. The road is easily a few feet above the courtyard visible through the door and the laying of Nati (village) roof tiles are quite different as to what one would see in Tamil Nadu.

The cob homes are known to be small and size efficient. Building with cob falls under the umbrella of natural building. A cob house can be built from the earth right beneath the building site. People are drawn to cob homes in large part due to their beauty and creative designs. Buildings are not limited to ninety degree angle. The main ingredients for making cob are clay, sand and straw.

Manduva logili

The courtyard houses of Andhra Pradesh.Since the joint family system was in vogue at the time, large homes with numerous room and courtyards were a necessity. The manduva logili homes, mostly found near Godavari, Guntur, Nellore, Cuddapah or Vijayanagaram were mostly built before the 1950s.There were two kinds of  traditional houses in Andhra Pradesh. While the manduva logili or illu featuring a courtyard with rooms that opened onto it was found mostly in villages, the chavadi illu had a large hall that stretched across the house and built mostly by the upper castes.

Kaccha building of Andhra Pradesh- Chuttillu from costal Andhra Pradesh

This house cluster is found in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. In cyclone-prone areas, fishermen and agricultural farmers build circular houses whish nestle closely to form clusters. These houses were designed to withstand high-pressure winds and rain. The walls were built with balls of mud to make them thick. Special rooms were allotted for storage of grains, farm equipment, and items for the use of the family. The houses were built close to each other in a circular formation so that the cyclonic winds that often hit the coast bounced off tangentially away from the cluster. The roads leading into a hamlet were usually narrow mud paths, opening into large open spaces. Around which mud and thatch huts lay strewn.

We also incorporated local arts and crafts of the area.

Typical Stone Carving

Typical Wood Carving

Typical Temple Detailing

Kalamkari Wall Murals

And together with the exotic and vibrant combination of colours used in the villages came up with some interesting ideas for our project which we call “Vibes of The village”.

As architects in Kerala, we draw inspiration from these cultural treasures and the architectural wisdom embedded in the very fabric of these homes. We hope this journey has left you with a deeper appreciation for the architectural heritage of Andhra, and the inspiration to blend tradition with modern design.

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DAY1 : Our plane from Singapore to Yangon held a fair mix of locals returning home, business people and tourists,now recognizing Myanmar as an emerging Asian economy as well as the latest popular tourist destination…. I was lucky to share a dream holiday with my daughter.

We landed at the modern Minglaba airport at Yangon on a fine August morning.The easy and efficient passage out of the airport was a relief .The tour programme was planned with great attention to detail -longyes as gifts,cold water, a good driver and the services of a very pleasant tour guide . Having exchanged a couple of crisp new 100 dollar notes for kyats,the local currency,we were on our way to the Kandawgji Palace Hotel on Kandawgyi lake ,an impressive wooden structure with beautiful traditional wood carving and set in fine landscape. Our city tour started with the magnificent Shwedegon Pagoda.with its 99mt high golden dome. 7 tons of gold covering was used to decorate this most holy of pagodas,The different influences of style from India ,China and Thailand used in the architecture was complimented by the fine detailing of the interiors.Tall statues of gold plated Buddhas ,surrounded by intricately worked glass decorated walls and colourful wood filigree ,were worshipped in quiet dignity by thousands of devotees.The ambience ,prayerful and holy inspite of the crowds of tourists.The noisy marble clad walk way,busy with worshippers at various points in the complex contrasted with the peaceful quiet worship at the shrines of Buddha.
Our next visit was to the tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar,the last of the Moghuls,exiled by the British to Myanmar.(.It was interesting to hear that the last Burmese King died in Ooty in South India.)The sorry state of the tomb was in sharp contrast to the grandeur of the Shwedegon Pagoda.The sight was even more depressing in the grey afternoon drizzle. Sweet syrupy Cha (tea) mixed with condensed milk,along with some greasy crisp samosas and spring rolls, at the Lucky 7 Tea House was a welcome mood elevater .We visited the Elegant Jewellery Workshop to see the famous Myanmarese Rubies being set in exquisite jewellery. Then it was time to visit the Sule Pagoda ,
with its octagonal pagoda right in the city centre, though not as grand as the Shwedegon Pagoda it had some beautiful shrines with good wood giving.At dinner at a restaurant near lake Inya we were served Burmese food .A delicious mixture of Indian Thai and Chinese cuisine but with its own distinctive flavor of coconut,lemongrass and tender torch ginger flowers.

DAY 2 : Next morning we set off for the airport at 5.15 am with packed breakfasts.Our flight to Bagan was in an ATR and surprisingly pleasant. Bagan airport and landscape reminded me of Udaipur.The flat landscape ,thorny scrub and the heat…the difference being the hundreds of amazing brick stupas rising from the fields and shimmering in the dusty haze.
This ancient city is now an archeological heritage site on the lines of Hampi .The Irrawady river was recently flooded and we could still see areas where it had escaped the confines of its embankment.In the Northern areas ,the dolphins in the Irrawady are said to help the fishermen to catch fish by herding them to the nets! We started the tour at the local market where the friendly ladies allowed us to try palmsugar sweets and Tanaka on our cheeks.Palm leaf balls,smelly fish paste,soveniers ,vegetables and colourful longyes,the market was familiar but at the same time very exotic.
The stupas of Bagan are truly fantastic sculptural monuments, each one so unique that in spite of the blistering heat we did not want to miss even one on the itenerary .The Shwezigon stupa, the largest in bagan,, the Htilominlo Pagoda with the finest example of dry brickwork,The Ananda temple with its fine architectural proportions,The Gubyaukgyi temple with exquisite mural paintings and the Manuha Temple with the gigantic Buddha.
The Bagan House Lacquerware workshop was fascinating and a welcome green oasis with shady trees and translucent cloth and bamboo umbrellas.
Lacquer work ,starting from the initial bamboo base to colouring with natural colours and finally gilding with gold foil is done with great detail and skill. The sunset ,viewed from the top of the Dhamayangyi temple ,casting long shadows over the dusty landscape bordered bythe Irrawady river ,with horse carts in the distance was reminiscent of a scene out of ‘APassage to India’.

Day 3 : Next morning we took an early morning flight to Mandalay. Mandalay from the skies looks green and flat with colourful fields leading upto misty mountains in the distance. We drove straight to the ancient town of Amarapura and crossed the U Bien teakwood bridge, the longest wooden bridge in the world. Having seen it on the cover of The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh I was really excited to be there.The bridge was populated by locals, monks,bicycles,motor bikes goats and tourists and food stalls with prawns and various local fish fried in a red batter.It was also a place for everyone to chill.
We had to make it to the Mahagandayon Monastry in time to see the 1000 monks waiting for their noon meal.The road leading to the food distribution area was covered with monks in scarlet,white and yellow waiting patiently in line ,and tourists.
The silk workshop with the longyes in wonderful weaves and fabric in vibrant colours was interesting. But the pagodas at Sagaing were something else. Being on top of a wooded hill the view of the valley and the river was breathtaking.
We saw huge rafts of teak logs being sent to the mills down river to be used for construction along the Irrawady.We were told that in the last 30 years 50% of the forest cover was destroyed. Then we took a boat ride across the river to Ava,a small village, to see the Bargayar Monastry with its huge teak wood pillars ,60ft high and 6 ft diameter!
The horse cart ride through the villages was really beautiful and so was the interaction with the villagers. The day ended at the fancy Mandalay Hill resort.

Day 4:Next day we could get up at a decent hour for a change and then we took a boat ride to across the mighty Irrawady to see the huge brick pile of the Pahtodawgyi pagoda.
The walk to the top of this unfinished pagoda was in blistering heat on sun baked stonesteps ,250 of them!.The Pagoda was left unfinished as an astrologer predicted the Kings death if the pagoda was finished.In the meanwhile the King had ordered the largest bell,the Mingun Bell,weighing 900Tons,

which had to be moulded on the river bed because of its size.The Mya Thein Dan pagoda ,a beautiful white structure, depicting the ideal model of a Buddhist Universe in Architecture was the last visit on Mingun before we took the boat back to Mandalay. Gold ,blinding,glittering …The Mahamuni temple ,with the gold covered Buddha was dazzling !The Buddha has been covered with gold foil so much so that he has ioncreased in girth by 1ft.!
The Golden monastery with the remains of the original rooms of the glass palace and the Kuthodaw pagoda with the largest book in the world wrapped up the sights .Finally a city view from the top of the Mandalay hill where one could enjoy the panoramic view of the gardens,river and fields in the distance.

Day 5 : Yangon .a quick visit to Bogyoke market and finally the return to Singapore after the magical 5 days at Myanmar.

Author:- Suvarnarekha Design consultants – Architects in Kerala

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Author:- Suvarnarekha Design consultants – Architects in Kerala

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