Stories by Geoffrey Baer

Chicago Works took us near and far to meet the people whose everyday work keeps our city humming. So we thought it was only fair to turn the tables and give you a behind-the-scenes look at our own work here at WTTW.

Robert A.M. Stern has died at the age of 86. Geoffrey Baer met and interviewed him for a documentary about his life and work, and remembers the influential architect here.

Léon Krier, an influential architect and theorist who rejected modernism in favor of classical architecture and traditional urban layouts, has died. Geoffrey Baer interviewed him several times. 

Many of Chicago's cemeteries are surprisingly beautiful and pastoral, in addition to being full of intriguing stories, sculptures, and monuments along with the prominent Chicagoans buried in them.

Ever since the opening of the Central Library, now the Cultural Center, in 1897, the Chicago area has built some remarkable libraries, as Geoffrey Baer explores. 

There are plenty of beautiful schools to be found in the Chicago area, from the grand edifices of the nineteenth century to modernist masterpieces. Geoffrey Baer highlights a few noteworthy ones.

Open House Chicago is back, allowing you to peek inside buildings across Chicago. With more than 170 sites to choose from, Geoffrey Baer has fourteen recommendations for unique places to visit. 

Chicago's motto is "city in a garden," and there are plenty of beautiful, notable parks with some fascinating history to live up to that ideal, as Geoffrey Baer explores.

If you're in search of beautiful buildings, the biggest bang for your buck is to explore Chicago-area college campuses, which have noteworthy structures within easy walking distance of each other. Geoffrey Baer highlights a few. 

There are more than 150 sites across Chicago and some of its suburbs taking part in Open House Chicago this year, so Geoffrey Baer shares some of his favorites to help you plan your own excursions.

Geoffrey Baer takes a tour of some lost amusement parks that entertained Chicagoans, including his father, who loved Riverview, and himself—he was fond of the Kiddieland in Skokie. Do you have any fond memories of another park?

Whereas once Chinatown leaders had to turn to Norwegian architects, now there are noteworthy buildings and sites by Asian architects throughout Chicagoland, from skyscrapers to a library to a synagogue. Geoffrey Baer explores some. 

Geoffrey Baer highlights some Chicago buildings addressing climate change by striving for net-zero energy, incorporating renewal energy sources, repurposing existing buildings, and incorporating agriculture, among other things.

Architecture remains a male-dominated field, but women architects have made their mark upon Chicago and architectural history. Discover a few of them and their projects, from downtown skyscrapers to transit centers and schools.

Plenty of American cities have iconic foods associated with them that tourists flock to and natives love (or love to hate). But what about all the other foods that originated in Chicago but are less often found downtown or on lists of must-eat foods?