The year in Chicago architecture

The architecture is slowly revealed. Large projects take years, sometimes even decades, to complete. And yet some years hold plenty of surprises, and 2025 brought a few headaches: a papal pilgrimage site in suburban Dolton, an entire wing of the White House demolished, and possibly historic protection for the mediocre office building that replaced Louis Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange. No one had any on their bingo card during the last calendar rotation.

A new local place of pilgrimage: Pope Leo XIV’s modest childhood home in Dolton was acquired by the town in July, just two months after the favorite son became pontiff. Declared a historic monument earlier this month, plans to open the house to the public are still being developed. Although the designation has nothing to do with the building’s architecture, the single-family brick structure embodies the suburban development built in the years immediately following World War II.

The General Services Administration in the crosshairs: Now, more than 11 months into Trump 2.0, the developer president has had surprising effects on culture building. The demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House in October was perhaps the most surprising unannounced demolition since Mayor Richard M. Daley’s bulldozing of Meigs Field in the dead of night in March 2003. Earlier in the year, the General Services Administration, which owns and operates most federal structures across the country, expressed interest in divesting many properties, including portions of the Ludwig Mies van-designed Federal Center complex. der Rohe in the Loop and the recently marked Century and Consumers Buildings on State Street. It is almost guaranteed that these measures will be reviewed next year.

Residential renovations on LaSalle Street: The residential conversion of former office buildings along LaSalle Street has continued, but with a new unfortunate precedent. Earlier this month, the unremarkable 1970s office structure at 30 N. LaSalle St. received preliminary landmark status from the Chicago Landmarks Commission. This is a ridiculously absurd move by the city to help the developer benefit from public subsidies. Stopping demolition through thoughtful reuse of older buildings is almost always a good thing, but marking is not the appropriate tool for this project. Here, the city encourages good development against the grain.

Google Glass: Google’s remake of the James R. Thompson Center continues to provide construction observers with material for social media. The complete exposure of the building’s structural framework has been a highlight of the past year, but the continued installation of clear glazing proves that the renovation by Jahn/ — the successor firm to Murphy/Jahn, the original architects — is a more dramatic makeover than initially revealed. New terraces have been created beneath the angled glazing, which now appears as a series of animated skirts rather than as part of the main body of the building.

And Google doesn’t win any awards for its lack of transparency about the scope of design. The entire year has passed without an update to the handful of renders released by the digital giant in 2024. We’re finding out what we’re getting as it’s built.

A new Lincoln Yards: There is no reason to lament the abandonment of the overworked Lincoln Yards projects. Following a change in ownership, the northern portion of the parcel has now been named Foundry Park and features a new master plan by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture. The scale remains too large for this part of the North Side, but the new renderings indicate a more textured and nuanced architecture than previously proposed. And the end of the year has a possible buyer for the southern part where we will expect new projects for the new year.