Chicago Photo Gallery - Loop Part 2

The Hilton Chicago was built in 1927 and has 1544 rooms over 29 floors.

Just on the other side of the street is Grant Park, a huge swathe of greenery leading to the lake.

Redevelopments are common within the South Loop to increase density. This part of town has a good mix of commercial and residential buildings.

Dearborn Station was completed in 1885. Its red brick exterior and Romanesque clock tower represented a time when rail stations were built to reflect their economic might. Trains no longer stop here, and the station was redeveloped in the 1980s into offices and retail.

Printers Row is being revitalized into a residential district.

Millennium Park has several architectural points of interest. Cloud Gate was designed by Anish Kapoor and reflects the nearby buildings quite well for great photo opportunities.

Nearby, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion was designed by Frank Gehry and is a concert venue.

The buildings surrounding the park will have quite nice views of all this open space.

Previously the Standard Oil Building, the Aon Center was built in 1972. Its original marble cladding was replaced with granite after some panels came off the building.

The Chicago Cultural Center has a fantastic interior that is worth a stop.

The reason why this area is called the Loop is because of the subway, which runs on elevated tracks around the downtown in a loop.