The tradition & historical record
2 min read · 2 sourcesOpen House Chicago (OHC) is a free weekend festival held annually in Chicago that allows participants to visit dozens of buildings that are not typically open to the public. OHC is organized by the Chicago Architecture Foundation over a two-day period each year in mid-October. The event promotes appreciation of architecture by the general public. OHC began in 2011 and it is part of a worldwide network of Open House events that started with Open House London in 1992. Its organizers state that event objectives include enabling participants to “venture into new neighborhoods, learn the stories of Chicago’s architecture and experience the diversity and culture of each community.” OHC is an important event for tourism in Chicago. Funding for the event comes from the Chicago Architecture Center and from corporate sponsors, government agencies, foundations, and individual donors. The event relies on approximately 2,600 volunteers to staff participating buildings. 1
Sites
Sites include spaces inside historic and architecturally significant buildings that aren't generally open to the public, including historic mansions, Frank Lloyd Wright homes, theaters, skyscrapers, exclusive private clubs, opulent hotel ballrooms and suites, rooftops, industrial sites and design and architecture offices. Highlights include Tribune Tower, Kemper Building, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Fine Arts Building, Chicago Board of Trade Building, The Rookery, Aon Center, Chicago Temple Building, Emil Bach House, Elks National Memorial, New Regal Theater and more. The Studebaker Theater was a site in 2013 and 2014 prior to its reopening in 2015, and the long-shuttered Uptown Theatre was a site in 2026. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Open House Chicago”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Open House Chicago is annual festival in Chicago that allows participants to visit buildings not typically open to the public, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 2