Chicago Architecture Center Presents Open House Chicago 2026 October 17 and 18, 2026

Preservation Chicago
By Preservation Chicago
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Chicago Loop Synagogue was founded in 1929 to serve the religious needs of Jews who lived, worked and visited downtown, and today it hosts people from around the world. The building was designed by Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett and is considered an excellent example of mid-century modern artchitecture. It was built in 1957 to replace a structure on the same block that had been lost to fire. The entrance is crowned by the Henri Azaz sculpture “Hands of Peace.” A wall of stained glass by Abraham Rattner breaks the reserved minimalism of the sanctuary, leading one critic to describe it as “perhaps the most beautiful synagogue interior in the United States.” Preservation Chicago has named this architectural gem one of the seven most endangered buildings for 2026. Photo credit: Eric Allix Rogers

Ward Miller and Preservation Chicago have been invited to lead tours of the Chicago Loop Synagogue during Open House Chicago on Sunday, October 18, 2026. We hope to see you.

Open House Chicago returns on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2026 for its sixteenth year. Organized by the Chicago Architecture Center, the festival opens more than 200 sites across 30 neighborhoods, many of them rarely accessible to the public. Admission is free and no advance registration is required. Visitors choose their sites and arrive during the listed open house hours.

New this year is “Built on Belief,” a program exploring the intersections of architecture, religion and spirituality. Three Woodlawn sites — the Narrow Bridge Arts Club, First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, and Oak Woods Cemetery — will create site-specific exhibitions and programs telling the story of how the neighborhood has been shaped by faith communities and sacred places over generations.

Several sites return after a hiatus, including the House of Blues, The Plant in Back of the Yards, the Auditorium Theatre, the Center for Native Futures in the Marquette Building, the Park Castle Condominiums in Rogers Park, the Al-Sadiq Mosque in Bronzeville, Birch Road Clubhouse in Lincoln Park, and the Pui Tak Center in Chinatown.

Returning favorites include the Chicago Magic Lounge, Electrical Audio, the Chicago Board of Trade, Apollo’s 2000, the Avalon Regal Theater, the Stony Island Arts Bank, the Walt Disney House and Birthplace, the Irish American Heritage Center, the Bronzeville Forum, and Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation at Chess Records.

”We hope that attendees strengthen their relationships with architectural spaces in their own neighborhoods, while also exploring diverse communities across the city and gaining confidence to participate more fully in conversations around architecture, design and civic life,” said Chicago Architecture Center President and CEO Eleanor Esser Gorski.

The festival draws more than 35,000 visitors each year. The OHC Photo Competition also returns, open to all ages and skill levels, with six winners to have their work displayed at the Chicago Architecture Center.

Preservation Chicago encourages our members and readers to take part. Open House Chicago is the single best opportunity each year to see the interiors of buildings that are otherwise closed, and it builds the public constituency that preservation depends on. We are particularly glad to see the Sears Sunken Garden in North Lawndale on the list for the first time, as restoration of its 1907 pergola is underway.

EVENTSPreservation Chicago EventsMonth-in-Review NewsletterAugust 2026 Newsletter
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