The highlight of CAC’s grand opening week was the ribbon cutting ceremony on August 29 with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, other civic leaders including Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton and Alderman Brendan Reilly, Lynn Osmond, CAC President and CEO, and CAC architect Gordon Gill. The ribbon cutting ceremony ended with a rendition of “My Kind of Town” by jazz vocalist Kurt Elling. Mayor Emanuel proclaimed opening day, August 31 as “Chicago Architecture Day” to celebrate the opening and acknowledge Chicago architecture’s significant impact around the world.
-
1 / 18
President & CEO Lynn Osmond (right) and Gordon Gill, Principal Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (rear) accompany Mayor Emanuel up the grand stairway and into the Skyscraper Gallery.
Photo: Michael Courier -
2 / 18
CAC President and CEO, Lynn Osmond, opens the ceremony.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
3 / 18
Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, architects of the brand new CAC, speaks at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony.
Photo: Michael Courier -
4 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel heralds Chicago’s role as an global architectural leader.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
5 / 18
Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, in town for the Chicago Jazz Festival, graced the CAC’s opening with a song.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
6 / 18
Kurt Elling’s song was written expressly for the CAC about the city’s architecture!
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
7 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (left) with Lynn Osmond (right) takes in the CAC’s Skyscraper Gallery.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
8 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (left) with Lynn Osmond (right) admires a model on loan from an architecture firm included in “Building Tall” in the Skyscraper Gallery.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
9 / 18
Set against the towering scale models in the Skyscraper Gallery, guests admire the magnificent Chicago architecture through the window.
Photo: Anna Munzesheimer -
10 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gordon Gill, and Lynn Osmond admire the rotating exhibit, “From Me to We: Inspiring the City of 2050.”
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
11 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Lynn Osmond, Gordon Gill, and John Pintozzi, Chairman of CAC Board of Trustees, discuss the new rotating exhibit, “From Me to We.”
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
12 / 18
Gordon Gill, Lynn Osmond, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel view the Chicago Model.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
13 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (center left) and Lynn Osmond (center right) view the film and light show that illuminates the Chicago Model with the amazing story of Chicago’s development.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
14 / 18
Rick Blair, VP of Turner Construction, speaks with the CAC Teen Fellows.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
15 / 18
The ribbon is cut on the brand new Chicago Architecture Center! Left to Right: Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton, Alderman Brendan Reilly, CAC President Lynn Osmond, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Architect Gordon Gill, and CAC Board Chair John Pintozzi.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
16 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, CAC President and CEO Lynn Osmond, and CAC VP of Education and Experience Gabrielle Lyon pose with the CAC Teen Fellows.
Photo: Francis Son -
17 / 18
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Lynn Osmond, Gordon Gill, and John Pintozzi pose outside of the new Chicago Architecture Center.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer -
18 / 18
Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill poses beside the scale model of the Jeddah Tower, the future tallest building in the world which his firm designed.
Photo: Francis Son, Michael Courier, and Anna Munzesheimer