A big shout out and thank you to Nikola at Structure Photography (http://www.structurephotography.org) for braving the elements with one of our Free Chicago Walking Tours and sharing some incredible pictures he captured while visiting Chicago. He shows that even on a not-so-perfect-day you can still get your great shot.
About Structure Photography & Nikola Olic
Nikola Olic is a photographer living and working in Dallas, Texas, focusing on architectural photography and abstract structural quotes that reimagine their subjects in playful, dimensionless and disorienting ways. His photography has appeared in various galleries, art events, museums, magazines, newspapers, and websites around the world.
Without further ado, please enjoy the photos Nikola captured on his visit to Chicago along with the location and information about each shot.
8:01am – 899 W Harrison St / UIC School of Architecture. The early morning gray was opportunely countered by the colorful public display across the street from the UIC School of Architecture, offering a seemingly conflicted visual space of a colorful public display and a gray colorless city behind it.
8:21am – 50 Ida B. Wells Dr / Roosevelt University Another way to improve the weather — at least temporarily — is to replace the gray background with a blue one, even if it belongs to a modern building and its glass facade.
9:02am – Prudential Plaza + Buckingham Fountain This photographs represents 3 rather than just one location. It was taken from Shedd Aquarium, and it depicts the water fountain of the Buckingham Fountain, decorating the uniform facade of the Prudential Plaza a few blocks behind.
9:41am – Jay Pritzker Pavilion The pavilion has ample opportunities for photography, with such a diversity of Chicago architectural options and styles offered around it. In this case, the overhead structures that help bring sound and lights closer to the audience also help frame a building near by.
10:00am – Shedd Aquarium Back to the Aquarium for more photographs, in this case lightly quoting famed Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri and his vertical dividing beams, used to frame distant water activity.
10:32am – Prudential Plaza The public space in front of the building offers a performance space and a Colosseum-like structure that can also be used to help frame and isolate interesting architectural details nearby.
11:16am – 432 W Lake St / Fulton River District From a particularly extended spot in the walking area in front one of the buildings facing the river, surrounding buildings come together in an unexpected visual space that combines and breaks and bends visual lines in dimensionless and disorienting ways.
11:33am – 432 W Lake St A small convenience store offers a unique and different view of the famed Marina City buildings, instantly recognizable to Chicago residents, even when reflected in a window which almost morphs the buildings into something else.
12:14am – Waterview Tower Another unique view of the famed Marina City buildings, this time reflected in an even less recognizable fashion, of the facade of the Waterview Tower.
1:47pm – The Bean / Cloud Gate One of the most recognizable visuals in Chicago, the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park (aka The Bean) helps a bird rest, while also providing cover for a building behind it.
2:52pm – Sofitel Hotel The striking building of the Sofitel hotel provides a sharp angle that can be used as a central figure in a photograph that balances the hotel and its facade with the empty Chicago sky, offering a quick break from the saturated architectural visual space of this fascinating city.
3:06pm – John Hancock Center The world-famous John Hancock Center has an interesting addition on its west side: a garage with a spiral driveway visible from the outside.
3:21pm – 840 N Michigan Ave The non-descript building near John Hancock center offers another view of the famous building, contrasting Hancock’s cross beams with this building’s horizontal facade sections.
4:11pm – 120e E Walton St Different sections of the building offer a unique opening towards the sky, and a unique light-shaped space that breaks the shadow in the early afternoon hours.
5:00pm – 1100ish N State St I had to “-ish” the address because I cant find it on Google Maps; Not the first time this happened with the dynamic city such as Chicago. The building offers a Picasso-like cubist reflection of — and reflection on — the famed Hancock tower a few blocks east from here.
5:21pm – 505 N St Clair St Eating pizza nearby, the similarly colored buildings a few blocks behind combine their similar facades and their sun reflections and reflections of each other, to provide an entertaining visual space.
6:11pm – 899 W Harrison St / UIC School of Architecture Back to the place where the walk started 10 hours ago, the improved light conditions provided new opportunities with the colorful public display, now worthy of its dedicated own photographic space.
The ‘L’ or ‘el’ train is one of the most popular methods of Chicago public transportation. The Chicago elevated railway operates 24 hours a day and can pretty much get you anywhere you need to go. You can download the 
So maybe you’re not near an L station, that’s OK. The buses are literally everywhere which means there is a good chance you can catch one nearby. They run 24 hours a day, have a fleet of 1,800 buses and run more than 2,400 routes covering over 2,200 miles. Fares are affordable and you can also use your Ventra card or pay as you go.
