The Bucket List: 6 Cities Architecture Students Should Visit Around the World

This article was written in partnership with the students of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Syllabus Program, an alternate path to licensure from a university-based architectural education. Click here for more information on the RAIC Syllabus Program.

Among studio classes, lectures, art shows and co-op work placements, every architecture student should take time to travel. Cities both domestic and abroad provide fantastic opportunities to experience architecture in a plethora of historical styles. Even with images in books and on the internet, there is no replacement to actually being within a building of significance in person.

Image via Pixabay (reenablack)

Travel can be costly with flights and hotels, but experiencing architecture and touring buildings can be relatively inexpensive or even free. Many local architecture guilds offer walking tours that provide background information and intimate tales of the city. Here are a few cities that every architecture student should visit — a few domestic examples, a few international destinations, but all worthwhile, important and inspiring:

Image via Andrew Horne

Chicago

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 wiped out 3.3 square miles of the city but also paved the way for the modern skyscraper, primarily through the introduction of structural steel, elevators, windows and even air conditioning in the early 20th century. While few buildings survived the fire, many sprung up in their places and created a new identity for the city.

Over the years, there have been many intervening urban plans, architects and buildings that have come to define Chicago as one of North America’s preeminent architecture cities: the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the City Beautiful Movement; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie-style homes, including Robie House, Unity Temple and his own home and studio; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Federal Center and Lake Shore Drive Apartments; famous skyscrapers including the Chicago Tribune Building, the Willis Tower and Marina City apartments; and Frank Gehry’s Millennium Park.

Via Brian Snelson

Havana

A trip to Havana is like a trip back in time, with Neoclassical and Baroque buildings lining streets filled with classic cars — all lovingly maintained not only out of pride but also out of necessity. The long-held American embargo against Cuba meant very little foreign investment, and low monthly wages meant that native Cubans fixed up and maintained their buildings rather than simply tearing them down.

This has led to a fantastic mix of not only 19th-century mansions and civic buildings, but also Art Deco residences and Corbusian apartment blocks. This eclectic city reads as the sum of its parts; rather than having a few stand-out buildings, the collective urban fabric presents Havana as a unique architectural destination.

Image via Pixabay (jarmoluk)

Barcelona

Barcelona has a wonderful mix of old, medieval buildings in the Barri Gòtic neighborhood as well as modern contemporary structures. The neighborhood of L’Eixample is particularly notable. Laid out in the late 19th century by planner Ildelfons Cerdà, the area is characterized by its rigid grid pattern, long diagonal avenues with mixed modes of transportation (cars, trams, bicycles and pedestrians), intersections with chamfered corners and buildings with private interior courtyards.

It is here that you will also see the largest concentration of Modernista architecture in the world, practiced by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch but epitomized by La Sagrada Família by Antoni Gaudí.

Via Maldive

Toronto

Toronto is a city of neighborhoods, with each having a distinct character and each well-connected through a system of streetcars — the largest intact streetcar network in North America. The Distillery District is a former whisky distillery and is the largest concentration of Victorian-era factories outside of England. It has recently been renovated, restored and upgraded to be a technology, design and shopping hub.

Downtown Toronto features many Art Deco masonry structures, but the Toronto Dominion Centre — designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1967 — heralded the birth of Toronto on the global stage with the International style. Mies implemented that same style at the Seagram Building in New York City and the Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago.

Following these developments, downtown Toronto experienced a building boom, with many international architects attracted to the city including Santiago Calatrava (Brookfield Place Galleria) and I.M. Pei (Commerce Court) in the 20th century as well as Fumihiko Maki (Aga Kahn Museum) and Daniel Libeskind (Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum) in the 21st century. For trendy restaurants, shopping and people-watching, head to Queen West and West Queen West — recently named coolest neighborhood in the world by Vogue magazine.

Via Industry Tap

Buffalo

Some may consider Buffalo a curious addition to this list of top cities, but within its humble environs Buffalo contains many great examples of American architecture that are surprisingly well-preserved. The city plan itself was inspired by Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for Washington with radiating boulevards and an extensive park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, which received numerous awards and commendations as the city grew in the 19th and 20th centuries to be — at one time — the 15th largest city in the United States.

Buffalo was also another favorite city of Frank Lloyd Wright, with his Darwin D. Martin House a prime example of his Prairie Style architecture. Other projects built from Wright’s plans include the Fontana Boathouse (which was originally designed for a boat club in Wisconsin), the Blue Sky Mausoleum and the nearby Graycliff country estate (built for the same client as the Darwin D. Martin House).

Image via Creative Commons (Portal da Copa)

Brasília

The “newest” city on this list, Brasília was founded in 1960 and was laid out like an airplane by Lúcio Costa. Many of the government and civic buildings were designed by famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Buildings important to both Brasília and to the wider Modernist movement include the Cathedral of Brasília, its sweeping hyperboloid concrete arches arranged concentrically around the central interior space and filled with light streaming through large stained-glass panels.

Another highlight is the National Congress Building, its iconic upward- and downward-facing semispheres topping the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies alongside the towering governmental office building. Further to this, students should visit the Museu Nacional, designed by Niemeyer in 1960 but only inaugurated in 2006. The Monumental Axis connects many of these landmarks through the entire city, representing the fuselage of the airplane layout by Costa and acting as a large public park and natural backdrop to the city.

Banner image via Creative Commons (Lucaxiz)

The RAIC Syllabus Program is an accessible education alternative through a direct, self-paced program of academic studies, design studios, and practical experience. Academic studies are offered through on-line distance education modality, and design studios are all offered in face-to-face studios in 12 Canadian cities by licensed practicing architects.