Stand beneath Anish Kapoor’s massive, seamless stainless-steel sculpture in Millennium Park. Your guide explains the complex internal engineering required to construct this 110-ton structure without visible seams. Use your camera to capture the distorted, fun-house reflection of the iconic Chicago skyline curving around you.

Visit the interactive video sculpture by Jaume Plensa. Your digital guide decodes the use of glass brick and LED screens that project the faces of 1,000 real Chicagoans. Learn the historical context of the water spouting from their mouths, a modern tribute to the classic gargoyle fountains of ancient Rome and medieval Europe

Admire the gleaming white tower anchoring the Magnificent Mile. Your architectural guide details how the chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. chose the ornate Spanish Colonial Revival style. Learn about the massive floodlights across the river that illuminate the glazed terra-cotta exterior, making it the city's brightest night landmark

Step across the street to the Neo-Gothic skyscraper. Your guide directs you to closely examine the building's exterior walls. Discover over 150 historic stones embedded in the limestone, brought back by foreign correspondents. Use your tool to locate fragments from the Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, the Alamo, and the Berlin Wall

Look across the river at the iconic twin cylindrical towers. Your architectural guide explains Bertrand Goldberg's 1964 "city within a city" concept. Notice the complete lack of right angles and learn how the bottom 19 floors form a continuous spiral parking garage, famously featured in a dramatic car chase in the Steve McQueen film The Hunter

View the massive structure spanning two city blocks. Your guide explains that when it opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world by floor space (with its own zip code). Learn about the Kennedy family's ownership and the massive "Art on theMART" digital projection system that illuminates the 2.5-acre facade at night

Look up at the undulating, three-towered blue glass skyscraper. Your guide highlights architect Jeanne Gang, making this the tallest building in the world designed by a woman. Learn the engineering secret behind the massive, empty "blow-through" floor near the top, designed specifically to prevent the tower from dangerously swaying in the wind.

Stand before the castle-like limestone structure on Michigan Avenue. Your historical guide reconstructs the terrifying night of October 8, 1871. Learn how this 1869 building was one of the only public structures in the burn zone to survive the Great Chicago Fire, instantly transforming from a utility building into a symbol of the city's resilience

Look up at the massive, dark, tapering skyscraper. Your engineering guide explains Fazlur Khan’s brilliant "exterior diagonal tube" design. The massive steel X-braces on the outside of the building aren't just aesthetic; they are the structural skeleton, removing the need for internal support columns and allowing for maximum floor space

Ascend to the 94th-floor observatory. Your digital compass maps the sprawling grid of the North Side and Lake Michigan. If you dare to try "Tilt," your guide explains the hydraulic mechanics that tilt the reinforced glass windows outward, suspending you face-down 1,000 feet above the Magnificent Mile traffic

Walk the 3,300-foot-long pier. Your guide skips the tourist traps to explain the pier's 1916 origin as a massive shipping and recreation facility, and its later use as a secret WWII Navy training center. Take a ride on the Centennial Wheel, learning the history of the very first Ferris Wheel invented in Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair

Locate the stunning theater complex hidden on Navy Pier. Your guide details the architecture of the main stage, designed to perfectly replicate the intimate, multi-level courtyard theaters of Elizabethan England, ensuring no audience member is more than 30 feet from the actors during world-class Shakespearean productions

Step off the Mag Mile into the opulent 1883 Samuel M. Nickerson Mansion. Your guide reveals the staggering wealth of Chicago's Gilded Age. Explore the meticulously restored interiors featuring rare onyx, alabaster, and intricate Lincrusta wallpapers, representing the extravagant lifestyles of the bankers who rebuilt the city after the fire

Walk past this stunning 1914 Gothic Revival church sitting in the shadows of modern steel skyscrapers. Your guide details the intricate stone carvings and the tranquil Garth (courtyard) cloister, providing a quiet, ancient-feeling sanctuary right on the busiest commercial street in the Midwest

Step onto the sand nestled right against the skyscrapers. Your ecological guide explains how Chicago’s 26 miles of public lakefront were fiercely protected by early city planners like Daniel Burnham. Learn how the city uses sunken concrete revetments to battle the aggressive, crashing winter waves of Lake Michigan

Approach the stark, aluminum-and-limestone building. Your architectural guide explains Josef Paul Kleihues's design, which uses a strict geometric grid to reflect the layout of Chicago itself. Inside, use your app to interpret the constantly rotating, cutting-edge contemporary exhibits and the stunning, eye-shaped central staircase.

Walk out onto this quiet, hidden peninsula just north of Navy Pier. Your photographic guide reveals that this is one of the best, unobstructed spots to capture the dramatic contrast of the dark Hancock tower against the blue waters of Lake Michigan. Learn about Milton Lee Olive III, the Vietnam War hero the park honors

Walk south down North Michigan Avenue at dusk. Your guide traces the history of the Mag Mile, explaining how a muddy, unimpressive road was transformed in the 1920s into a high-end commercial boulevard designed to rival the Champs-Élysées in Paris, fundamentally shifting the city's wealth northward