Six of the best buildings in Chicago, US

OAK PARK

The greatest American architect of all time? That was the honour bestowed on Frank Lloyd Wright in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects. In a career spanning more than 70 years, he designed a whopping 1000 structures. Lloyd Wright favoured "organic architecture", where built structures mimicked nature, and developed a new approach that came to be known as "prairie style". He spent the first 20 years of his career in Chicago, where his legacy lives on, particularly in the Oak Park neighbourhood. There you'll find the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, which he designed and resided in from 1889 to 1909. Nearby is Unity Temple, the only surviving building from Lloyd Wright's prairie school period. A total of 22 other Wright-designed structures in this district make it an essential stop for the architecture enthusiast. See flwright.org

SEARS (WILLIS) TOWER

True Chicagoans never refer to it by its new name, Willis Tower. To them, it always was and always will be Sears Tower. In 1970, Sears was the largest retailer in the world. It wanted the largest, most impressive headquarters in the world, so it commissioned one of the first super-tall skyscrapers ever built. Bold and beautiful at 110 stories, it was the tallest building in the world for 25 years after its unveiling in 1974. A Chicago landmark, Sears Tower was designed to withstand the Windy City's ferocious gusts. See it from a different angle – if you dare – when you buy a ticket to experience The Ledge, a glass balcony jutting out from the 103rd floor. See theskydeck.com

IIT CAMPUS

Fans of German-born architect Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe like to make pilgrimages to the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Chicago. There they marvel at the largest group of buildings designed by "Mies", the Bauhaus-influenced master of American modernism and one of the 20th century's most influential architects. Docents from the Chicago Architecture Foundation offer main campus tours, with an emphasis on the two decades between 1938 and 1958, when Mies was head of the School of Architecture. Given the task of designing a new campus from scratch, Mies created a spacious, open, learning space that to this day is considered one of the most beautiful in the US. See architecture.org

ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

When the Art Institute of Chicago unveiled its newly built Modern Wing in 2009, it became the second largest art museum in the US, second only to the mighty Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the new wing granted much needed additional footprint to the museum that has been delighting locals and visitors for almost 140 years. The expansion cost the museum's donors about $US300 million for the commanding glass-and-steel statement of modernity as a counterpoint to the original 1893 beaux arts facade. As for the museum's permanent collections, with more than 300,000 works on display ranging from ancient Greek sculptures to postwar pop art, plan to stay awhile. See artic.edu

MILLENNIUM PARK