Chicago Cultural Center

This guide to the Chicago Cultural Center opens with the famous Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall, thirty thousand pieces of favrile glass made in 1897 under Louis Comfort Tiffany's chief mosaicist. Then it takes you one floor down to a second, lesser-known dome in the rotunda built to honor Civil War veterans, made by a Chicago firm that worked on the building alongside Tiffany's studio at the same time. You'll hear about the Grand Army of the Republic veterans who once used these rooms as their headquarters, and how the hall was restored in 2022. Look up in both rooms and compare the glasswork before you decide which dome deserves the reputation.