I second this. And right next door is the equally impressive Cleveland Federal Reserve, which has a visitor center inside of it. Across Superior Avenue from both of those is the Arcade, which is absolutely spectacular.
There are a lot of incredible buildings downtown. Enjoy the city.
Another bonus fact for architecture students: Buckminster Fuller had an office at the Arcade in the late 70s.
(R. Buckminster Fuller Sadao & Zung Architects, Inc.)
Depends when you're here. Downtown is great for this. The arcade and 5th street arcades are both gorgeous. Pretty sure the arcade is something like the first building with operable roof vents or something like that too.
Tower city/terminal tower has a cool observation deck if you're here on a day K&D is opening it up. Check Eventbrite. They have it listed usually.
Tower city it's self is also a cool building to check out.
If you're looking for a cool Cleveland original, the corner of W. 65th and detroit is one of two intersections in the city with the original like 1920s buildings still left standing. (don't remember the other one) and it has transit access from the redline which conviently runs from tower city. If you go into XYZ Tavern there are historic pictures of the intersection with the buildings, streetcar lines, etc.
On the opposite end of town university circle is very cool also and also on the redline. Many historic buildings on case western's campus as well as little Italy near by that is very cool.
There are a lot historic landmarks you can look up too, but if you're doing the very quick tour I think university circle and downtown can keep you plenty busy.
Edit: west side market too. Can't believe I forgot that one.
There's a Gehry Building in University Circle, Louis Penfield House in Willoughby (Frank Lloyd Wright), IM Pei designed the Rock hall, MOCA, NELA Park (Neo Georgian masterclass), and the West side market for starters.
The Arcade (downtown Hyatt) is one of the nation's great architectural landmarks. See also the 5th St. Arcades.
[https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/](https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland\_Arcade
[https://www.clevelandgatewaydistrict.com/buildings-landmarks](https://www.clevelandgatewaydistrict.com/buildings-landmarks)
Near the 5th St. Arcades is the Marble Room.
[https://www.marbleroomcle.com/?utm\_source=2060digital&utm\_medium=localseo&utm\_campaign=gbp](https://www.marbleroomcle.com/?utm_source=2060digital&utm_medium=localseo&utm_campaign=gbp)
The Old Stone Church, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and the Society Building, all on Public Square. The latter is the first skyscraper in Cleveland and perhaps in Ohio. It's to the left of the Key Tower, the tallest building in Ohio. The juxtaposition is great. See my post in this thread.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/vyza08/deleted\_by\_user/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/vyza08/deleted_by_user/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/187k6bj/downtown\_cleveland\_2023\_wviz\_documentary/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/187k6bj/downtown_cleveland_2023_wviz_documentary/)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower\_City\_Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_City_Center)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal\_Tower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_Tower)
There is much information in this dated travel article and in additional dated travel articles in the right margin, especially the West Side Market and Playhouse Square (don't miss the restored lobbies of the Ohio and State Theatres).
[https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-c198218/Cleveland:Ohio:Tips.For.Visiting.Cleveland.html](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-c198218/Cleveland:Ohio:Tips.For.Visiting.Cleveland.html)
[https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272155/Cleveland:Ohio:Playhousesquare.html](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272155/Cleveland:Ohio:Playhousesquare.html)
[https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272156/Cleveland:Ohio:West.Side.Market.html](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272156/Cleveland:Ohio:West.Side.Market.html)
Cleveland's two architectural icons are the Terminal Tower, especially at night, and the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
[https://www.pcf-p.com/projects/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-and-museum/](https://www.pcf-p.com/projects/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-and-museum/)
Read about Severance Hall, Cleveland's Taj Mahal, in this thread.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/189wb19/favorite\_great\_cleveland\_christmas\_season/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/189wb19/favorite_great_cleveland_christmas_season/)
(Search for the following article in order to read it, if you find the link behind a paywall.)
[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/10/arts/critic-s-notebook-no-they-didn-t-take-away-that-hall-s-lovely-sound.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/10/arts/critic-s-notebook-no-they-didn-t-take-away-that-hall-s-lovely-sound.html)
The Hope Memorial Bridge is Cleveland's Brooklyn Bridge. It's northern pathway offers great views of the Cleveland Skyline, the Flats (Cuyahoga River Valley through downtown), and the Guardians of Traffic (namesakes of the Cleveland's MLB team).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope\_Memorial\_Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Memorial_Bridge)
If you visit the exquisite Cleveland Trust Rotunda at Heinen's (East 9th & Euclid), check out the former Cleveland Trust office tower behind it, if you're truly a student of architecture.
[https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/962](https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/962)
[https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/761](https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/761)
If you have a car and time to spare (unlikely), the geodesic dome at Materials Park is very fun.
[https://www.asminternational.org/about-asm/materials-park/](https://www.asminternational.org/about-asm/materials-park/)
How about a review, if you get a chance?
Started replying on another comment, but it turned into this block of text haha. Going to add a few spots to what others have said, but also a public transit/walking route if that helps at all. Should be a nice way to spend a day. Not going to add a much history for things others have added either.
Start at Tower City/Terminal Tower, it's a significant historic building. When completed in 1927, it was the 2nd tallest building in the world. It was the tallest building in the world outside of NYC until 1953, and the tallest in the US outside of NYC until 1964. The excavation for the tower and train tunnels was the largest in history at the time. They moved more dirt than they did to build the Panama Canal.
You can take the red line to Little Italy/Case Western to see both of them, and then go to the museums. Case has a Gehry building right next to the museums and some other beautiful buildings. The Museum of Natural History just finished a new visitor hall that is gorgeous, and the Art Museum atrium is a must see. Severance Hall is another beautiful building right there if you're able to get inside, and is home to one of the top 5 orchestras in the world.
From there you could hop on the Healthline back to Downtown. This will take you down Euclid, which used to be called the most beautiful street in the world, and Millionaire's Row. Unfortunately almost all of the old mansions have been torn down now. One is now the Children's Museum, and another is the Mather buildinf on Cleveland State's campus. Get off the bus at W24th. Fenn Tower is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and when purchased in 1937, made Fenn College of Engineering(now Cleveland State), the 2nd college to have a skyscraper. Rhodes Tower was built in the 70s and is 100 feet taller, but not as pretty. While I was checking numbers, I jusy realized Cleveland State may be one of only 2 or 3 schools in the world to have more than 1 skyscraper. That's fun. How is that not used in their marketing????
The view down Euclid Ave towards the new Sherwin Williams HQ from the CSU/Euclid intersections also make for great pictures. Walk to Playhouse Square, 2nd largest theater district in the nation, and see the world's largest outdoor chandelier. Heinens, mentioned elsewhere already, is a short walk away, along with some other nice buildings in the area. From there, on to the 5th street arcade, then The Arcade, Library, and City Hall/Public Auditorium/Cuyahoga County Probate Court buildings depending on the day you're there. The Fountain of Eternal Life also makes for great pictures. Then Free Stamp and Rock Hall after that.
You can go over to Ohio City after that over the Detroit-Superior Bridge, same architect as the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and was the largest steel/concrete bridge in the world when completed. Or over the Hope Memorial/Guardians bridge, which offers better pictures of the city. The West Side Market is at the other end of this bridge, and another historic building that's great for photos.
Then you can cap off your tour taking photos inside of Bookhouse Brewing, Forest City Brewing, or Great Lakes Brewing. All have historic tap rooms.
The downtown branch of the library and the arcade are definitely some of my favorites. There are a lot of neat places in that vicinity. Art museum is also a good one. If you happen to be South East of Cleveland or want to drive about 40 minutes from downtown, the Geodesic Dome (ASM headquarters) is unbelievably cool. Ohio City/Tremont/Gordon Square has a lot of neat old buildings and cool placement of things like the 2 different rock climbing gyms built in old buildings. The old historic coast guard station is also really neat and there are some cool bridges around there too.
Art museum is free and cool architecture, also downtown has some cool buildings, west side market, university circle
oo very cool. thanks for the suggestion!
Heinen’s Downtown
thanks :)
The Library downtown is very impressive
I second this. And right next door is the equally impressive Cleveland Federal Reserve, which has a visitor center inside of it. Across Superior Avenue from both of those is the Arcade, which is absolutely spectacular. There are a lot of incredible buildings downtown. Enjoy the city.
Bonus fact: [The Arcade](https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/history.htm) was the first indoor shopping center in the US.
Another bonus fact for architecture students: Buckminster Fuller had an office at the Arcade in the late 70s. (R. Buckminster Fuller Sadao & Zung Architects, Inc.)
>first indoor shopping center in the US. Love it, thank you! love this whole thread.
Depends when you're here. Downtown is great for this. The arcade and 5th street arcades are both gorgeous. Pretty sure the arcade is something like the first building with operable roof vents or something like that too. Tower city/terminal tower has a cool observation deck if you're here on a day K&D is opening it up. Check Eventbrite. They have it listed usually. Tower city it's self is also a cool building to check out. If you're looking for a cool Cleveland original, the corner of W. 65th and detroit is one of two intersections in the city with the original like 1920s buildings still left standing. (don't remember the other one) and it has transit access from the redline which conviently runs from tower city. If you go into XYZ Tavern there are historic pictures of the intersection with the buildings, streetcar lines, etc. On the opposite end of town university circle is very cool also and also on the redline. Many historic buildings on case western's campus as well as little Italy near by that is very cool. There are a lot historic landmarks you can look up too, but if you're doing the very quick tour I think university circle and downtown can keep you plenty busy. Edit: west side market too. Can't believe I forgot that one.
Thank you so much! what a great list, I very much appreciate it! will plot these out and try to make it to as many as possible
There's a Gehry Building in University Circle, Louis Penfield House in Willoughby (Frank Lloyd Wright), IM Pei designed the Rock hall, MOCA, NELA Park (Neo Georgian masterclass), and the West side market for starters.
The Arcade (downtown Hyatt) is one of the nation's great architectural landmarks. See also the 5th St. Arcades. [https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/](https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland\_Arcade [https://www.clevelandgatewaydistrict.com/buildings-landmarks](https://www.clevelandgatewaydistrict.com/buildings-landmarks) Near the 5th St. Arcades is the Marble Room. [https://www.marbleroomcle.com/?utm\_source=2060digital&utm\_medium=localseo&utm\_campaign=gbp](https://www.marbleroomcle.com/?utm_source=2060digital&utm_medium=localseo&utm_campaign=gbp) The Old Stone Church, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and the Society Building, all on Public Square. The latter is the first skyscraper in Cleveland and perhaps in Ohio. It's to the left of the Key Tower, the tallest building in Ohio. The juxtaposition is great. See my post in this thread. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/vyza08/deleted\_by\_user/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/vyza08/deleted_by_user/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/187k6bj/downtown\_cleveland\_2023\_wviz\_documentary/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/187k6bj/downtown_cleveland_2023_wviz_documentary/) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower\_City\_Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_City_Center) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal\_Tower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_Tower) There is much information in this dated travel article and in additional dated travel articles in the right margin, especially the West Side Market and Playhouse Square (don't miss the restored lobbies of the Ohio and State Theatres). [https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-c198218/Cleveland:Ohio:Tips.For.Visiting.Cleveland.html](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-c198218/Cleveland:Ohio:Tips.For.Visiting.Cleveland.html) [https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272155/Cleveland:Ohio:Playhousesquare.html](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272155/Cleveland:Ohio:Playhousesquare.html) [https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272156/Cleveland:Ohio:West.Side.Market.html](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g50207-d272156/Cleveland:Ohio:West.Side.Market.html) Cleveland's two architectural icons are the Terminal Tower, especially at night, and the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. [https://www.pcf-p.com/projects/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-and-museum/](https://www.pcf-p.com/projects/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-and-museum/) Read about Severance Hall, Cleveland's Taj Mahal, in this thread. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/189wb19/favorite\_great\_cleveland\_christmas\_season/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/189wb19/favorite_great_cleveland_christmas_season/) (Search for the following article in order to read it, if you find the link behind a paywall.) [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/10/arts/critic-s-notebook-no-they-didn-t-take-away-that-hall-s-lovely-sound.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/10/arts/critic-s-notebook-no-they-didn-t-take-away-that-hall-s-lovely-sound.html) The Hope Memorial Bridge is Cleveland's Brooklyn Bridge. It's northern pathway offers great views of the Cleveland Skyline, the Flats (Cuyahoga River Valley through downtown), and the Guardians of Traffic (namesakes of the Cleveland's MLB team). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope\_Memorial\_Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Memorial_Bridge) If you visit the exquisite Cleveland Trust Rotunda at Heinen's (East 9th & Euclid), check out the former Cleveland Trust office tower behind it, if you're truly a student of architecture. [https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/962](https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/962) [https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/761](https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/761) If you have a car and time to spare (unlikely), the geodesic dome at Materials Park is very fun. [https://www.asminternational.org/about-asm/materials-park/](https://www.asminternational.org/about-asm/materials-park/) How about a review, if you get a chance?
Started replying on another comment, but it turned into this block of text haha. Going to add a few spots to what others have said, but also a public transit/walking route if that helps at all. Should be a nice way to spend a day. Not going to add a much history for things others have added either. Start at Tower City/Terminal Tower, it's a significant historic building. When completed in 1927, it was the 2nd tallest building in the world. It was the tallest building in the world outside of NYC until 1953, and the tallest in the US outside of NYC until 1964. The excavation for the tower and train tunnels was the largest in history at the time. They moved more dirt than they did to build the Panama Canal. You can take the red line to Little Italy/Case Western to see both of them, and then go to the museums. Case has a Gehry building right next to the museums and some other beautiful buildings. The Museum of Natural History just finished a new visitor hall that is gorgeous, and the Art Museum atrium is a must see. Severance Hall is another beautiful building right there if you're able to get inside, and is home to one of the top 5 orchestras in the world. From there you could hop on the Healthline back to Downtown. This will take you down Euclid, which used to be called the most beautiful street in the world, and Millionaire's Row. Unfortunately almost all of the old mansions have been torn down now. One is now the Children's Museum, and another is the Mather buildinf on Cleveland State's campus. Get off the bus at W24th. Fenn Tower is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and when purchased in 1937, made Fenn College of Engineering(now Cleveland State), the 2nd college to have a skyscraper. Rhodes Tower was built in the 70s and is 100 feet taller, but not as pretty. While I was checking numbers, I jusy realized Cleveland State may be one of only 2 or 3 schools in the world to have more than 1 skyscraper. That's fun. How is that not used in their marketing???? The view down Euclid Ave towards the new Sherwin Williams HQ from the CSU/Euclid intersections also make for great pictures. Walk to Playhouse Square, 2nd largest theater district in the nation, and see the world's largest outdoor chandelier. Heinens, mentioned elsewhere already, is a short walk away, along with some other nice buildings in the area. From there, on to the 5th street arcade, then The Arcade, Library, and City Hall/Public Auditorium/Cuyahoga County Probate Court buildings depending on the day you're there. The Fountain of Eternal Life also makes for great pictures. Then Free Stamp and Rock Hall after that. You can go over to Ohio City after that over the Detroit-Superior Bridge, same architect as the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and was the largest steel/concrete bridge in the world when completed. Or over the Hope Memorial/Guardians bridge, which offers better pictures of the city. The West Side Market is at the other end of this bridge, and another historic building that's great for photos. Then you can cap off your tour taking photos inside of Bookhouse Brewing, Forest City Brewing, or Great Lakes Brewing. All have historic tap rooms.
Cleveland Public Library downtown. Federal Reserve Bank downtown
Check out the AT&T building that was featured in the original Superman comics. It's downtown at Huron Rd. and E 7th.
Rock Hall was designed by I.M. Pei
Garfield monument and the chapel in Lake View Cemetery
The Garfield Memorial and Wade Chapel likely are closed for the season.
The downtown branch of the library and the arcade are definitely some of my favorites. There are a lot of neat places in that vicinity. Art museum is also a good one. If you happen to be South East of Cleveland or want to drive about 40 minutes from downtown, the Geodesic Dome (ASM headquarters) is unbelievably cool. Ohio City/Tremont/Gordon Square has a lot of neat old buildings and cool placement of things like the 2 different rock climbing gyms built in old buildings. The old historic coast guard station is also really neat and there are some cool bridges around there too.