Chicago Architecture Foundation reveals sneak peek of new exhibit space

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Architecture Foundation announced on Tuesday that its new Chicago Architecture Center will open on August 31, featuring nearly 10,000 square feet of exhibit space including an interactive city model.

The new space inside 111 East Wacker Drive will be across the street and above where the foundation's river cruises, in partnership with Chicago's First Lady Cruises, dock.

Inside the "Skyscraper Gallery," visitors will be able to look at "supersized scale models" of iconic buildings from around the world, according to a Chicago Architecture Foundation press release Tuesday. Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower will be one of those skyscrapers featured; the tower will be represented by an almost 40-foot-tall model.

The "Chicago Gallery" boasts a re-vamped "Chicago Model Experience" with 3,000 buildings, a film, and light show telling the story of "Chicago's early growth, rebirth after the Great Chicago Fire, first-ever skyscrapers, and today's modernist masterpieces of steel and glass," the release added.

The venue will also include a lecture hall and design studio.

"We've engineered a stimulating and immersive space where visitors can have fun discovering Chicago's groundbreaking architecture," said foundation president and CEO Lynn Osmond in part in the release.