Milwaukee doesn’t have the skyline of Manhattan or the world’s tallest building, but it is the envy of many heartland cities for its architectural heritage. Here are 10 unique structures that have become destinations for anyone who cares about buildings and what they represent.
Photo courtesy VISIT Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N. Art Museum Drive
The museum gained international acclaim in the ‘90s for its winged addition by Spain’s Santiago Calatrava, but don’t forget its original footprint in a gem of ‘60s modernism, Eero Saarinen’s Milwaukee County War Memorial.
Photo courtesy Friends of the Domes
Mitchell Park Domes at night
Mitchell Park Domes at night
Mitchell Park Domes
524 S. Layton Blvd.
Someone had Buckminster Fuller in mind when designing the three glass beehives that comprise the Mitchell Park Conservatory. Built from the late ‘50s through ‘60s, the Domes are the home for flowers, desert fauna and tropical plants that flourish year-round.
Allen Bradley Clock Tower
1201 S. Second St.
For the longest time, it was the largest four-sided clock in the world—America’s Big Ben, overlooking an industrial district that in recent years has become a thriving home for restaurants, businesses and urban living.
Wisconsin Gas Building
626 E. Wisconsin Ave.
The handsome Art Deco skyscraper is unique for being topped by a glass flame beacon that changes color to forecast the weather—red for warmer temperatures, gold for cold, flickering for precipitation and blue for “no change in view.”
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
9400 W. Congress St.
Frank Lloyd Wright was Unitarian, but the Wisconsin master made an exception for this wonderful sanctuary in the round, a structure fully Byzantine and fully modern set on the edge of the City of Milwaukee. Completed in 1961, it was Wright’s final project.
Photo: VISIT Milwaukee
Bronze Fonz
The Bronz Fonz
The Bronze Fonz
N. Riverwalk Way
Milwaukee’s most popular public artwork is a bronze statue depicting Milwaukee’s most popular fictional resident, “Happy Days’”Arthur Fonzarelli aka “Fonzie.” He stands alongside the Milwaukee River, giving his familiar thumbs up.
St. Josaphat Basilica
2333 S. Sixth St.
The magnificent edifice on the city’s South Side was patterned after St. Peter’s in Rome and built at the start of the 20th century using building materials salvaged from a demolished Chicago post office, hauled to Milwaukee on flatbed freight cars.
Photo courtesy VISIT Milwaukee
The Pabst Theater
The Pabst Theater
Pabst Theater
144 E. Wells St.
One of the oldest continuously working theaters in the U.S., the Pabst was built in 1895 with beer-baron money and hosted performances by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Laurence Olivier. In recent years, the Pabst has been one of the city’s active concert venues.
Photo by Kevin S. Hansen - Wikimedia Commons
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block
Burnham Street Historical District
2732-34 W. Burnham St.
Frank Lloyd Wright is remembered for his modern mansions, but he was also concerned with bringing good architecture to ordinary people. One of the best examples is the block-long row of American System-built homes erected from prefabricated materials.
Germania Building
135 W. Wells St.
Built to house the headquarters of Milwaukee’s German-language press, the 1896 Germania Building features a set of copper domes shaped like the pointed helmets of the Prussian military. The former office building has been revamped into Downtown apartments.
