that sound in your heart, what is it?

Merchandise Mart: The world's largest building when it was built in 1930, it holds so many offices it has its own zip code. A lot of it is wholesale, so there's not much reason for most people to go into it, but it's so highly visible that you definitely know it's there. Also known for the Creepy Row Of Heads.

Goth Target: A decorative former department store built in the early 20th century; after standing empty for several years in the early 2000s, Target moved in and created one of the greatest brand visuals ever. Inside it is a regular-degular Target; before the boycott I shopped there for groceries a couple of times a month. I've bought shoes there.

University of Chicago: known as the school where Fun Goes To Die, University of Chicago used to be compared to Hogwarts before JK Rowling ruined everything. They have produced numerous Nobel prize winners and several war criminals, so the church should feel right at home.

Navy Pier: A tourist attraction built on an old military pier jutting into the lake, impossible to tolerate in the summer when it's brimming with people. It houses tall ships, two theatres, a large food court, retail shops, a convention center, a children's museum, an IMAX cinema, and a ferris wheel. It's got a lot going on.

Oak Park but keeps claiming it's in Chicago: Oak Park is a suburb of Chicago, known for many Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings and for people who live there claiming to be from Chicago, which can be extremely irritating to those of us who actually are.

Union Station: A grand old train station which is also at this point such a fucking labyrinth that it has at least one escalator which, at certain times of the day, reverses directions. If you've seen The Untouchables, the baby carriage scene was filmed there.

The Old Post Office: A truly imposing edifice built over a major downtown roadway; it's known mostly for having stood empty with numerous broken windows for a decade due to some kind of ownership/zoning issue. It is now an office building with retail after Rahm Emanuel threatened to take possession of it using Eminent Domain.

Harold Washington Library: The main downtown library, adorned with owls on the corners and full of joy. You aren't allowed to vote for this one because it's my library and I don't want to fistfight the pope for it but I will. I'm not afraid to hit a priest.

Let's Rename It The Holy See-ars Tower: Fomerly the Sears Tower and then the Willis Tower, it looks kinda like a robot. When built it was the tallest building in the world; it is now the sixteenth-tallest. I just really liked that pun.

Museum Campus: A jut of land on the lake, housing the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, and Field Museum, just north of Soldier Field. It's also apparently impossible to photograph well. (I got suggestions for all three museums but I was running out of poll options.)

Marina City: Known locally as "The Corncobs", Marina City has the most hideously awful floorplans of any apartment building I've ever been in. But they do look cool as shit.

Nuance / Ken Griffin will just put his name on it eventually: Ken Griffin is a billionaire hedge fund manager who likes to pay ungodly amounts of money to be allowed to put his name on things like museums and libraries.