Places aestheticsnafu Wants to Go

A source of civic pride, though the reason for its construction is unknown.

Grand opera on a miniature scale.

Designed by Alfred Caldwel, this landscape showcases his vision of a native garden.

The last masonry skyscraper ever built reveals a transitional moment in architectural history.

A one-armed veteran of the Battle of Waterloo lies in a cemetery for one in the middle of a Chicago scrapyard.

Julia Buccola Petta's body was peculiarly well-preserved when it was exhumed six years after her death.

The murals have transformed a residential alley into a vibrant drive-through gallery.

The clothes-washing king doubles as a community center with some unusual features, including an aviary filled with finches.

This titanic Catholic church in Chicago is also a refuge of the fictional cult-favorite wizard detective Harry Dresden.

An abandoned observatory in the middle of the Illinois prairie.

A historic beacon built in the aftermath of the worst maritime disaster on the Great Lakes.

This cemetery is all that remains of a school for "wayward" girls.

A sprawling outdoor museum filled with larger-than-life works of art.

Arguably the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States, rivaling its counterparts in the Netherlands.

The first and only museum dedicated to stained glass and horology opened outside of Chicago in 2017.

This awkward aquarium sculpture is one of the strangest statues in Chicago.

The face of a woman pushes its way through the earth.

This overgrown Illinois water park offers a whole new type of adventure.

Built to house a chapter of the Knights Templar, this grandiose building is a relic of Freemasonry in Chicago a century ago.

A shining sculpture made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

A swirling spectrum of stained glass dazzles visitors who enter this subway station.

The floating gallery illuminates the heart of Québec City's arts district.

This hidden park hosts a rogue’s gallery of eccentric architectural obelisks.

A tiny, picturesque island, where cows and wild horses wander around the houses.