The Most Impressive Buildings in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Art Museum is arguably the most recognizable building in the entire city. Designed by Santiago Calatrava in the early 1990s (though finished in 2001), the museum recognized the technical advances in architecture to its fullest. The building is more commonly referred to as “The Calatrava,” as it was the first building the architect had ever built in America; tasked with making the museum a Milwaukee icon, Calatrava exceeded expectations with retractable sun screens in the form of two large wings that open and close in accordance with the museum’s hours. Certainly a feat of modern architecture, the Calatrava is purely one of the most beautiful buildings in the Midwest.

Rugged yet refined, historical yet still relevant, Milwaukee City Hall building fully embodies the entire attitude of the city. When it was constructed in 1895, it was the third tallest building in the entire United States. It was designed in the Flemish Renaissance revival style, with German influence derived from the Pabst Building (later destroyed and reborn into 100 East Wisconsin).

The building of Rockwell Automations—immediately recognizable by its enormous Allen-Bradley Clock Tower, a longstanding landmark in the city and the largest four-faced clock tower in the entire world (nearly twice the size of London’s Big Ben)—represents all of Milwaukee’s history within one place. One of the first buildings seen entering the city, Rockwell is an industrial powerhouse that shows how long and unfaltering Milwaukee’s industrial history really is.