By Paul Tooher
Chicagoland is home to colleges and universities ranked among the finest in the world. And it turns out it has some of the most beautiful campuses in the United States as well.
According to Forbes magazine, the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago ranks third on its most beautiful campuses list.
“Unlike classical campus layouts with their quadrangles, brick or limestone buildings, and sweeping lawns, this one was designed with an emphasis on industrial materials, such as steel and glass, and inspired by the look of factories and warehouses,” according to Forbes. “The American Institute of Architects has recognized the campus as one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the United States.”
Forbes ranked Florida Southern College, in Lakeland, Fla., as the most beautiful campus in the nation, with dozens of structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright dotting the campus. Forbes rated the College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, Maine, second.
Meanwhile, The Best Colleges put both the University of Chicago and Northwestern University on its list of the 50 most beautiful colleges campuses in the nation.
Ranking 14th on The Best Colleges list, the University of Chicago includes “some of the best architecture you’ll find in a college campus,” with “several buildings landing on the National Register of Historic Places.”
Northwestern University, meanwhile, was ranked 47th, with the oldest building still standing on the Evanston campus dating back to 1869.
According to The Best Colleges, Elon University, in Elon, N.C., has the prettiest college campus in the nation, followed by Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio; Sewanee: The University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn.; Pepperdine University, in Malibu, Calif.; Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles; Lewis & Clark College, in Portland, Ore.; Emory University, in Atlanta; College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Va.; Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.