The main quadrangles of the University of Chicago, designed from 1891 onward in consistent neo-Gothic limestone, form one of the most visually coherent academic landscapes in the world. The sequence of connected quadrangles between 57th and 59th Streets is modeled on Oxford and Cambridge and remains substantially as built.
Ida Noyes Hall (1916) is the most decorative building in the quad area and has public-access spaces including a café. The Regenstein Library, the Harper Memorial Library reading room (usually accessible), and the Classics building with its surviving Edward Sherril Clauss stained glass are other notable interiors. Walking the full perimeter of the main quad is a 20-minute circuit that covers the essential buildings.