Pui Tak Center, Community center in Chinatown, Chicago, US.
Pui Tak Center is a three-story brick building in Chicago's Chinatown, covered on its exterior with ornate terra cotta details drawn from Chinese architectural traditions. It sits on Wentworth Avenue at 22nd Place and houses a community center run by the Chinese Christian Union Church.
The building went up in 1928 as the On Leong Merchants Association Building, a powerful organization within Chicago's Chinese merchant community. Decades later, when the Chinese Christian Union Church took it over, the city gave it landmark status in 1993.
The center sits at the heart of Chicago's Chinatown and serves as a meeting place for religious services and community events throughout the year. Passersby often see people gathering at its entrance, giving the building a role that goes well beyond its architectural appeal.
The building stands on Wentworth Avenue, the main street of Chinatown, making it easy to spot during a walk through the neighborhood. The area is well connected to the rest of the city by public transit, so getting there does not require a car.
The roofline is shaped like a pagoda, a feature that was deliberately chosen by the architects Michaelsen and Rognstad, a firm better known for designing banks. This unusual commission resulted in one of the few buildings in the American Midwest to carry that type of roofline.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
