A free public
photography show at the park: Revealing
Chicago: An Aerial Portrait, by Terry Evans
One of the water intake cribs in Lake Michigan
Site for the proposed Peotone airport. Yes, an obvious location for a
major airport - just look at all of the transportation access and
infrastructure and potential airport employees! Grrrrr
The Crown
Fountain
It really must be seen to be understood
Hey, no spitting on the sidewalk!
"The Bean"
Anish Kapoor's sculpture is about the coolest thing in the
city.
Unfortunately, it has been put back under wraps to smooth out the
seams, so all we can see now is the north end.
Watch as the tent gives birth to a big shiny melon!
and again
Bean-assisted self-portrait
and another
I tell you, this bean thing is addictive
Tricky way of taking a picture of the skyline north of me...
while facing south (!!!)
The Lurie
Garden
Compass plant and rattlesnake master and some sort of daisy
The "seam" that divides the "light plate" from the "dark plate",
although the two halves of the garden will look pretty similar until
the trees on the dark plate get bigger.
Echinacea and liatris
A prairie garden with Michigan Avenue in the background
There was nothing about these plants that wasn't painfully pointy! What
are they? An Eryngium, as far as I can tell, perhaps
bourgatii?
I find it hard to believe these are in Apiaceae. Related to
Eryngium yuccifolium, rattlesnake
master, which is a
native prairie plant.
More echinacea
View of the "dark plate" of the garden, and some funky light fixtures
The
Pritzker
Pavilion,
designed by Frank Gehry, who may or may not have been inspired by a
particularly artistic pile of fritos
Not sure how I feel about this design. I do like the organic swoops and
swirls against the otherwise rectangular skyline, but it seems to be
missing pieces on the left and right sides where the buildings behind
are visible through big gaps. It
evokes the billowing of sails but lacks the purposeful symmetry and
forward motion of a full press of sail. On a sunny day, there is always
at least one section reflecting laser beams of white light directly
into your eyes. Plus, the pavilion doesn't look nearly as
nice from other angles, to wit:
I just figured out what it reminds me of. Remember in the intro
to The Flintstones when they drive to the restaurant and the carhop
balances an immense rack of (presumably dinosaur) ribs next to Fred,
and the car tips over under the weight? These swirls are shaped like
that rack of ribs. Never design a pavilion when you're hungry, Frank.
The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra rehearses in jeans and t-shirts. How
long before they change their name to the Millennium Park Symphony
Orchestra? or the Vienna Beef Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park,
brought to you by Fifth Third Bank?
Other
misc.
pictures of the park and the city:
Chicago Cultural Center, formerly the library, and Stone Container
Building
Michigan Avenue streetwall
Butterfly garden