CHICAGO – MILLENIUM PARK
06.25.08
I just spent a week in Chicago… a bit of art (witnessing the Jeff Koons exhibition at the MCA Chicago was unbelievable), a bit of work, great friends and some solid family time. Chicago is an amazing city, full of wonderful hard-working people, and it’s growing like crazy (in terms of population and financial clout). The vibe is great. The city is powerful. Its force seems to grow stronger every time I return. Chicagoans have a massive amount of pride in their city and it shows, much like New Yorkers, only folks from Chicago are a bit softer and more approachable. They’re respectful and attentive, particularly to their environment. Chicago has been and continues to be a leader in pushing and implementing green initiatives (integrating green rooftops in the late 80’s). In tough economic times like these with environmental woes abound, ranging from clean air to clean water and global energy demand at an all time frightening high it was wonderful to see a seriously flourishing public transit system, the CTA does a damn good job. While I rarely drive(6-12 x a year for the past 3 or 4 years) it was incredibly empowering to efficiently run around a massive city totally free of my own vehicle. Which leads me to the blue line stop on Clark and Lake, just blocks from Millenium Park. The park is far from new news to anyone familiar with Chicago, but I feel its worthy of a revisit. Millenium park is 24.5 acres of award winning design resulting in a civic center focused on art, music, architecture and landscape design. Some of Millenium Parks more prominent features include the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavillion, Spanish artist Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, and British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public work in the US, the 110 ton polished stainless steel Cloud Gate Scultpture – know to Chicagoans as the “bean”. Anyway, enough banter, here’s some pics.
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Tags: Anish Kapoor, CTA, Jaume Plesna, Jeff Koons, Millenium Park
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