Hello arch lovers!
We keep going around Chicago, that iconic city of architecture and much more. We can contemplate it from many different perspectives, from an arriving plane, from the lake, from the top of a skyscraper, walking through the streets or enjoying spectacular public spaces such as its parks.
And among all the parks in the windy city, one stands out without a doubt, Millennium Park. It is much more than a typical park, we can find those too, but this one is much more special because it becomes the living heart of the city, where magic happens. The magic of music of course, because it is also the city of music, the city of jazz, but we can be spectators of concerts of different types of music in a unique and incomparable setting such as the Jay Pritzker Pavillion, whose metal structure calls our attention strongly, and we were stunned.
Different silver sheets that intertwine and intermingle to form the perfect box to enjoy an evening of music in the open air, with all the relaxation in the world, lying on the grass or in one of the many red seats. And lying down we look up and more curved metal tubes decorate our views, where the spotlights will later illuminate us all. Something more spectacular?
If there is a sculptural piece that just seeing it makes us know where we are, it is the Cloud Gate or affectionately called by all "The Bean" because it seems that way. A large shiny steel bean that reflects everything around us and us... In different ways, with distorted curved reflections that make us play with the image and with reality. And there it is imposing and giving off rays of light that bounce off its surface. And below? We pass crouched down and everything is reflected in a crazier way towards a central point, we can even lie on our backs and feel that we are in a slightly distorted dream, it is like a psychedelic, designer and very original room of mirrors.
And we can continue walking because there are more structures and winding artificial paths that take us from one part to another, from modern pavilions, to wooded areas, to the furthest area where you can see all the buildings that surround it (we have already talked about some of them in previous posts) to another area that connects to a museum. Yes, from the Art Institute of Chicago we can leave, not through the main door but through another one above, a kind of bridge in the air from which we can see the park again and that takes us to it.
As we can see, it is not a park like any other we know, here, of course, architecture has a lot to say and it becomes an essential element that in a curious way harmonizes with the whole environment, because there are many different environments in a single large space.
The space is large and it is almost better that we contemplate it from the heights, again we went up to another skyscraper, now to the Aon Center (of which I keep fond memories) and there we got those impressive views, not only of the park and beyond, but also something, the Shedd Aquarium and you almost lose sight outside the State of Illinois, if we look a little further, Indiana is already there. And in all this panorama, once again, the bright spot stands out, the Bean.
We can continue downstairs, going from one space to another, as if we were in an hybrid open-air museum of modern art, because the entire area becomes an unusual work of art per se but is used by all citizens, where in the nicer days there is music, there are people and there is joy. And perhaps also surprise and admiration for those who walk from here being from another place.
But among so many things to see, I have also left one very spectacular and striking. Do you know what it is? Don't worry, I haven't forget it, I'll talk about that other curious work of modern art soon because this is getting long... And there are so many photographs that seem to compete with each other in terms of modern architecture and spectacular design, and all leave us amazed and open-mouthed ;)
Fall in love with Chicago, you'll see more...
Chicago, Illinois, US - Part IV
More here:
Chicago: memories, views and skylines (I)Chicago: memories, views and skylines (I)
Chicago: the city of architecture (II)Chicago: the city of architecture (II)
Thanks for reading! Have a spectacular and amazing day.
The text is totally mine, by ©Duvinca
and all the photos are mine too!