The FACES of Millenium Park

Picture credit: website http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/


July 7, 2007 Saturday (continuation)
By the time we left The Taste, it got so crowded we could barely maneuver the strollers around the crowd. We saw Ratatouille movie intro by Pixar and then headed off for the Millenium Park.


The Crown Fountain in Millenium Park, also known as The Faces
I was in awe when I saw two 50-foot glass block towers with a shallow reflecting pool in between. An amazing design by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, the towers project video face images of Chicago citizens taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents. And from their mouth water flows, a symbol of life- designed after the gargoyles that are seen guarding atop old buildings and castles.

Adira, Arleen, and Kai...Cheri, Cohen, and Adira.

I got splashed while taking this picture. Makes for a great photo though. We had so much fun, how could I not get wet? The kid in me came out (although I think it's always out) and I wrestled Adira to the floor and butt-dragged her across the floor...


















Cloud Gate, a 110-ton elliptical sculpture measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high by British artist Anish Kapoor, is made of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. Under this 12-foot-high arch exists a passage to the concave chamber beneath, allowing visitors to touch its surface- and to make funny faces. It reminded me of a kaleidoscope. All in all it looked like liquid mercury to me.

Other views along Michigan Avenue (aka the Magnificent Mile.)

Kayakers on the Chicago River.

I was well dressed for the occasion! I was surprised my flowers had not whilted in this heat!

More dresses on display along the Mile.

Kai finds a "weed" lay at the train station as we head home. He struggles to remove the evidence...

The Hancock building between the Water Tower Place (rt) where Oprah Winfrey lives and where I used to work at a law firm as a teenager, and the Water Tower (left).