Millennium Park's Exuberant Spirit

Chicago - September, 2009 - Michigan Avenue

Frank Gehry’s exuberant architecture seems to have taken the world by storm. I'll vouch for the architect's design of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. 

The building proved to have superb acoustics when I heard a string quartet play there. Before attending the concert, I'd been won over by Gehry's exuberant style,

 impressed by the Concert Hall's open-air gardens, which are also open to the public.

On my must-see list of Gehry buildings? The acclaimed Guggenheim Bilbao Museum

turned Bilbao, a Spanish port city, into a must-see destination. 

In the meantime, I visit Chicago in September during the World Music Festival,

where venues for free performances include the 

Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion. 
Millennium Park Peristyle Monument (replica)

The music from the Pavilion carries clear as a bell over an extensive area, encompassing the parkland and the Lurie Garden.

The view on the right shows the garden,  photographed through the glass wall of the sculpture terrace atop the new wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano.

(Next feature will focus on the Lurie Garden, with plantings by Piet Oudolf.)

In the distance, across Monroe Street, the newly opened,  Renzo Piano-designed wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. The straightforward, strongly rectilinear lines of the building aim to complement the

 angular modernity of the Millennium Park landscape and minimalist Lurie Garden. Fantastic views unfold from the raised walkway  connecting the Lurie Garden to the Art Institute!

Beckoning from on high, the ramp invites you to enter either ....the museum,

 or Terzo Piano, an elegant new restaurant.

A Sculptural Dialogue - Millennium Park, Chicago

Cloud Gate 

....a sculpture by Anish Kapoor,

quickly achieved the status of icon for Chicago's Millennium Park.

Summer 2009

The Park's Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture 

from China, includes:

Jia Shan Shi No. 46 by Zhan Wang

With a degree from Bejing's Central Academy of Fine Arts, the artist is known worldwide for his stainless steel 'scholars' rocks.'

A sheet of steel, hammered over the original rock, alters the form to "reflect ...the cultural transformation of changing times.

The artwork symbolizing the adaptation of Chinese cultural tradition to..." modern life.

Ancient Lake Tai rocks originate in an area near Suzhou, the Garden City of China. Elemental components in the design of Chinese Scholars' gardens, their resonant profiles emerge throughout the entrancing landscape of 

Portland Classical Chinese garden.

Representing 'yang,' the uniquely convoluted limestone rocks are a treasure;

 their solitary forms looked upon as artistic focal points.

 En masse they rise up in watery grottoes, to rim lake beds, 

or create the appearance of a mountainous terrain.

In dramatic contrast, 

Millennium Park's Contemporary Chinese Sculpture exhibition featured 

Windy City Dinosaur by Sui Jiaguo, 

a professor in the Department of Sculpture at China's Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Considered an experimental artist, his work "references...cheap, mass-produced goods" that China exports, as it questions "the source of China's economic prowess..."

Click on link below to read more about Millennium Park 

http://bayareatendrils.blogspot.com/2009/10/summers-end-millennium-park-chicago.html

Summer's End .. Millennium Park, Chicago

Millennium Park burst on the scene in 2004, albeit, a few years past the planned opening 

at the turn of the century. 

Still, it's the place to be on a summer day in Chicago. I'm proud of my home town,

a greener, more vibrant and energetic urban setting than ever.

The Crown Fountain's upright 50-foot towers deliver a welcoming splash and flow;

the multi-media water feature designed by Jaume Plensa, a Barcelona artist.

A shallow pool spans the space between the glass-block towers,

their colorful video projections featuring a panoply of faces.

1,000 Chicagoans... their changing expressions creating a riveting display.

These giant faces are full of surprises....

Blink.... smile... ... spout!

Cavort, if you like,

or take up residence on a bench while you wait for friends to arrive.

More... Chicago, in the days ahead:

The Lurie Garden with Piet Oudolf plantings

Frank Gehry designed Pritzker Pavilion

Installation of Sculptures by Chinese Artists

& new Renzo Piano designed wing of The Art Institute of Chicago

Gardens of Giverny .... I've a Story to Tell

Monet's Purple Poppies - Photo courtesy, Ginas Pics'

Monet's garden at Giverny

Shortly after moving to California, I had an opportunity to travel to France, where I toured Impressionist painter, Claude Monet's home and garden.

I've a short story to share, so do follow along: At 15, I met the father of my brother's future wife.

Charming and rather elderly at the time (or so it seemed to me), my brother's future father-in-law, 

Mr. Monet was the grand-nephew (or great-grand nephew?) 

of the artist, Claude Monet.

C'est tout!

Garden Fever .... An Agreeable Condition

In a reflective mood since receiving the award yesterday on Blotanical,

for Best California Blog.

Although a few have been deleted, 

the tally shows 130 features on Bay Area Tendrils since January 13th, 2009.

One problem is not yet solved: 

I've yet to convert my library of thousands of slides from garden visits.

 Only a very few have been scanned, like a vignette from

Le Jardin de l'Alchimiste in Provence.

I can never convey the sensory euphoria of fragrance and texture, the light and atmosphere

experienced while alone in the White Garden; totally immersed in its beauty. 

One of my first features included a scanned photograph of the doyen of English gardening shortly before his death: Christopher Lloyd, unphased by the rain, leads us from one garden room to the next on a tour of Great Dixter.

When I registered on Blotanical, I listed Great Dixter as the garden I wished most to see, 

and that I had, in fact seen it.

Actually, not true. 

Garden Fever is an agreeable condition, but forceful in its way. 

There are innumerable gardens I hope to visit, despite fond memories of 

Great Dixter's perfect presentation of Arts & Crafts structure with contemporary panache.

A garden writer can't go wrong when featuring a major historic site of exquisite resonance:

Spain's Alhambra & gardens of El Generalife.

However...

when Bay Area Tendrils Garden Travel

 features a stunning Modernist landscape, 

such as the expansive

 Parc André Citroën

 in Paris, the response is generally less enthusiastic.

I love every type of garden, perhaps in equal measure.

I'll have to think about it, but this may be the case.

Events such as The Late Show Gardens

.... inaugurated this September in California Wine Country, 

give me reason to ponder and write about important issues such as climate change,

while soaking up ideas, innovative designs, 

and the opportunity to peruse the best of the best new plants.

The photo above - a detail - is from opening day of The Late Show Gardens,

the day after I first photographed 

 The Grow Melt Project 

during the Preview Party. 

Roasting temperatures in Sonoma caused the wall of ice to melt rapidly.

Today in my garden, Scrophularia 'Lemon and Lime' ...

I'm a plant geek, what can I say.

- Congrats to all the Blotanical finalists and winners -

It's a great group, good wishes to my California cohorts!

Town Mouse and Country Mouse

Daffodil Planter

Tulips in the Woods

Cindees Garden