More Chicago Landmarks

[~Trinity~]

Chicago Landmarks
The buildings in the foreground of this photograph stand along Michigan Ave, which did indeed once run beside Lake Michigan. Despite many efforts by commercial interests to cut it up, Grant Park now stands along the lakeshore, protected by the protests of the people of Chicago under the leadership of public figures like department store magnate Montgomery Ward. Just as Central Park in New York acts as the lungs of that city, so does Grant Park provide a welcome green carpet next to the blue lake. Nevertheless, the skyline with its tall buildings is magnificent, quite appropriate for a place which is often considered the birthplace of the skyscraper, epitomized by the large black Sears Tower, tallest building in the United States.

No-one has ever figured out whether this is meant to be an angel, a horse or a woman, and the artist didn't give a title to his work, so Chicagoans just know this statue outside the Daley Center as "The Picasso". Regardless of what it is, children love to slide down its sloping metal base.

Artwork like this one inspired a whole wave of statuary which gives the city a great deal of character, an effect which was strengthened by a local ordinance passed in 1978 which required developers to spend a certain percentage of their budget on such public displays.

A few of the other famous works include the 39 foot high Miro statue, which is almost directly opposite the Picasso, a very large glass and stone mosaic by Marc Chagall called "The Four Seasons", and a huge red steel girder creation called "Flamingo", visible below and right of the center of the previous aerial photo of Chicago.

You might be forgiven for wondering why a place called "Navy Pier" would be located in the center of America's midwest, many miles from the ocean. In fact, Chicago really was a major naval port during the two world wars, and many soldiers did board troop ships on this half-mile long pier for the trip through the great lakes, down the St Lawrence river and across the Atlantic. Today the pier is the boarding place for tours of the harbor, and there are numerous attractions along its length, including a stained glass window and a 140 foot high ferris wheel, great grandchild of the world's first ferris wheel, which was constructed for the 1893 Chicago World Expo.

Chicago is a real feast for those who love architecture. As well as being home to many of the world's first skyscrapers, there are also smaller but still significant structures designed by world-famous architects like Frank Lloyd-Wright whose houses, including his own home and studio, can be visited. In addition to the huge and awesome structures like the John Hancock center and the Sears Tower, still high up the list of the world's tallest buildings, there are many other interesting and attractive buildings like the James R. Thompson Center, shown here.

Architecture buffs will enjoy a tour among the many renowned buildings lining the banks of the Chicago River. Heavily polluted by the city's vast stockyards and slaughterhouses, the flow of the river was reversed in 1871 to carry the foul effluent away from the lake. Each year on St Patrick's Day the river is dyed bright green.

On State Street, that great street, this old gentleman ensures that the large clock outside Marshall Fields department store keeps good time, regardless of what sun, rain or snow can throw at him. Like many of America's great department stores like Sears and Montgomery Ward, old Marshall Fields' glory days are gone, but it's still interesting to walk through and see the costly and elaborate displays during holiday seasons like Christmas - just watch out for the icicles! Unfortunately Marshall Fields is no long open.

Grant Park, a very welcome antidote to the glass, steel and tarmac. The centerpiece of this large park, which is just a small part of the lakeside green strip which runs for many miles north and south of downtown, is Buckingham fountain, named after the brother of its donor, Kate Buckingham. Built in 1927, it's twice the size of its model, the Bassin de Latone at Versailles, and shoots a stream of water worthy of Chicago 150 feet into the air. It performs its display throughout the warmer months, both by day and illuminated at night.

Amongst other pieces of symbolism, the aquatic monsters surrounding the central fountain represent the four states around Lake Michigan - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Adler Planetarium is one of three institutes which together comprise the Museum Campus at the south end of Grant Park. A statue of Copernicus sits outside the planetarium, a conscious reminder that Chicago is the second largest Polish city in the world, thanks to the number of immigrants who came here and continue to come here. The second member of the campus is the large Shedd Aquarium.

Sue the Tyrannosaurus has plenty of room to wander around inside the cavernous spaces of the Field Museum, the third member of the Museum campus. Sue is the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered, and the cause of a considerable amount of controversy - found in 1990 in South Dakota, the legal battle for ownership took five years to resolve and it wasn't until 1997 that the Field Museum made the winning auction bid of $8.4 million and brought Sue to Chicago. Now she gets to stare all day at the delicious but unsuspecting morsels who turn their back on her, while she enjoys the company of Egyptian mummies, Mayan artifacts, stuffed animals and meteorites.

[Shelley "SoleMann" King]

This is just stunning, beautiful, awesome...My Camera would be working overtime if i ever visit this wonderful city....LOL

[Edie Antoinette]

This...is...thee...........bomb!!!!

[Edie Antoinette]

Buckingham Fountain!!!!!! You got down on this..the photos are wonderful! I miss home!