Chicago V

In addition to the office building/high rise tours, we took tours to Oak Park and Illinois Institute of Technology school of architecture.  Oak Park is where Frank Lloyd Wright got his start in the early 1900's with "organic architecture" or "Prairie style".  He strove to build in harmony with nature, simple, horizontal lines with open spaces, as opposed to the Queen Anne, Victorian designs of that time.  Lots of leaded glass, great attention to detail, down to the furniture and, at times, some of the clothing of the owners.  He built a number of homes in Oak Park that still stand, timeless in their lines.

One of Wright's proteges was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who designed the Illinois Institute of Technology, designed their buildings, ran their school of architecture from 1938-1958, became a world class architect in his own right.  Reputed to have coined the phrases "Less is more" and "God is in the details".  Designed many, many buildings in Chicago and elsewhere.  Both tours were great.

The Heurtly House, my favorite FLW house, 5,000 sq. ft. beauty completed 1902, recently purchased for $2.5 million and extensively renovated.  All those front windows are leaded glass.  Picture doesn't do it justice.

Another FLW house, I don't know the name or year.  Notice the clean, horizontal lines, pleasing, simple overall look vs. Victorian style; looks very contemporary doesn't it?

Chicago IV

Chicago is considered the birthplace of the modern skyscraper.  When Mrs. O'Leary's cow started the fire that burned down much of the city in 1871 the town fathers brought in world class architects/builders to build a series of tall office buildings.  This lasted until the depression, then after WWII office building began again (1998 completion of the 110 story Sears (now Willis) Towers)  and continues with great vitality today.  We have taken a number of Chicago Architecture Foundation tours; the guides (docents) are excellent.  Fortunately, the city has saved some of the older buildings with glittering interiors.  Oh, they also took all the rubble from the fire, built up the shore in front of Michigan Ave. to form what is now Grant Park; smart move.

Marlene in front of part of the Chicago skyline on a beautiful afternoon.

Our favorite modern skyscraper, One Museum, 62 story residential on the South end of center city, completed 2009.  Compared to New York, a bargain, residences from $800K to $2.5million.

They saved the old library, now the Cultural Center, just one of many buildings with spectacular interiors from earlier years.  Above the 38 foot diameter dome ceiling, Tiffany's largest in the world.

Had a drink in the lounge of the 1500 room Palmer House, another save/renovation, now owned by Hilton.  Above is the ceiling; not bad, huh?  While there saw mutual fund/investment guru Mario Gabelli, who was there attending a Franklin-Templeton conference.  He looked pretty good for 73, heck, almost as good as Vinnie.

Chicago III

In adjacent Grant Park is the 1 million sq. ft. Chicago Art Institute, one of most acclaimed museums in the world.  They house works from the earliest BC to current; all the masters; definitely need more than a day to appreciate it all.  Below some highlights:

Rodin's "Eternal Springtime" very sensuous pose of a loving couple.

 Van Gogh's famous "Self Portrait"

American Folk Art, author unknown, I loved this guy's hair; take a closer look.

Chicago II

Millenium Park was supposed to open in 2000 at a cost of $150 million; it ended up opening in 2004 at a cost of $475 million; much of the overrun paid by private monies.  The spectacular success of the venue has quieted the critics.  Above is part of the Crown Fountain, a shallow, black granite reflecting pool, bordered by two 50' tall glass brick walls.  LED lights show a variety of Chicago faces on both walls, their expressions change and every 5 minutes water shoots out of their mouths, to the squealing delight of the kids and their parents; very hilarious.  Wonderful park.

Chicago I

 

 

And so it begins.  Due to popular demand I will attempt to blog our 2015 summer adventure.
Marlene, as usual, spent a lot of time preparing our intinerary; however, we always seem to have unintended consequences.  Ah, such is life.

Monday, June 15th, we depart Hilton Head; stopping just for an overnight at an RV park just north of Knoxville, TN (nothing too interesting about the place), then on to Lexington, KY to visit with wonderful old friends Peggy and Jeff Meece.  It was great to get to see them again, share old times.
Beautiful horse country and home of U of KY.

Then off to a long visit to Chicago.  We are staying in a small RV park in Indiana that is about an hour by train to "the loop".  Train is clean, on time and $7.50 round trip; very reasonable (Thanks to Tim Arr for his helpful tips).  Driving into the city isn't bad except during rush hour; we have mostly been taking the train.

Chicago has been a delightful surprise.  With all their financial problems and my experiences of big inner cities, we weren't expecting much.  But a recent renaissance of residential building, plus constant building of office skyscrapers has brought great vibrancy to downtown.  The town fathers (and mothers) have developed the land between Michigan Avenue and Lake Michigan into a series of parks with very creative, family friendly and free exhibits, play areas, walking/riding paths, concert areas; it is delightful and draws great crowds constantly. Add to that a world famous Art Institute, Aquarium, Planitarium and Museum of Natural History and you have quite a lot of options to enjoy yourself.

Above, pictures of the Jay Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park, designed by architect Frank Gehry; excellent acoustics for the free concerts they put on all during the summer.