Millennium Park & Cloud Gate

Millennium Park / Cloud Gate (The Bean)

Chicago's urban living room: Anish Kapoor's stainless steel “Bean,” Cloud Gate, mirrors the skyline, the Crown Fountain's giant faces spout water, and Gehry's open-air Pritzker Pavilion hosts free performances.

Millennium Park opened in 2004 on a former railyard. Covering 10 hectares at the northwest corner of Grant Park, it is Chicago's most popular public space. Its centerpiece is Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate: a seamless stainless steel “bean” 10 meters tall and weighing 110 tons, whose surface reflects the surrounding skyscrapers and visitors. Walk underneath to the “belly” to see multiple reflections. It's Chicago's most photographed landmark. On the south side, the Crown Fountain consists of two 15-meter glass towers. An LED screen cycles through the faces of 1,000 Chicago residents, and every few minutes water spouts from their “mouths.” On summer days, kids splash in the shallow pool. On the north side, Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion has a curving stainless steel stage and a grid of steel-tube speakers above the lawn. From June to August, the Grant Park Music Festival offers free classical concerts, and there are free Monday night movies and a variety of other concerts. Bring a picnic. Gehry's BP Pedestrian Bridge winds over Columbus Drive and connects to Maggie Daley Park, which has climbing walls and a children's playground. The park also has the prairie plantings of Lurie Garden and, in winter, an ice rink at McCormick Tribune Plaza. The park is free all day. Cloud Gate's surroundings were closed for construction for about a year starting in 2023, and they have now reopened. Nearby: the Art Institute of Chicago is a 3-minute walk to the south, Michigan Avenue and the Loop are to the west, and the lakefront path is across the bridge to the east. Come early in the morning or at dusk. At night, Cloud Gate reflects the lights of the skyline. Getting there: a 5 to 10-minute walk from any CTA Loop station.

Millennium Park & Cloud Gate

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