BP Pedestrian Bridge
Encyclopedia
The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder
footbridge
in the Loop
community area
of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park
, both parts of the larger Grant Park
. Designed by Pritzker Prize
-winning architect Frank Gehry
, it opened along with the rest of Millennium Park on July 16, 2004. Gehry had been courted by the city to design the bridge and the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion
, and eventually agreed to do so after the Pritzker family
funded the Pavilion.
Named for energy firm BP
, which donated $5 million toward its construction, it is the first Gehry-designed bridge to have been completed. BP Bridge is described as snakelike because of its curving form. Designed to bear a heavy load without structural problems caused by its own weight, it has won awards for its use of sheet metal
. The bridge is known for its aesthetics
, and Gehry's style is seen in its biomorphic
allusions and extensive sculptural use of stainless steel
plates to express abstraction.
The pedestrian bridge
serves as a noise barrier
for traffic sounds from Columbus Drive. It is a connecting link between Millennium Park and destinations to the east, such as the nearby lakefront, other parts of Grant Park and a parking garage. BP Bridge uses a concealed box girder
design with a concrete base, and its deck is covered by hardwood floor boards. It is designed without handrail
s, using stainless steel parapet
s instead. The total length is 935 feet (285 m), with a five percent slope on its inclined surfaces that makes it barrier free and accessible
. Although the bridge is closed in winter because ice cannot be safely removed from its wooden walkway, it has received favorable reviews for its design and aesthetics.
to the east and the Loop to the west. Columbus Drive
runs north–south through Grant Park, with Daley Bicentennial Plaza in the northeast corner of the park. West of Columbus Drive, the northwest corner of the park had been Illinois Central
rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it became available for development by the city as Millennium Park. Millennium Park is also north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute
, east of Michigan Avenue
, and south of Randolph Street
. For 2007, Millennium Park trailed only Navy Pier
as a Chicago tourist attraction.
In February 1999, the city announced it was negotiating with Frank Gehry to design a proscenium
arch and orchestra enclosure for a band shell in the new park, as well as a pedestrian bridge crossing Columbus Drive between Millennium Park and Daley Bicentennial Plaza. The city also sought donors to cover the cost of Gehry's work, which would eventually become Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the BP Pedestrian Bridge. At the time, the Chicago Tribune
dubbed Gehry "the hottest architect in the universe" in reference to the acclaim for his Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
. Millennium Park project manager Edward Uhlir said "Frank is just the cutting edge of the next century of architecture", and noted that no other architect was being sought. Gehry was approached several times by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect Adrian Smith
on behalf of the city. In April 1999, the city announced that the Pritzker family had donated $15 million to fund Gehry's band shell and an additional nine donors committed a total of $10 million more to the park. That same day, Gehry agreed to the design request.
In November 1999, when he unveiled his initial plans for the bridge and band shell, Gehry admitted the bridge's design was underdeveloped because funding for it was not yet committed. Even at this early point, the need for a sound barrier for Columbus Drive traffic noise was recognized, although Gehry indicated this might take the form of a berm
, or raised barrier. The need to fund a bridge to span the eight-lane Columbus Drive was evident, but some planning for the park was delayed in anticipation of details on the redesign of Soldier Field
. In January 2000, the city announced plans to expand the park to include features that became Cloud Gate
, Crown Fountain
, the McDonalds Cycle Center, and the BP Pedestrian Bridge. Later that month, Gehry unveiled his next design, which depicted a winding bridge.
While the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion changed relatively little from Gehry's 1999 design when built, the bridge went through several proposed designs. The proposal made in early 2000, which was expected to be executed in 2002, included a bridge that was a mere 170 feet (51.8 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide. That design was not approved, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
's disapproval of Gehry's subsequent design of an 800–900 ft (243.8–274.3 m) bridge caused Gehry to come up with ten more designs. The first of these plans was for a Z-shaped bridge that would have run northwest–southeast with western ramps in Millennium Park, leading south, and eastern ramps in the empty north section of Daley Bicentennial Plaza, leading north. It would have required elevators to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act. This plan was abandoned because it would have segregated the handicapped. Gehry had only designed two bridges previously, both in the mid-1990s (Pferdeturm USTRA
Bridge in Hanover, Germany and Financial Times Millennium Bridge in London, United Kingdom) but neither was built.
The final design for the bridge was revealed in an exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center
on June 10, 2000. As designed and built, the bridge is 935 feet (285 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, with a 14 in 6 in (4.42 m) Columbus Drive clearance. The clearance was designed to slightly exceed the 14 feet (4.3 m) standard set by the United States Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
for urban area interstate bridge clearances, and to allow for additional future layers of pavement below. This height is also greater than the maximum vehicle height of 13 in 6 in (4.11 m) set by the Illinois Vehicle Code. According to the Chicago Tribune the width of the "trenchlike" area spanned is approximately 150 feet (45.7 m), while The New York Times
reports the bridge is over ten times longer than Columbus Drive is wide.
BP Bridge begins in Millennium Park between the trellis
system over the Jay Pritzker Pavilion's great lawn and the Lurie Garden
; the design was changed so that the west ramp coincided with the boardwalk of the Lurie Garden seam. The bridge winds its way northward along the eastern edge of Millennium Park before crossing Columbus Drive in a C-shaped curve, above underground parking garage entrances. In Daley Bicentennial Plaza the bridge has an S-shape, then turns east. BP Bridge is designed so that its inclined surfaces have a continuous five percent slope rather than landings and switchback ramps, which provides easy access for the physically challenged. The gently sloped ramp eliminates the need for lifts or any of the other common types of ramps (L-shaped, switchback, U-shaped, straight), and helped the park earn the 2005 Barrier-Free America Award for its exemplary barrier-free design.
Gehry had hoped to design the bridge so that it could be constructed without a support column in the center of Columbus Drive. However, Chicago Tribune
architecture critic Blair Kamin
notes that if he had done so, the bridge might not have been as sleek. Building the bridge without the column would have required load-bearing cantilever
s (beams
supported only on one side) from structural positions on opposite sides of the street; this would have been expensive and labor-intensive, because it would have required excavating large portions of the parking garages on both sides of the street. Moreover, on the Daley Bicentennial Plaza side, the optimal location for the supporting cantilever would have been at the location of the Monroe Street Garage. Thus, the preferred bridge design was altered to avoid problems related to the underground parking garages.
The bridge is both a connector and a viewing platform for the park. It was designed to link the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and the entire Loop to the west with the Lake Michigan lakefront to the east. It was also designed to be a berm noise barrier
blocking noise on the eight-lane Columbus Drive from the Park's outdoor band shell (Jay Pritzker Pavilion), by deflecting traffic sounds upward.
The bridge, which uses steel girder
s, reinforced concrete abutment
s and deck slabs
, hardwood deck, and a stainless steel veneer, cost between $12.1 and $14.5 million. It contains large sculptural plates of curvilinear stainless steel instead of more standard flat plates. The bridge's curvilinear design gives it a flowing, natural look, instead of the linear, rigid form of standard bridges. Although its steel girders rest on concrete pylons
and most of the bridge is solid concrete, the bridge uses a hollow box girder
design to minimize weight, as the ground that supports the bridge covers underground parking garages. The concrete base and box girder are flanked by a hollow stainless steel skeleton. Despite its hollow structure, and the fact that it is designed as a concealed beam bridge
, the footbridge
is built to highway standards and can support a full capacity load of pedestrians. The bridge is designed without standard handrail
s and uses waist-high parapet
s as guard rail
s instead.
The bridge was built using 22-gauge stainless steel type 316 plates (0.031 inch (0.7874 mm) thick), with an angel hair finish
and a flat interlocking panel process. Stainless steel type 316 is known for its excellent welding
characteristics, as well as for its resistance to pitting. According to the Chicago Tribune, the bridge materials used in construction include 2,000 rot
-resistant Brazilian hardwood
boards for the deck, 115,000 stainless steel screw
s and 9,800 stainless steel
shingle
plates. According to Architecture Metal Expertise, the bridge has "10,400 stainless steel trapezoidal panels in 17 different shop fabricated configurations [which] involved 1,000 shop hours". The sheet metal work totaled 5,900 field hours over a six-month period. During construction, about 200 shingles were installed per day. The bridge includes two types of structural steel: steel that is 2 inches (5.1 cm) thick and 20 inches (50.8 cm) in diameter for the approaches and box girders for the span.
CATIA
software was used to handle the complex geometric layout. To ensure accurate fitting and alignment to the sloping, curving sides of the bridge, 4,400 custom-made convex, concave and radiused cladding panels were fabricated on site by sheet metal contractor Custom Metal Fabricators (CMF). CMF used 57000 square feet (5,295.5 m²) of stainless steel sheet to cover the sides, which have a combined perimeter length of 1728 feet (526.7 m). CMF built special heated enclosures so that work could continue on site through the winter. They designed, fabricated and installed custom type 4 brushed stainless steel parapets serving in the place of handrails on the bridge. CMF earned the 2005 Tom Guilfoy Memorial Architectural Sheet Metal Award, by the California chapter of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association
for the project. In 2005 it received a Merit Award from the National Steel Bridge Alliance, and an Excellence in Structural Engineering award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois.
On the day that the two halves of the bridge were joined, each side of Columbus Drive was closed for a 12-hour period and a 360 ST (321.4 LT; 326.6 t) crane
was used to install the girders. Before bringing the crane to the location, screw jacks were used to shore up the underground garage roof to hold the crane's weight.
The landscaping surrounding the bridge was redesigned by landscape architect
Terry Guen. Honey locust
s, ash
and maple trees were removed and replaced with three varieties of magnolia
and more than two dozen ornamental and canopy
trees along the eastern foot of the bridge in Daley Bicentennial Plaza. Other preliminary construction work included setting reinforcing rods for the bridge in the concrete roof deck of the parking garage located under the park.
Before its official opening, the bridge had a May 22, 2004, private ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Gehry and Mayor Daley. During the weekend of the ribbon-cutting, Gehry was awarded an honorary degree
from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The BP Pedestrian Bridge officially opened, along with the rest of Millennium Park, on July 16, 2004. It remained unnamed at the ribbon-cutting, but before the July park opening, energy firm BP had paid for the bridge sponsorship and naming rights.
Timothy Gilfoyle, author of Millennium Park: Creating a Chicago Landmark, notes that a controversy surrounds the "tasteless" corporate naming of several of the Park's features, including the bridge, which was named after an oil company. It is well documented that naming rights were sold for high fees, and Gilfoyle was not the only one who chastised park officials for selling naming rights to the highest bidder. Public interest groups have crusaded against commercialization of Chicago parks. However, many of the donors have a long history of local philanthropy and the funds were essential to providing necessary financing for several features of the park.
After the park opened, some of the bridge's foibles became apparent. The bridge has had to be closed during the winter because freezing conditions make it unsafe. Since the bridge is over an expressway-like trench of Columbus Drive, shoveling the snow onto passing cars is not an option and the Brazilian hardwood would be damaged by rock salt. The city not only mandates that the bridge be swept and washed daily, but also that the parapets be wiped free of fingerprints.
The bridge has also had controversial closures in the summer, which were related to larger park concerns. On September 8, 2005, Toyota Motor Sales USA paid $800,000 to rent the bridge and all but four venues in the park from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. On August 7, 2006, Allstate
paid $700,000 to rent the bridge and most of the park for a day. The exclusion of commuters who normally walk through the park and tourists lured by its attractions was controversial, though the city said the money raised paid for free public programs in Millennium Park.
's attempts to hide the seams of Cloud Gate
were an interesting contrast to Gehry's architectural efforts. Gehry took pride in making the BP Pedestrian Bridge flaunt its seams.
Beginning with Gehry's earliest bridge designs, the bridge was expected to complement the neighboring Pritzker Pavilion. Some have suggested that the bridge and the pavilion are mere extensions of Gehry's work in other cities. For example, according to Gilfoyle, both structures embody Gehry's established asymmetrical style, evoking fluid, continuous motion and sculptural abstraction. They also feature metallic facades and aesthetic curves, but they are said to be more refined, reduced and dynamic than much of his other work.
Since the 1960s, Gehry has made artistic use of scaled
animals such as fish and snakes, which first appeared in his architectural designs in the 1980s. Many references to the bridge describe it as snake
like for its winding path, and some even refer to the stainless steel plates as scales with discussion of reptilian
forms. Kamin calls it "a bridge that resembles a giant silver snake, complete with a scaly skin", while Gehry said he thought the bridge looked like a river, but added he might be the only one who thought that.
The way the bridge flows in a continuum of unexpected directions is a break from Gehry's other work and other more traditional urban and architectural forms nearby. Pulitzer Prize
-winning architecture critic Kamin gave the bridge four stars (out of a possible four) in his review and admires how "computers have given Gehry unparalleled formal freedom" to design "the complexity of its geometry" and multidimensional curvatures. The bridge provides views of both the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and Lake Michigan in a way that Kamin says makes it a belvedere
. Kamin also recommends anyone having a bad day to stroll across the bridge, adding, "You won't get where you're going quickly, but you'll feel a whole lot better once you're done."
File:Millennium Park Map labels.png|Image map
of Millennium Park. Each feature or label is wikilinked. |alt=Rectangular map of a park about 1.5 times as wide as it is tall. The top half is dominated by the Pritzker Pavilion and Great Lawn. The lower half is divided into three roughly equal sections: (left to right) Wrigley Square, McCormick Tribune Plaza, and Crown Fountain. North is to the left.|400px|thumb|center
rect 51 18 145 80 McDonald's Cycle Center
rect 338 2 496 94BP Pedestrian Bridge
rect 497 62 536 101BP Pedestrian Bridge
rect 497 6 631 34 Columbus Drive
rect 10 88 154 104 Exelon Pavilion NE
rect 47 108 79 131 Exelon Pavilion NE
rect 619 95 754 112 Exelon Pavilion SE
rect 728 113 759 135 Exelon Pavilion SE
rect 10 246 166 263 Exelon Pavilion NW
rect 47 265 78 288 Exelon Pavilion NW
rect 613 243 762 258 Exelon Pavilion SW
rect 736 260 757 275 Exelon Pavilion SW
rect 44 149 174 229 Harris Theater
rect 175 103 572 288 Jay Pritzker Pavilion
rect 573 134 757 238 Lurie Garden
rect 572 311 718 329 Nichols Bridgeway
rect 516 298 777 306 Nichols Bridgeway
rect 58 350 207 396 Chase Promenade North
rect 291 350 453 396 Chase Promenade Central
rect 537 350 687 396 Chase Promenade South
rect 313 397 431 424 AT&T Plaza
rect 37 434 227 473 Boeing Gallery North
rect 516 433 757 469 Boeing Gallery South
rect 337 426 416 470 Cloud Gate
rect 60 486 216 546 Wrigley Square
rect 287 477 457 543 McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink
rect 557 488 727 543 Crown Fountain
rect 308 567 439 583 Michigan Avenue
rect 1 316 23 442 Randolph Street
desc bottom-left
.jpg)
Girder bridge
A girder bridge, in general, is a bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers. In turn, a bridge deck is built on top of the girders in order to carry traffic. There are several different subtypes of girder bridges:...
footbridge
Footbridge
A footbridge or pedestrian bridge is a bridge designed for pedestrians and in some cases cyclists, animal traffic and horse riders, rather than vehicular traffic. Footbridges complement the landscape and can be used decoratively to visually link two distinct areas or to signal a transaction...
in the Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
, both parts of the larger Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
. Designed by Pritzker Prize
Pritzker Prize
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honour "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built...
-winning architect Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
, it opened along with the rest of Millennium Park on July 16, 2004. Gehry had been courted by the city to design the bridge and the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan...
, and eventually agreed to do so after the Pritzker family
Pritzker family
The Pritzker family is one of America's wealthiest families, and has been near the top of Forbes magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since the magazine began in 1982....
funded the Pavilion.
Named for energy firm BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, which donated $5 million toward its construction, it is the first Gehry-designed bridge to have been completed. BP Bridge is described as snakelike because of its curving form. Designed to bear a heavy load without structural problems caused by its own weight, it has won awards for its use of sheet metal
Sheet metal
Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material...
. The bridge is known for its aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, and Gehry's style is seen in its biomorphic
Biomorphism
Biomorphism is an art movement that began in the 20th century. It patterns artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices, often with mixed results.-History:The...
allusions and extensive sculptural use of stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
plates to express abstraction.
The pedestrian bridge
Pedestrian separation structure
A pedestrian separation structure is any structure that removes pedestrians from a vehicle roadway. This creates a road junction where vehicles and pedestrians do not interact.This can be considered a type of grade separation structure on the road....
serves as a noise barrier
Noise barrier
A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect sensitive land uses from noise pollution...
for traffic sounds from Columbus Drive. It is a connecting link between Millennium Park and destinations to the east, such as the nearby lakefront, other parts of Grant Park and a parking garage. BP Bridge uses a concealed box girder
Box girder
A box or tubular girder is a girder that forms an enclosed tube with multiple walls, rather than an or H-beam. Originally constructed of riveted wrought iron, they are now found in rolled or welded steel, aluminium extrusions or pre-stressed concrete....
design with a concrete base, and its deck is covered by hardwood floor boards. It is designed without handrail
Handrail
A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide stability or support. Handrails are commonly used while ascending or descending stairways and escalators in order to prevent injurious falls. Other applications include bathroom handrails—which help to prevent falls on...
s, using stainless steel parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s instead. The total length is 935 feet (285 m), with a five percent slope on its inclined surfaces that makes it barrier free and accessible
Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...
. Although the bridge is closed in winter because ice cannot be safely removed from its wooden walkway, it has received favorable reviews for its design and aesthetics.
Preliminary plans
Since the mid-19th century, Grant Park has been Chicago's "front yard", with Lake MichiganLake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
to the east and the Loop to the west. Columbus Drive
Columbus Drive (Chicago)
Columbus Drive is a north-south street in Chicago, Illinois which bisects Grant Park. It is 254 E in Chicago's street numbering system. Its south end is an interchange with Lake Shore Drive at Soldier Field...
runs north–south through Grant Park, with Daley Bicentennial Plaza in the northeast corner of the park. West of Columbus Drive, the northwest corner of the park had been Illinois Central
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it became available for development by the city as Millennium Park. Millennium Park is also north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, east of Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
, and south of Randolph Street
Randolph Street (Chicago)
Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east-west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway , and continuing west. It serves as the northern boundary of...
. For 2007, Millennium Park trailed only Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
as a Chicago tourist attraction.
In February 1999, the city announced it was negotiating with Frank Gehry to design a proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
arch and orchestra enclosure for a band shell in the new park, as well as a pedestrian bridge crossing Columbus Drive between Millennium Park and Daley Bicentennial Plaza. The city also sought donors to cover the cost of Gehry's work, which would eventually become Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the BP Pedestrian Bridge. At the time, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
dubbed Gehry "the hottest architect in the universe" in reference to the acclaim for his Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...
. Millennium Park project manager Edward Uhlir said "Frank is just the cutting edge of the next century of architecture", and noted that no other architect was being sought. Gehry was approached several times by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect Adrian Smith
Adrian Smith (architect)
Adrian D. Smith is an American architect who has designed skyscrapers including the Burj Khalifa, Jin Mao Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower, as well as the proposed Kingdom Tower for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.-Education:...
on behalf of the city. In April 1999, the city announced that the Pritzker family had donated $15 million to fund Gehry's band shell and an additional nine donors committed a total of $10 million more to the park. That same day, Gehry agreed to the design request.
In November 1999, when he unveiled his initial plans for the bridge and band shell, Gehry admitted the bridge's design was underdeveloped because funding for it was not yet committed. Even at this early point, the need for a sound barrier for Columbus Drive traffic noise was recognized, although Gehry indicated this might take the form of a berm
Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm originates in the Middle Dutch and German berme and came into usage in English via French.- History :...
, or raised barrier. The need to fund a bridge to span the eight-lane Columbus Drive was evident, but some planning for the park was delayed in anticipation of details on the redesign of Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
. In January 2000, the city announced plans to expand the park to include features that became Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill, between the Chase Promenade and...
, Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a...
, the McDonalds Cycle Center, and the BP Pedestrian Bridge. Later that month, Gehry unveiled his next design, which depicted a winding bridge.
While the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion changed relatively little from Gehry's 1999 design when built, the bridge went through several proposed designs. The proposal made in early 2000, which was expected to be executed in 2002, included a bridge that was a mere 170 feet (51.8 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide. That design was not approved, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...
's disapproval of Gehry's subsequent design of an 800–900 ft (243.8–274.3 m) bridge caused Gehry to come up with ten more designs. The first of these plans was for a Z-shaped bridge that would have run northwest–southeast with western ramps in Millennium Park, leading south, and eastern ramps in the empty north section of Daley Bicentennial Plaza, leading north. It would have required elevators to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act. This plan was abandoned because it would have segregated the handicapped. Gehry had only designed two bridges previously, both in the mid-1990s (Pferdeturm USTRA
Üstra
üstra Hannoversche Verkehrsbetriebe AG is the operator of public transport in the city of Hanover, Germany.From 2003 to 2006, it had outsourced its operations, but officially resumed as a service provider on January 1, 2007.- History :...
Bridge in Hanover, Germany and Financial Times Millennium Bridge in London, United Kingdom) but neither was built.
Final plan
Chicago Cultural Center
The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed Presidents and royalty, diplomats and community leaders. It is located in the Loop, across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park...
on June 10, 2000. As designed and built, the bridge is 935 feet (285 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, with a 14 in 6 in (4.42 m) Columbus Drive clearance. The clearance was designed to slightly exceed the 14 feet (4.3 m) standard set by the United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
for urban area interstate bridge clearances, and to allow for additional future layers of pavement below. This height is also greater than the maximum vehicle height of 13 in 6 in (4.11 m) set by the Illinois Vehicle Code. According to the Chicago Tribune the width of the "trenchlike" area spanned is approximately 150 feet (45.7 m), while The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reports the bridge is over ten times longer than Columbus Drive is wide.
BP Bridge begins in Millennium Park between the trellis
Trellis (agriculture)
A trellis is an architectural structure, usually made from interwoven pieces of wood, bamboo or metal that is often made to support climbing plants...
system over the Jay Pritzker Pavilion's great lawn and the Lurie Garden
Lurie Garden
Lurie Garden is a garden located at the southern end of Millennium Park in the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Designed by Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf, and Robert Israel, it opened on July 16, 2004. The garden is a combination of perennials, bulbs, grasses,...
; the design was changed so that the west ramp coincided with the boardwalk of the Lurie Garden seam. The bridge winds its way northward along the eastern edge of Millennium Park before crossing Columbus Drive in a C-shaped curve, above underground parking garage entrances. In Daley Bicentennial Plaza the bridge has an S-shape, then turns east. BP Bridge is designed so that its inclined surfaces have a continuous five percent slope rather than landings and switchback ramps, which provides easy access for the physically challenged. The gently sloped ramp eliminates the need for lifts or any of the other common types of ramps (L-shaped, switchback, U-shaped, straight), and helped the park earn the 2005 Barrier-Free America Award for its exemplary barrier-free design.
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
architecture critic Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin is the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, a post he has held since 1992. Kamin has held other jobs at the Tribune and previously worked for The Des Moines Register. He also serves as a contributing editor of Architectural Record...
notes that if he had done so, the bridge might not have been as sleek. Building the bridge without the column would have required load-bearing cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
s (beams
Beam (structure)
A beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment.- Overview...
supported only on one side) from structural positions on opposite sides of the street; this would have been expensive and labor-intensive, because it would have required excavating large portions of the parking garages on both sides of the street. Moreover, on the Daley Bicentennial Plaza side, the optimal location for the supporting cantilever would have been at the location of the Monroe Street Garage. Thus, the preferred bridge design was altered to avoid problems related to the underground parking garages.
The bridge is both a connector and a viewing platform for the park. It was designed to link the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and the entire Loop to the west with the Lake Michigan lakefront to the east. It was also designed to be a berm noise barrier
Noise barrier
A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect sensitive land uses from noise pollution...
blocking noise on the eight-lane Columbus Drive from the Park's outdoor band shell (Jay Pritzker Pavilion), by deflecting traffic sounds upward.
The bridge, which uses steel girder
Girder
A girder is a support beam used in construction. Girders often have an I-beam cross section for strength, but may also have a box shape, Z shape or other forms. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams...
s, reinforced concrete abutment
Abutment
An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...
s and deck slabs
Deck (bridge)
A bridge deck or road bed is the roadway, or the pedestrian walkway, surface of a bridge. It is not to be confused with any deck of a ship.The deck may be of concrete,wood which in turn may be covered with asphalt concrete or other pavement...
, hardwood deck, and a stainless steel veneer, cost between $12.1 and $14.5 million. It contains large sculptural plates of curvilinear stainless steel instead of more standard flat plates. The bridge's curvilinear design gives it a flowing, natural look, instead of the linear, rigid form of standard bridges. Although its steel girders rest on concrete pylons
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
and most of the bridge is solid concrete, the bridge uses a hollow box girder
Box girder
A box or tubular girder is a girder that forms an enclosed tube with multiple walls, rather than an or H-beam. Originally constructed of riveted wrought iron, they are now found in rolled or welded steel, aluminium extrusions or pre-stressed concrete....
design to minimize weight, as the ground that supports the bridge covers underground parking garages. The concrete base and box girder are flanked by a hollow stainless steel skeleton. Despite its hollow structure, and the fact that it is designed as a concealed beam bridge
Beam bridge
Beam bridges are the most simple of structural forms being supported by an abutment at each end of the deck. No moments are transferred through the support hence their structural type is known as simply supported....
, the footbridge
Footbridge
A footbridge or pedestrian bridge is a bridge designed for pedestrians and in some cases cyclists, animal traffic and horse riders, rather than vehicular traffic. Footbridges complement the landscape and can be used decoratively to visually link two distinct areas or to signal a transaction...
is built to highway standards and can support a full capacity load of pedestrians. The bridge is designed without standard handrail
Handrail
A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide stability or support. Handrails are commonly used while ascending or descending stairways and escalators in order to prevent injurious falls. Other applications include bathroom handrails—which help to prevent falls on...
s and uses waist-high parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s as guard rail
Guard rail
Guard rail or guardrail, sometimes referred to as guide rail or railing, is a system designed to keep people or vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limits areas...
s instead.
Construction
Brushed metal
Brushed metal is metal that has been abraded , usually with a fine grit sandpaper. The brushing gives the metal a distinctive look, as it retains some but not all of its metallic lustre and is given a pattern of very fine lines. It can be compared to metal with several small scratches all running...
and a flat interlocking panel process. Stainless steel type 316 is known for its excellent welding
Welding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
characteristics, as well as for its resistance to pitting. According to the Chicago Tribune, the bridge materials used in construction include 2,000 rot
Dry rot
Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...
-resistant Brazilian hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
boards for the deck, 115,000 stainless steel screw
Screw
A screw, or bolt, is a type of fastener characterized by a helical ridge, known as an external thread or just thread, wrapped around a cylinder. Some screw threads are designed to mate with a complementary thread, known as an internal thread, often in the form of a nut or an object that has the...
s and 9,800 stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
plates. According to Architecture Metal Expertise, the bridge has "10,400 stainless steel trapezoidal panels in 17 different shop fabricated configurations [which] involved 1,000 shop hours". The sheet metal work totaled 5,900 field hours over a six-month period. During construction, about 200 shingles were installed per day. The bridge includes two types of structural steel: steel that is 2 inches (5.1 cm) thick and 20 inches (50.8 cm) in diameter for the approaches and box girders for the span.
CATIA
CATIA
CATIA is a multi-platform CAD/CAM/CAE commercial software suite developed by the French company Dassault Systemes...
software was used to handle the complex geometric layout. To ensure accurate fitting and alignment to the sloping, curving sides of the bridge, 4,400 custom-made convex, concave and radiused cladding panels were fabricated on site by sheet metal contractor Custom Metal Fabricators (CMF). CMF used 57000 square feet (5,295.5 m²) of stainless steel sheet to cover the sides, which have a combined perimeter length of 1728 feet (526.7 m). CMF built special heated enclosures so that work could continue on site through the winter. They designed, fabricated and installed custom type 4 brushed stainless steel parapets serving in the place of handrails on the bridge. CMF earned the 2005 Tom Guilfoy Memorial Architectural Sheet Metal Award, by the California chapter of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association
Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association
The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association is an international association of HVAC contractors. Its headquarters is at 4201 Lafayette Center Drive Chantilly, Virginia 20151-1209, and it has about 2,000 members and 98 chapters in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and...
for the project. In 2005 it received a Merit Award from the National Steel Bridge Alliance, and an Excellence in Structural Engineering award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois.
On the day that the two halves of the bridge were joined, each side of Columbus Drive was closed for a 12-hour period and a 360 ST (321.4 LT; 326.6 t) crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
was used to install the girders. Before bringing the crane to the location, screw jacks were used to shore up the underground garage roof to hold the crane's weight.
The landscaping surrounding the bridge was redesigned by landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
Terry Guen. Honey locust
Honey locust
The Honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos, is a deciduous tree native to central North America. It is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys ranging from southeastern South Dakota to New Orleans and central Texas, and as far east as eastern Massachusetts.-Description:Honey locusts, Gleditsia...
s, ash
Ash tree
Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...
and maple trees were removed and replaced with three varieties of magnolia
Magnolia
Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
and more than two dozen ornamental and canopy
Canopy (forest)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms .Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent...
trees along the eastern foot of the bridge in Daley Bicentennial Plaza. Other preliminary construction work included setting reinforcing rods for the bridge in the concrete roof deck of the parking garage located under the park.
Use and controversies
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The BP Pedestrian Bridge officially opened, along with the rest of Millennium Park, on July 16, 2004. It remained unnamed at the ribbon-cutting, but before the July park opening, energy firm BP had paid for the bridge sponsorship and naming rights.
Timothy Gilfoyle, author of Millennium Park: Creating a Chicago Landmark, notes that a controversy surrounds the "tasteless" corporate naming of several of the Park's features, including the bridge, which was named after an oil company. It is well documented that naming rights were sold for high fees, and Gilfoyle was not the only one who chastised park officials for selling naming rights to the highest bidder. Public interest groups have crusaded against commercialization of Chicago parks. However, many of the donors have a long history of local philanthropy and the funds were essential to providing necessary financing for several features of the park.
After the park opened, some of the bridge's foibles became apparent. The bridge has had to be closed during the winter because freezing conditions make it unsafe. Since the bridge is over an expressway-like trench of Columbus Drive, shoveling the snow onto passing cars is not an option and the Brazilian hardwood would be damaged by rock salt. The city not only mandates that the bridge be swept and washed daily, but also that the parapets be wiped free of fingerprints.
The bridge has also had controversial closures in the summer, which were related to larger park concerns. On September 8, 2005, Toyota Motor Sales USA paid $800,000 to rent the bridge and all but four venues in the park from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. On August 7, 2006, Allstate
Allstate
The Allstate Corporation is the second-largest personal lines insurer in the United States and the largest that is publicly held. The company also has personal lines insurance operations in Canada. Allstate was founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., and was spun off in 1993...
paid $700,000 to rent the bridge and most of the park for a day. The exclusion of commuters who normally walk through the park and tourists lured by its attractions was controversial, though the city said the money raised paid for free public programs in Millennium Park.
Aesthetics
The bridge is noted for its sculptural characteristics and Kamin describes it as a delightful pleasure that was designed to emphasize its artistic elements while de-emphasizing its concrete and steel support system. The New York Times notes that the artist Anish KapoorAnish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor CBE RA is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai , Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice...
's attempts to hide the seams of Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill, between the Chase Promenade and...
were an interesting contrast to Gehry's architectural efforts. Gehry took pride in making the BP Pedestrian Bridge flaunt its seams.
Beginning with Gehry's earliest bridge designs, the bridge was expected to complement the neighboring Pritzker Pavilion. Some have suggested that the bridge and the pavilion are mere extensions of Gehry's work in other cities. For example, according to Gilfoyle, both structures embody Gehry's established asymmetrical style, evoking fluid, continuous motion and sculptural abstraction. They also feature metallic facades and aesthetic curves, but they are said to be more refined, reduced and dynamic than much of his other work.
Since the 1960s, Gehry has made artistic use of scaled
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
animals such as fish and snakes, which first appeared in his architectural designs in the 1980s. Many references to the bridge describe it as snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
like for its winding path, and some even refer to the stainless steel plates as scales with discussion of reptilian
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
forms. Kamin calls it "a bridge that resembles a giant silver snake, complete with a scaly skin", while Gehry said he thought the bridge looked like a river, but added he might be the only one who thought that.
The way the bridge flows in a continuum of unexpected directions is a break from Gehry's other work and other more traditional urban and architectural forms nearby. Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning architecture critic Kamin gave the bridge four stars (out of a possible four) in his review and admires how "computers have given Gehry unparalleled formal freedom" to design "the complexity of its geometry" and multidimensional curvatures. The bridge provides views of both the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and Lake Michigan in a way that Kamin says makes it a belvedere
Belvedere (structure)
Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...
. Kamin also recommends anyone having a bad day to stroll across the bridge, adding, "You won't get where you're going quickly, but you'll feel a whole lot better once you're done."
Image map
In HTML and XHTML , an image map is a list of coordinates relating to a specific image, created in order to hyperlink areas of the image to various destinations . For example, a map of the world may have each country hyperlinked to further information about that country...
of Millennium Park. Each feature or label is wikilinked.
rect 51 18 145 80 McDonald's Cycle Center
McDonald's Cycle Center
McDonald's Cycle Center is an indoor bike station in the northeast corner of Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city of Chicago built the center at the intersection of East Randolph Street and Columbus Drive, and opened it July 2004...
rect 338 2 496 94BP Pedestrian Bridge
BP Pedestrian Bridge
The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder footbridge in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park, both parts of the larger Grant Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect...
rect 497 62 536 101BP Pedestrian Bridge
BP Pedestrian Bridge
The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder footbridge in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Daley Bicentennial Plaza with Millennium Park, both parts of the larger Grant Park. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect...
rect 497 6 631 34 Columbus Drive
Columbus Drive (Chicago)
Columbus Drive is a north-south street in Chicago, Illinois which bisects Grant Park. It is 254 E in Chicago's street numbering system. Its south end is an interchange with Lake Shore Drive at Soldier Field...
rect 10 88 154 104 Exelon Pavilion NE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 47 108 79 131 Exelon Pavilion NE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 619 95 754 112 Exelon Pavilion SE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 728 113 759 135 Exelon Pavilion SE
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 10 246 166 263 Exelon Pavilion NW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 47 265 78 288 Exelon Pavilion NW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 613 243 762 258 Exelon Pavilion SW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 736 260 757 275 Exelon Pavilion SW
Exelon Pavilions
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
rect 44 149 174 229 Harris Theater
Harris Theater (Chicago)
The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is a 1,525-seat theater for the performing arts located along the northern edge of Millennium Park on Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, US...
rect 175 103 572 288 Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan...
rect 573 134 757 238 Lurie Garden
Lurie Garden
Lurie Garden is a garden located at the southern end of Millennium Park in the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Designed by Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf, and Robert Israel, it opened on July 16, 2004. The garden is a combination of perennials, bulbs, grasses,...
rect 572 311 718 329 Nichols Bridgeway
Nichols Bridgeway
The Nichols Bridgeway is a pedestrian bridge located in Chicago, Illinois. The bridge begins at the Great Lawn of Millennium Park, crosses over Monroe Street and connects to the third floor of the West Pavilion of the Modern Wing, the Art Institute of Chicago's newest wing...
rect 516 298 777 306 Nichols Bridgeway
Nichols Bridgeway
The Nichols Bridgeway is a pedestrian bridge located in Chicago, Illinois. The bridge begins at the Great Lawn of Millennium Park, crosses over Monroe Street and connects to the third floor of the West Pavilion of the Modern Wing, the Art Institute of Chicago's newest wing...
rect 58 350 207 396 Chase Promenade North
Chase Promenade
Chase Promenade is an open-air, tree-lined pedestrian walkway that opened July 16, 2004. It is part of Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The Promenade was made possible by a gift from the Bank One Foundation...
rect 291 350 453 396 Chase Promenade Central
Chase Promenade
Chase Promenade is an open-air, tree-lined pedestrian walkway that opened July 16, 2004. It is part of Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The Promenade was made possible by a gift from the Bank One Foundation...
rect 537 350 687 396 Chase Promenade South
Chase Promenade
Chase Promenade is an open-air, tree-lined pedestrian walkway that opened July 16, 2004. It is part of Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The Promenade was made possible by a gift from the Bank One Foundation...
rect 313 397 431 424 AT&T Plaza
AT&T Plaza
AT&T Plaza is a public space that hosts the Cloud Gate sculpture. It is located in Millennium Park, which is a park built to celebrate the third millennium and which is located within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States...
rect 37 434 227 473 Boeing Gallery North
Boeing Galleries
- Past exhibitions :2005The first exhibition in the renamed Galleries was Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait, which was displayed on the Central Chase Promenade and South Boeing Gallery, appeared from June 10–October 10, 2005...
rect 516 433 757 469 Boeing Gallery South
Boeing Galleries
- Past exhibitions :2005The first exhibition in the renamed Galleries was Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait, which was displayed on the Central Chase Promenade and South Boeing Gallery, appeared from June 10–October 10, 2005...
rect 337 426 416 470 Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill, between the Chase Promenade and...
rect 60 486 216 546 Wrigley Square
Wrigley Square
Wrigley Square is a public square located in the northwest section of Millennium Park in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District of the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA. The square is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of East Randolph Street and North Michigan...
rect 287 477 457 543 McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink
McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink
McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink or McCormick Tribune Plaza is a multi-purpose venue within Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. On December 20, 2001, it became the first attraction in Millennium Park to open. The $3.2 million plaza was funded by a donation from...
rect 557 488 727 543 Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a...
rect 308 567 439 583 Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
rect 1 316 23 442 Randolph Street
Randolph Street (Chicago)
Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east-west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway , and continuing west. It serves as the northern boundary of...
desc bottom-left
Credits
- Commissioned by – The City of Chicago
- Architect – Gehry Partners, LLP
- Project managerProject managerA project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software...
– US Equities - Construction manager – URS Construction Services
- Structural engineerStructural engineerStructural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
– Skidmore, Owings and MerrillSkidmore, Owings and MerrillSkidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest... - Mechanical and electrical engineer – McDonough Associates
- Contractor – Walsh Construction
- Subcontractor – Permasteelisa Cladding Technologies Ltd.
- Steel supplier – Littell Steel Company
- Steel construction – Imperial Construction Associates
- Sheet metal contractor – Custom Metal Fabricators Inc.