Space/ Scale/ Territory
Millennium Park is a 24.5-acre park that has several venues for performance, art, architecture, sculpture, and landscape architecture. It is located centrally in Chicago’s central business district and the lakefront. The Millennium Park emerged from a dilapidated ground-level parking space and rail yard into perhaps what may be regarded as the world’s biggest “green roof,” spanning two multi-level parking spaces with a total of over 4,000 cars and one commuter rail line. In Millennium Park, space is created in various ways. For example, there is the illusion of space created through structures and activities that allow visitors to interact with the park. Visitors interact with various elements of the park through watching, splashing, climbing, sitting and lying, as well as rolling and sliding. These activities place the individual visitor in the middle of a big system of recreation and relaxation, creating an illusion of a wide space. These activities also help create a feel of the scale of the park and its elements about the human body. These activities reinforce the park’s effort to contain its visitors within the space. For example, the cloud gate seems to contain all the visitors of the park in one reflection, underlining their diminutive size relative to that of the park.
Secondly, the layout of different sections in the park and the placement of different attraction points across the park provide a feeling of expanse space. Different sections of the park are separated using two rows of trees. These trees create a feeling of expansiveness by making different portions of the park appear far away from each other. These bands of trees not only define the different spaces in the park but also contribute to the ambiance of the place. Other elements that are used to create demarcations in the park are the different avenues, paths, and pavements. Also, rows of street lighting along the different avenues also create a feeling of territory and boundaries between the different sections.
Organization/ Composition
The park takes on a linear arrangement, with everything seemingly lined up between the main avenues of the park. The paired rows of trees and street lighting along these avenues further reinforce this linear arrangement. Even the cloud gate is longitudinally oriented to fit into this linear plan, with its thinner ends lined up on this linear axis. Along these linear portions, however, the park is partitioned into various geometric shapes (Englishforarchitects.pbworks.com, 2016). For example, the Pritzker Pavilion is an oval-shaped lawn enveloped with an iron skeleton framework that creates an illusion of a transparent roof. Everything around this pavilion is shaped to be in agreement with the oval shape.
Movement
In Millennium Park, the element of movement is influenced predominantly by the use of spaces. Placed centrally, the Pritzker Pavilion acts as the heart of the park. Most human activity seems to be centered around this point of the park. The pavilion hosts various activities and is often filled with people observing various presentations of marveling at the beauty of the structures. The Pritzker Pavilion stage also creates a feeling of movement. The stage comprises of a 120 foot-high structure whose main feature is a billowing headdress made of stainless-steel ribbons (Cityofchicago.org, 2016). These ribbons frame the stage and bring out the artistic element of movement that ripples throughout the park. This movement is translated throughout the park because every other feature in the park seems to be affected by the majestic presence of the Pritzker Pavilion (Cityofchicago.org, 2016).
Another element of the park that creates movement is the use of rows of trees. The trees sway under the push of the wind. They help to create a rhythm that undulates throughout the park. The trees are in paired rows that emphasize the movement. Since the tree branches are touching each other, the movement is translated from one tree to the other throughout the entire park.
Landscape Structures
The Pritzker Pavilion is the most dominant feature in the Millennium Park. It looks like a crest or tie piece embroidered across the expanse of the park that divides it into two halves. The oval shape of the Pavilion dips down to the middle of the park from the shiny steel ribbons. The Pritzker Pavilion’s steel framework acts as a metaphor for the park’s encapsulating character. Chicago is a diverse, cosmopolitan society whose people are united by common bonds such as peace, love, and the pursuit of success. The steel framework of the Pavilion helps to unite the various elements of the park in an artistic sense but represents this wider metaphor.
Time
There are various components of the Park that are related to time. The sunlight interacts with various structures throughout the day to create a feel of time. For example, the steel framework encapsulating the Pavilions interacts with the sunlight to cast shadows on the green lawns. These shadows introduce an element of time that interacts with the park visitors, some of which spend their time on the lawn of the Pavilion.
Topography
The ground plane in Millennium Park is relatively even. Most of the land surface is flat and is used as lawns, squares, paths or avenues. Most of the ground surface has been maintained flat to accommodate as many humans and structures as possible. The relatively flat topography also makes it easy for visitors to access different points easily on foot, bicycle or vehicles. In some places, the flat ground plane acts as a sitting area for visitors. The Pritzker Pavilion is an example of this function. However, there are a few places where the ground plane dips or slopes to allow different horizontal planes of paths to meet. In some places, there are ponds of water on the ground surface to contribute to the overall experience of the Park.
Plants
Plants serve various purposes in the Millennium Park. First, grass and flowers are ornamental. They make the park beautiful and provide the visitors with attractive things for viewing. Plants such as trees also provide demarcations for the different sections of the park. They divide the sections of the park loosely without restricting movement. For example, along the main avenues and paths in the park, there are two rows of trees. These demarcations make the park look neat and help to create a feeling of space and movement. Grass also provides a surface on which visitors can lie, sit or roll. Trees also play habitat to different bird species within the park. In this regard, they are part of the ecosystem.
Water
Water adds to the overall experience in the park. There is a fountain where water, the symbol of life, flows freely. It makes the park lively and creates coolness around the major attraction points of the park. It also creates a sense of universality in the park. Everybody depends on water. Its presence in the park brings about a sense of unity. It is no wonder that the fountain features different projected faces of people from Chicago. The fountain is a point of unity. Water also serves the ecosystem present in the park such as birds and insects. The fountain recycles water and pumps it back up to create a visual effect. This effect mirrors the cyclic nature of life.
Hardscapes
The hardscapes in Millennium Park include the paved paths and the surfaces of the BP Bridge. The paths are paved to enhance the human experience within the space. The pavement of the ground makes it accommodating for human movement to different sections of the park. They also underline the human effect on the landscape. The sloped paving of the BP Bridge is more functional than visual. Visually, it is a beautiful surface. It is shiny and smooth and offers a balance between the lower horizontal ground plane and the upper one. Functionally, it helps to contain the soil on the sloping surface and stop it from eroding into the lower area below. Also, the hardscape of the bridge has an acoustic function. It acts as a sound barrier between the lawn of the Pavilion and the traffic noise of the Columbus Avenue. In this regard, it deflects away the traffic noise and keeps the park relatively quiet. It also acts as a link by joining Millenium Park to Daley Bicentennial Plaza (Englishforarchitects.pbworks.com, 2016).
References
Cityofchicago.org,. (2016). City of Chicago :: Millennium Park - Art & Architecture.Cityofchicago.org. Retrieved 1 June 2016, from http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/millennium_park_-artarchitecture.html
Englishforarchitects.pbworks.com,. (2016). English for Urban Planners / Millennium Park.Englishforarchitects.pbworks.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016, from http://englishforarchitects.pbworks.com/w/page/36704902/Millennium%20Park
